Jan Beglinger, Agriculture Outreach Coordinator
Phone: 585-343-3040 ext. 132
E-mail: jmb374@cornell.edu
Barb Sturm, Ag In The Classroom Educator
Phone: 585-343-3040 ext. 122
E-mail: bbs28@cornell.edu
Kimberly Amey, Administrative Assistant
Phone: 585-343-3040 ext. 123
E-mail: kln26@cornell.edu
Amy Berry, Administrative Assistant
Phone: 585-343-3040 ext. 101
E-Mail: ame29@cornell.edu
Or stop by Cornell Cooerative Extension of Genesee County at 420 East Main Street, Batavia, NY 14020. The office is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Click HERE to see more of what Cooperative Extension has to offer.
This service provides subscribers with up-to-date information on trends in the agricultural sector by utilizing research-based knowledge from Cornell University.
Educational programs are provided by the Northwestern New York Dairy, Livestock & Field Crops Program Team and the Cornell Vegetable Program Team.
For more information and a brochure call Cornell Cooperative Extension of Genesee County at (585) 343-3040 ext. 126, stop by the Extension Center located at 420 East Main St. in Batavia, or download the form below.
Providing high quality, research-based agricultural information to the citizens of Genesee County.
Welcome to the Rural Tax Education website. This website provides farmers and ranchers, other agricultural producers and Extension educators with a source for agriculturally related income and self-employment tax information that is both current and easy to understand.
Tax issues are important for agricultural operations because income and self-employment taxes are a major cost and also because more and more USDA programs are being linked to a producer’s federal income tax return.
Ag Districts
Farmland Protection
Smart Growth Plan
Grant Funding Available for Projects to Reduce Soil Erosion and Protect Water Quality
Contact SWCD staff at 585-343-2362.
Article 20 of the New York State Agriculture and Markets Law (AML) requires farm product dealers to be licensed. The law provides financial protection for producers against nonpayment for their products sold to licensed dealers from the dealer’s security and the Agricultural Producers Security Fund.
Your Responsibilities as a Producer:
Do business with a licensed dealer.
Do not continue to sell products to a dealer who has failed to make timely payments.
File a claim when a dealer has failed to make timely payments.
To be eligible for coverage, all claims must be filed no later than 365 days after the sale and delivery of the farm product, but in no event, beyond the expiration of the 30-day period provided in the notice published by the Department. Claim forms may be obtained by contacting the Department at 1-800-554-4501 or by downloading the forms from the Department’s website at: www.agmkt.state.ny.us/programs/apsf.html
For more information download the brochure Ag Producers Security Program.
Here you will find information about the number one industry in Genesee County - Agriculture. Whether you are looking for what to buy in season, careers in agriculture, events that are coming up or interested in starting your own farm operation this is the place to be.
Cooperative Extension of Genesee County provides equal program and employment opportunities.
Click HERE to return to the main CCE of Genesee County website.
Genesee County Farm Bureau Scholarship Program for High School Seniors
The Genesee County Farm Bureau (“GCFB”) is awarding a $1,000 scholarship to a graduating high school senior in 2012. The award will go to a Student member or to the son or daughter of a Regular or Associate member of the Genesee County Farm Bureau.
Eligibility:
Eligible students must be continuing their education beyond high school through a trade-school or two-year/four-year collegiate program.
Application Forms & Deadlines:
Scholarship application forms are available from the Genesee County Farm Bureau office by calling 585-343-3489 or by going to the GCFB website at www.geneseecountyfarmbureau.com. The award decision will be based on: involvement in agriculture and the applicant’s stated intentions to remain involved in agriculture; scholastic participation; activities; application responses and essays. The GCFB Scholarship Committee will review all applications and make a final decision about the award recipient.
Applications and Essays must be typed. Completed applications must be returned to the GCFB office no later than April 30, 2012. Interviews will be held if necessary. The award recipient will be notified by June 1st.
Award Details:
The $1,000 award will be provided in two payments: the first will be awarded on September 1st and the second will be awarded upon receipt of the first semester grades. A copy of the first semester transcript must be sent to the GCFB office for review. The student must obtain a minimum 2.5 GPA or higher to receive the second scholarship payment.
