Following the challenging weather of the 2025 growing season, many dairy farms are facing tight forage inventories and looking to 2026 to rebuild forage supplies. The current economic conditions of escalating input costs and tight milk prices increase the difficulty of accomplishing this goal. Despite all of this, farms can still look for the best practices to achieve their forage inventory goals.

Chicks are on the ground, the weather is warming, and in a few short weeks, the first batches of pasture raised chickens will be processed. For many, this means processing in preparation for sales off the farm or at farmer's markets. Bearing that in mind, there are requirements that producers must follow to ensure food safety and legal packaging/labeling of that poultry for sale.

Knowing that we will likely continue to experience volatile N pricing, coupled with less than stellar commodity prices, it's a critical time to evaluate your nutrient management strategy. So,what can you do to maintain your crop yields while also protecting your bottom line?

What's the status of the dairy industry in NY?

March 2026 has been wet, hovering around 150 percent of normal precipitation for much of New York. While this has some manure storages approaching or exceeding their operational capacity, it is critical to follow the prohibited spreading conditions within the CAFO permit and spreading plans in your CNMP. 

With all that's going on in the world right now, some beef producers are asking, "what happens next". While it's likely that none of this will come as a surprise, it's worth stepping back and looking at the bigger picture, the regional lens, and what this means for moving forward.

I participated in Cornell Workforce Development's Lean Management for Dairy workshop in February. Lean Management, often referred to simply as "Lean", is a methodology frequently used in the business world to add value, maximize efficiency, and trim waste. How can applying principles of Lean Management work for the dairy industry in southwestern New York, and what could taking a Lean approach mean for your business?

Raising chickens for meat on pasture is popular among SWNY farmers. From 2022-2025, a team from CCE followed the production and financial inputs and outcomes of 36 broiler farmers across the state. From this, we now have an accurate series of averages for production and pricing across the state as well as conclusions to help improve the success of small-scale broiler enterprises.

This article is an argument for small scale beef farmers to consider buying in forages instead of putting them up. It delves into costs that may not be apparent in your dollars in/dollars out equation, but when accounted for, are a significant portion of the cost of making hay.

The US Department of Agriculture's Farmer Bridge Assistance (FBA) Program announced $12 billion in aid for US farmers this past December. Here's what you need to know.

Our goal is to ensure cows are able to put their best hoof forward as we begin the new year. Since cows cannot tell us when they are in pain, it is up to the farm teams to recognize the early signs of lameness and take action to protect mobility, comfort, and productivity.

Managing Haemonchus contortus, or barber pole worm, in small ruminants is always a challenge. While pasture rearing sheep and goats is a popular practice, strategically using a barn to help disrupt the parasite's life cycle can be helpful.