Impact of Composts on Disease Incidence in Vegetable Systems

NYS IPM Type: Project ReportOne characteristic of compost which might provide greater incentive for use by vegetable growers is suppression of soil-borne diseases in crops grown on compost-amended soils. Integrating compost into commercial vegetable production for disease suppression represents a long-term approach to enhance soil microbial activity and thereby increase system resilience to disease pressure

Improving the Viability of New Farmers\u27 Operations Through the Use of Profit Teams

Profit teams comprise multiple consultants engaged to support farmer decision making by holistically analyzing farm challenges. We tested the idea of using profit teams to help advanced beginning farmers, those who are beyond start-up but have been in business less than 10 years, address constraints to growing their businesses. These new entrepreneurs often have entered agriculture without a family farming history or a connection to Extension. We describe the processes of selecting farmers and administering teams, and we highlight significant improvements in quality of life, production, and profitability reported by 35 farmers. Our lessons learned may guide other educators and funders in developing profit teams for their beginning farmer clients

Crop Rotation on Organic Farms: A Planning Manual (NRAES-177)

This 154 page publication (NRAES-177) and accompanying poster (NRAES 204) were originally published by the Natural Resource, Agriculture, and Engineering Service (NRAES, previously known as the Northeast Regional Agricultural Engineering Service), a multi-university program in the Northeast US disbanded in 2011. Plant and Life Sciences Publishing (PALS) was subsequently formed to manage the NRAES catalog. Ceasing operations in 2018, PALS was a program of the Department of Horticulture in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) at Cornell University. PALS assisted university faculty in publishing, marketing and distributing books for small farmers, gardeners, land owners, workshops, college courses, and consumers.Reviews the do’s, don’ts, how’s, and why’s of crop rotation and its many applications, such as improving soil quality and health, and managing pests, diseases, and weeds. Expert organic farmers helped develop crop rotation guidelines for a variety of field conditions and crops. Discusses crop rotation when transitioning to organic farming. Describes problems and opportunities with rotation sequences for 52 crops including vegetables and fruits. It contains a rotation planning guide and 13 sample crop rotations. Intended for farmers, educators, students, and advisors. The book (NRAES 177) is also useful for conventional farms and will be most applicable for the Northeastern United States and Eastern Canada. It will also be useful in other parts of the US, Canada, and even Europe. An accompanying 2 foot by 3 foot poster (NRAES 204) is also provided, based on Appendix 2: Crop Sequence Problems and Opportunities, in the book. It can be used with the book to develop crop rotation sequences for all farms

COVID-19 and the agri-food system in the United States and Canada

Agri-food supply chains in North America have become remarkably efficient, supplying an unprecedented variety of items at the lowest possible cost. However, the initial stages of the COVID-19 pandemic and the near-total temporary loss of the foodservice distribution channel, exposed a vulnerability that many found surprising. Instead of continued shortages, however, the agri-food sector has since moved back to near normal conditions with prices and production levels similar to those typically observed in years prior to the pandemic. Ironically, the specialization in most food supply chains designed for “just-in-time” delivery to specific customers with no reserve capacity, which led to the initial disruptions, may have also been responsible for its rapid rebound. A common theme in assessing the impacts across the six commodities examined is the growing importance of understanding the whole supply chain. Over the longer term, a continuation of the pandemic could push the supply chain toward greater consolidation of firms and diversification of products given the increasing option value of maintaining flexibility. Other structural changes will be felt through input markets, most notably labour, as the trend toward greater automation will continue to accelerate as a response to meeting concerns about a consistent supply of healthy and productive workers. The economic fall out from the pandemic may lead to greater concentration in the sector as some firms are not able to survive the downturn and changes in consumer food buying behaviour, including movement toward online shopping and enhanced demand for attributes associated with resiliency, such as local. On the other hand, online shopping may provide opportunities for small producers and processors to shorten supply chains and reach customers directly. In the long term, COVID-19 impacts on global commerce and developing country production are more uncertain and could influence poverty reduction. While COVID-19's impacts on North American agriculture should have minimal effect on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through food prices, the ongoing global trends in trade and agribusiness accelerated by the pandemic are relevant for achievement of the SDGs.This is a manuscript of an article published as Weersink, Alfons, Mike von Massow, Nicholas Bannon, Jennifer Ifft, Josh Maples, Ken McEwen, Melissa McKendree et al. "COVID-19 and the agri-food system in the United States and Canada." Agricultural Systems (2020): 103039. doi: 10.1016/j.agsy.2020.103039. Posted with permission.</p