Events for June 9, 2023

Join Fay Benson,  Small Dairy Support Specialist with Cornell University SCNY Regional Dairy Team for a pasture walk focused on protecting pastures form drought. Fay has had plenty of opportunity through his work to watch other graziers as well as graze his own animals. One conclusion he’s come up with is: “Anyone can graze in a wet year; it takes a good grazier to graze in a dry year”. Drought disrupts grazing operations more than confinement operations since confinement operations plan to have stored feed for their animals so when drought weather hits they have time to react and make alternative plans. It doesn’t affect the livestock. As pasture soil dries, grass growth slows, graziers try to keep their rotation going hoping for rain. When it doesn’t come they have to change to stored feed which can have a negative effect on livestock production. An ounce of prevention - learn some management practices that can help prevent drought disruption and discover if irrigation can be a tool for drought relief on you farm. Hosts for the pasture walk are Janice Brown and her husband Kim Shaklee. They have operated their 40 cow grazing dairy since 1993. Kim was an irrigation manager for a number of farms in Colorado before they moved here to New York. When they came the resources they specifically looked for was: reasonably priced and a farm that had irrigation potential. Kim will share how they established their irrigation system and the infrastructure needed to get started. The pasture walk at their farm on August 17^th will begin at noon. The farm is located at 3642 Old Worden Rd, Canaseraga NY 14882. Bring a dish to pass or $5 for lunch. A van will be leaving Cortland at 9:30 AM, if you’d like a ride contact Fay Benson at afb3@cornell.edu or 607-391-2669. Registrations are preferred to help with lunch plans, if driving yourself, please contact Lynn Bliven at lao3@cornell.edu or 585-268-7644 x18 to register. Pasture Walks are one of many programs offered by Cornell Cooperative Extension of Allegany County (CCE-Allegany). The association is part of the national cooperative extension system, an educational partnership between County, State, and Federal governments. As New York’s land grant university Cornell administers the system in this state. For more information, call 585-268-7644 or visit our website at www.cce.cornell.edu/allegany. Cornell Cooperative Extension provides equal program and employment opportunities.