Scout your hay fields to assess winter annual weed pressure
Joshua Putman, Field Crops and Forage Specialist
Southwest New York Dairy, Livestock and Field Crops Program

Winter annual weeds emerge in the fall and set seed late spring or early summer. In hay production, certain winter annuals will invade older hay stands and may be competing with the crops resources. Such weeds include: marestail, field pennycress, henbit, and chickweed. Management options for these weeds may include chemical control with a spring applied herbicide and timely cutting intervals. Recently Field Crops Specialist, Josh Putman, has been out scouting fields for weed and insect problems in forage fields, wheat, and triticale. Many of the older hay stands seem to have a large number of winter annuals present. It is important to correctly identify these weeds as some can be more problematic than others. If identification or confirmation is needed, please contact Josh Putman at 716-490-5572 or at jap473@cornell.edu. For more information on spring weed control in hay stands, please follow the link here.
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Is Grazing Sheep Beneath Solar Arrays and Opportunity for Your Future?
September 25, 2023
Mt. Morris, NY
Grazing sheep beneath utility-scale solar arrays can build wealth of present and future sheep farmers as vegetation management service providers and access to additional pasture. The Cornell Cooperative Enterprise Program (CEP) conducted a survey earlier this year completed by over 600 farmers. Farmers identified barriers to grazing sheep under solar arrays and weighed in on need for a producer-led organization to negotiate contracts on their behalf, coordinate logistics of multiple flocks, provide transport of sheep to and from the site, care for sheep while on-site, and provide supplemental mowing. Additional questions focused on processing and marketing needs.
Technology for Grazing Dairies Webinar
September 27, 2023
Join us for this free webinar! Brought to you by the dairy specialists of CCE NWNY and SWNY Dairy, Livestock and Field Crops Programs.
Protecting Against Murphy's Law: A FREE Live Seminar for Veterans.
October 4, 2023
What Can Go Wrong, Will Go Wrong!
Good ole' Murphy's Law is probably the best description of what it's like to be a farmer that there is! Join Cornell Cooperative Extension Farm Business Management Specialist, Katelyn Walley-Stoll, to learn more about the 5 areas of risk on farms and how to develop strategies to manage those risks. Participants will have the opportunity to identify areas of risk on their own farms and brainstorm ways to (try to) prevent the inevitable!
Registration is REQUIRED by visiting https://tinyurl.com/CCERisk or call Kelly at 585-268-7644.
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