The Genesee County Farm Bureau Scholarship Committee
Genesee County Farm Bureau
29 Liberty St., Suite 212, Batavia, NY 14020
Ph. 585-343-3489
Fax 585-343-8179
GENESEE VALLEY REGION FRUIT AND VEGETABLE STUDY
Cornell’s Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management is asking for all fruit and vegetable producers in the following 9-county region to participate in a survey: Genesee, Livingston, Monroe, Ontario, Orleans, Steuben, Wayne, Wyoming, and Yates counties. The overall project is funded through the Genesee Valley Regional Marketing Authority and NYS Department of Agriculture and Markets and is managed through Cornell Cooperative Extension Wayne County.
Stories from buyers and growers alike describe unmet demand for some products. This project will help determine where production opportunities exist. It will examine trends in fruit and vegetable production, where production flows to, what expansion is being planned, and what the challenges are for expansion of fruit, vegetable and small grain production in the 9-county region. This will help us inform potential buyers about general fruit and vegetable production in your region and inform policy makers about activities that would encourage production. It will also help us match research and Extension activities to meet your needs.
Please help by contacting Kristen Park, (607) 255-7215 or ksp3@cornell.edu for a copy of the questionnaire. If you are on an Extension mailing list, please watch your mailbox for a questionnaire and please complete and return it.
H-2A Labor Handbook Available On-line
Rep. Slaughter's office offers helpful guide
The Department of Labor has released an Employer Handbook for employers anticipating filing an H-2A application for this coming season.
In a message from Rep. Louise Slaughter's office, improving the H-2A experience for local farmers has been something Congresswoman Slaughter has worked on for years, and has made progress with in 2010.
This Handbook was created in response to feedback and questions the DOL has received in recent years, and addresses many frequently asked questions.
A meeting Congresswoman Slaughter held this July with northeast growers, Members of Congress and the DOL contributed to the Department's efforts to answer common questions growers have about the H-2A agricultural guest worker program.
To download the handbook, please click here:
Attention Genesee County Farms:
The NYS Agricultural Nonpoint Source Abatement and Control Program has released a Request for Proposals for Round 18 of funding through the Environmental Protection Fund. This funding is typically an approximate 75/25 cost share between state/landowner funding of agricultural projects and/or practices. Attached is a list of practices eligible for funding through this program.
If you have an agricultural project in mind that you would like to be considered for inclusion in our application for funding, please contact District Manager George Squires at (585) 343-2362 by October 31, 2011.
Genesee County Soil & Water Conservation District
29 Liberty St., Suite 3
Batavia, NY 14020
Phone(585) 343-2362
Fax (585) 345-1815
Agricultural Census set for 2012
The USDA Agricultural Census takes place every five years. The next census will be taken in 2012. Agricultural data from the USDA Agricultural Census provides quantitative information for many government commodity and other programs that NY’s farm community is dependent on. Sign up by visiting https://www.agcounts.usda.gov/cgi-bin/counts
EPA proposes new NPDES CAFO reporting rule
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a proposed reporting rule that would require concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) to submit basic operational information to EPA so the agency can more effectively carry out its CAFO permitting programs and ensure that CAFOs are implementing practices to protect water quality and human health.
Under the proposed rule, EPA is co-proposing two regulatory options regarding which CAFOs would be required to submit information to the EPA. One option would require every CAFO to report this information to EPA, unless states with authorized NPDES programs choose to provide this information on behalf of the CAFOs in their state. A second option would require CAFOs in focus watersheds that have water quality concerns to report information to EPA.
The proposed rule will be open for public comment for 60 days following publication in the Federal Register. The Agency plans to take final action on this proposal by July 2012.
FORAGE EXCHANGE
Cornell Cooperative Extension, in cooperation with the New York Farm Bureau and the New York State Department of Agriculture & Markets, has re-established the CCE Forage Exchange to assist farmers affected by the recent flooding.
The Forage Exchange can be reached via the front page of the main Cornell Cooperative Extension webpage at http://cce.cornell.edu. The Forage Exchange provides an electronic venue for farmers who have available feed and forage to post, and for farmers who need feed and forage to locate. All transactions (including arrangements for transportation) will take place among the farmers themselves. Cooperative Extension Educators and Farm Bureau staff across the state will be available to assist farmers in using the Exchange.
http://ccetest-lamp.cit.cornell.edu/forage/index.php?cityid=0
EPA pushes back SPCC deadline to May 2013.
