New York Certified Organice (NYCO) - 2016

January 12 - March 8, 2016


NY Certified Organic Feb. 9 Meeting: Four Soil Health Presentations:Geneva Site Hosting Speakers; Four CCE Offices to Broadcast Locally

Geneva, NY. New York Organic Certified has announced three presentations and a farmer panel on managing soil health with crop rotations and forage production to be offered February 9 with speakers on site at the New York State Agricultural Experimental Station in Geneva, NY. Cornell Cooperative Extension offices will broadcast the program via web connection in Canton, Morrisville, Warsaw and Westport.

The February 9 meeting is the second of three New York Certified Organic winter meetings. Rick Pederson of Pederson Farms, Seneca Castle, NY, will present on Putting Soil Health Knowledge into Practice. Pederson manages 600 certified organic acres and an additional 900 acres under conventional production. He grows a diversified crop mix for wholesaling to buyers throughout the Northeast. He will talk about the crop rotations he has developed to provide income and at the same time build resilience in his soil.

Tom Kilcer of Advanced Ag Systems, Kinderhook, NY, will present his research on Alternative Forage Rotations to Protect the Soil on Marginal Land. Kilcer will share his data on double cropping with winter grains and summer annuals to keep the soil covered and allow fieldwork to be done when soils are more likely dry. He will also cover solutions to storing nitrogen for such a system in organic production.

In the Reducing Pasture Compaction with Daikon Radish session, NY Organic Dairy Initiative Project Manager and Cornell University South Central NY Regional Team Small Dairy Support Educator Fay Benson will share the results of planting brassicas in compacted areas of pastures after a very wet grazing season.

A farmer panel on How to Decide Whether to Sell Forages to Dairy Farmers or Plow Them In for Green Manure includes Thor Oechsner of Oechsner Farms, a 600-acre certified organic enterprise growing diversified grains in Newfield, NY. Oechsner is also a partner in Farmer Ground, a small cooperatively owned grain milling business in Trumansburg, NY.

The New York Crop Insurance Education Team, and Cornell Cooperative Extension provide support for these meetings. There will be a brief description of how crop insurance can benefit organic farmers at the February 9 and March 8 NYCO meetings.

The NYCO meetings begin at 10 AM in Jordan Hall at 630 West North Street at the New York State Agricultural Experimental Station in Geneva, NY. There is no cost or need to register to attend the program in Geneva that features presentations by and discussions with farmers from across New York State, crop and dairy consultants, Cornell University researchers, and Cornell Cooperative Extension educators. Participants are asked to bring a dish to pass at the potluck lunch.

Those interested in attending the February 9 NYCO program via website at an Extension office should contact that office directly as follows:
. Canton: CCE of St. Lawrence County, 2043B State Highway 68, Kitty O'Neil, 315.379.9192 x253,

. Morrisville: CCE of Madison County, 100 Eaton Street, Katherine Brosnan, 315.684.3001,

. Warsaw: CCE of Wyoming County, 401 North Main Street, Zach Amey, 585.786.2251 x123, and

. Westport: CCE of Essex County, 3 Sisco Street, Anita Deming, 518.982.4180 x409.

For more information on New York Certified Organic, contact Fay Benson at 607.745.3807, afb3@cornell.edu.

The data that is collected, and the subsequent reports/findings/resources will be helpful for all of us to answer that call of "What's the average rental rate in my area?" and "How much do people charge to combine oats?"