Because of the overwhelming amount of severe weather throughout the country in the spring and summer of 2011, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) amended the date by which farms must prepare or amend and implement their Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure (SPCC) Plans, to May 10, 2013.
Farms in operation before Aug. 16, 2002, are still expected to have a plan in place and continue to implement it, but farms that came into operation after that date have until the new deadline to prepare and implement an SPCC plan.
Earlier this year, milk tanks and piping were exempted from this rule, but farms that store, transfer, use or consumes oil or oil products (ie, diesel fuel, gasoline, lube oil, crop oil, vegetable oil, animal fat, etc.) and store more than 1,320 gallons in aboveground containers or more than 42,000 gallons in buried containers, must comply. The new deadline does not relieve farms from the liability of any oil spills that occur. For more information, visit www.epa.gov/osweroe1/content/spcc/index.htm.
New York Fresh Vegetables Value Ranks 6th in Nation
The value of all New York vegetable production in 2010 totaled $409 million, according to King Whetstone, Director of USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service, New York Field Office.
New York is fifth in the nation in area harvested and sixth in value of principal fresh market vegetables. The value of the Empire State’s principal fresh market vegetables totaled $361 million this year. Fresh market production in 2010 was estimated at 14.2 million hundredweight (cwt.). Planted acreage increased from 68,230 acres in 2009 to 69,890 acres in 2010. Processing vegetables were valued at $47.6 million in 2010 and production totaled 245 thousand tons.
NY onion yields averaged 325 cwt. per acre, down from 2009. Year 2010 production is estimated at 3.32 million cwt., down from 2009. Value is down 20% to a total of $54.2 million. NY’s fresh market cabbage production for 2010, estimated at 4.34 million cwt., is up from 2009’s production of 3.42 million cwt. New York ranked second in the nation for fresh market cabbage production in 2010.
Fresh market sweet corn acreage was up in 2010. A total of 22,800 acres were harvested, a 6% increase from last year. Yields increased from 100 cwt. per acre in 2009 to 120 cwt. per acre in 2010. Total value was at $71.1 million, up 22% from last year. NY is ranked third in the nation on value of the 2010 New York fresh market snap bean crop, at $39.2 million. Harvested acres remained at 6,700 acres. Yield increased from 40 cwt. per acre to 70 cwt. per acre. Total production was 469,000 cwt., up 75% from last year due to higher yields. Pumpkins showed a value of $35.1 million, first in the nation. There were 6,800 acres harvested for a production of 1.46 million cwt. Value of production in 2010 increased 61% from 2009.
HIRE A LONG TERM UNEMPLOYED PERSON AND RECEIVE HELP TO OFFSET TRAINING COSTS
The Genesee, Livingston, Orleans, Wyoming (GLOW) Workforce has funds to help you train new employees!
The National Emergency Grant On-The-Job Training (NEG OJT) is an opportunity for businesses to get reimbursed (50% or more) for wages of new employees who are being trained.
• Business must be for Private for Profit or Not-For-Profit
• New Employees/Trainees for the program must be Long Term. Dislocated Workers are defined as those who have been unemployed for 27 weeks or more since 1/1/08 or after
• Help finding eligible candidates for your open positions
• Wage Reimbursement to a business of 50% or more hourly rate
• Length of training could last up to six months
To learn more, please contact: Michele Nichols at 585-344-2042 x239 or email mnichols@co.genesee.ny.us
FSA Targets Funds for Socially Disadvantaged Farmers
Batavia, New York – 11/08/2010 — The New York State Farm Service Agency (FSA) announced the availability of funds for Socially Disadvantaged (SDA) individuals who want to purchase or operate a family-size farm in fiscal year 2011.
In Fiscal Year 2010, which ended September 30, 2010, New York Farm Loan Programs made 45 SDA loans totaling more than $ 4.9 million.
"A SDA farmer comes from a group whose members have been subjected to racial, ethnic or gender inequality without regard to their individual qualities. SDA members include women, African Americans, American Indians, Hispanics, Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders and Alaskan Natives," said Joanne Crosman, Genesee County FSA Farm Loan Program Manager.
The SDA program provides direct and guaranteed assistance in the form of farm operating and farm ownership loans. Direct loans are made to applicants from FSA. Guaranteed loans are issued by lending institutions, but typically 90 percent of the loan is guaranteed by FSA.
Operating loans may be used to purchase livestock, equipment, feed, seed, and other business related expenses. Repayment terms run from one to seven years.
Ownership loans provide capital to purchase or enlarge a farm, construct or improve buildings, promote soil and water conservation and pay closing costs. Direct ownership loan terms are up to 40 years. Guaranteed loan terms are established by the lender.
Qualified candidates are provided information and assistance to develop sound management practices, analyze problems and utilize available resources essential for successful farming operations to cope with the changing agricultural environment.
SDA loan applicants do not receive automatic approval. Individuals must be U.S citizens with a satisfactory history of meeting credit obligations; have sufficient education, training or experience managing or operating a farm; possess legal capacity to incur debt; and be unable to obtain credit elsewhere.
Contact the Batavia FSA Office servicing Genesee, Wyoming, Niagara, Livingston, Orleans, & Monroe counties at 585-343-9167 x 2000 for more loan information. You may find the local office listed under the blue or government pages of your local telephone directory.
ROPS Retrofits
Convenient, up-to-date Web guide to ROPS retrofits now available online: Farmers and technicians can determine ROPS availability by tractor make and model.
Used in combination with a seatbelt, rollover protective structures (ROPS) have been shown to be 98% effective in preventing death and serious injury in the event of a tractor overturn. Nevertheless, more than a third of tractors in use today – and perhaps as many as 50 percent in Kentucky -- still do not have these lifesaving structures. To help farmers locate retrofit ROPS for older tractors and even gray market tractors (i.e., non-U.S. made tractors imported without manufacturer authorization), Dr. Mark Purschwitz and colleagues in the University of Kentucky College of Agriculture have developed The Kentucky ROPS Guide, now available online at http://www.ca.uky.edu/rops.
The new online Guide is designed for farmers, dealers, and technicians not only in Kentucky but also throughout the United States and Canada. It enables users to quickly determine what ROPS are available for which tractors, which companies supply retrofit ROPS, and how and where to obtain these ROPS.
“The Kentucky ROPS Guide,” said Dr. Purschwitz, “offers full search capability that enables any tractor owner, equipment dealer or technician to determine the availability, source, and acquisition procedures for retrofit ROPS for any domestic or imported agricultural tractor in the United States for which a retrofit is available. The days of searching through scattered computer records and paperwork are over.”
Several features of the new online guide are particularly user friendly. Notably, the Guide
• can be searched simply by selecting a tractor make and model number
• provides timely information about ROPS suppliers, ROPS types, and how to order
• includes makes and models of “gray market” tractors, particularly Japanese compact tractors, frequently being sold in the U.S. market today
A 1977 agricultural engineering graduate of Purdue University (PhD, Agricultural Mechanization, 1989), Dr. Purschwitz is an Extension Professor and Agricultural Safety and Health Specialist in the UK College of Agriculture, Department of Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering. Development of The Kentucky ROPS Guide was supported by the Southeast Center for Agricultural Health and Injury Prevention, University of Kentucky College of Public Health, through CDC/NIOSH Cooperative Agreement U50 OH007547-07S1.
When submitting samples directly to Agro-One, please request the Cornell recommendation; otherwise, you may receive no recommendation - just results.
Agro One has pick-up points for samples located across the Northeast. These may be used for sending soil samples to the Agro-One lab in Ithaca, NY at no charge. Samples will be delivered to the lab the morning after they are picked up. Contact information for Agro-One is available at the website: (http://www.dairyone.com/AgroOne/default.htm ). Calls can be made to Agro-One at 1-800-496-3344 or 607-257-1272.
Pick-up points: (as of Dec. 22, 2009)
Pavilion
10892 North Lake Rd.
Pavilion, NY
Contact: Paul Embt
Phone: 607-330-5745
Mt. Morris
Cornell Cooperative Extension of Livingston County
158 Main St.
Mt. Morris, NY
Contact: Joe Summers
Phone: 585-813-4273
Warsaw
3896 Buck Rd.
Warsaw, NY
Contact: Robert Todd
Phone: 585-786-8799
Check the website for updated pick-up sites. http://www.dairyone.com/AgroOne/sample_pick_up_points.htm