INSIDE Meet the new techs!
Genesee County Soil & Water Conservation District Autumn 2014 Issue 29 Liberty Street, Suite 3, Batavia, NY 14020 www.co.genesee.ny.us/departments/soilandwater
Meet the new techs! This past summer we bid farewell to our terrific SWCD Technician Mark Elliott as he has decided to pursue a new career. Happily we welcome two new techs to our staff: SUNY Brockport Graduate Student Molly Stetz, and SUNY Morrisville Graduate Jared Elliott. Molly should be a familiar face as she has interned at the District through the AmeriCorps program for nearly two years after she completed her Bachelor’s degree in Water Resources. Originally, Molly is from Wales, NY in Erie County. Molly will be working part time for the District as she completes her Master’s degree in Environmental Science. Jared hails from a dairy farm in Marathon, NY in Cortland County. In 2012 Jared earned his Associates degree in Natural Resource Conservation, and has just now completed his Bachelor’s degree, majoring in Renewable Resources. As a complement to the classroom side of this academic path, Jared spent the last several months working under the NRCS District Conservationist in Chautauqua County, as well as assisting the Soil & Water technicians in Jamestown. We are very pleased to have these bright young people join us in Batavia—make sure to say hello and get to know them as they head out and about the fields, streams, and watersheds of Genesee County!
Phone: 585-343-2362 Fax: 585-347-7122
INSIDE GCSWCD 70th year Celebration!......2 Current Conservation Projects……......3 Winter Manure Management…..4 Fall Soil Health................5 Decision Maker’s Forum.................6 CAFO Roadshow……...6
Genesee County SWCD Est. 1944 Genesee County Soil Conservation Est. 1944 CELEBRATING 70 YEARS Many conservation practices have continued from the past to the present... Building a manure storage pit (1987)
Building a water diversion to prevent erosion (circa 1940’s)
Contrasting paraplow no-till operations (1984)
Paraplowing to allow no-till operations ( circa 1984)
Cultivating on the contour (circa 1940’s)
Surveying on a winter day
Conservation plans
2 Soil and Water Update
Drainage tiling (1954) Autumn, 2014
A few current conservation projects Gully erosion in an agricultural field
District Staff George Squires District Manager
Before
After
Bob Berkemeier Senior Technician
Elizabeth BentleyHuber Technician/ AEM Coordinator
Jared Elliott Technician
Molly Stetz Technician
Judy Spring Conservation Educator
Silage leachate collection system & vegetative treatment area (VTA) after photos
Jodi Chamberlain District Clerk/Treasurer
District Directors Shelley Stein Chairman, County Legislator
Ted Konieczka Farm Bureau
Marirose Ethington
Manure storage facility in progress
Fuel & fertilizer containment after photo
Fencing for pasture management in progress
Watering facility stabilization before photo
At-Large
Dennis Phelps Grange
Gregg Torrey County Legislator
USDA-NRCS Natural Resources Conservation Service Heath Eisele District Conservationist
Interested? Call our office today to begin your AEM plan!
3 Soil and Water Update
Autumn, 2014
Winter Manure Management: Tricky but not impossible, and EXTREMELY important! We receive a frequent number of manure related calls during the winter months from community members concerned about their farming neighbor’s application methods and worries of well contamination. The facts are that animal agriculture produces manure each and every day of the year, winter spreading is legal in New York State, and most farmers do their very best to keep manure on the field where it belongs. The strength of the dairy industry in Western New York has enjoyed strong public support over the past few years due in large part to the trust that most folks place in their neighboring farmers as superior environmental stewards of the land. That said, it will behoove all producers to maintain this public favor by increasing their efforts to improve manure handling. What the industry does not need are community members becoming discouraged by odors and suspicious of run off. Consider these ideas to assist with better manure management during the winter months: --Establish a lead person; this provides a liaison between farm owners, land owners, crew and custom applicators, and also trains the field crew. The lead person not only plans when and where to spread, but also makes game day decisions to deviate from the plan after evaluating a change in weather or soil conditions. --Train your field crew; these employees need to know application rates, where spreading is allowed as well as where it is not, and what steps to take immediately if an emergency spill occurs. ***Rain or melting snow predicted? DELAY SPREADING IF AT ALL POSSIBLE!*** This is the take home message here: simply put, wet soil conditions lead to compaction and run off. Each farm should plan for an emergency spreading location when weather says “no spreading today!”, but the storage facility says “we’ve got to spread today!” --Have enough storage; this will help producers avoid having to spread when weather and/or soil conditions are not optimum. Also, making an effort to empty your storage facilities in the fall will help prevent future headaches in the winter. Other ideas farms can utilize to increase storage space are to separate solids out, or to employ storage covers. Resource concerns are the primary focus of Genesee Co. Soil & Water Conservation District and therefore cost share funding may be available. Feel free to call and speak with a technician. Water quality is a valid concern for everyone, farmers and non-farmers alike. The North East Dairy Producers Association (NEDPA) is collaborating with New York Farm Bureau, Pro-Dairy, and the NY Soil & Water Conservation Committee to help address this sensitive issue. Last winter was a record year in terms of dairy manure-related water quality complaints and confirmed run off resulting in ditch and well contamination. NYS will most likely be imposing stricter rules in the upcoming CAFO permitting process. What can producers do to help the situation?
Be proactive; plan to prevent discharge problems now.
4 Soil and Water Update
Autumn, 2014
Fall Soil Health Cost-sharing opportunities and services available to improve agricultural soil health Current and future cost-sharing opportunities and GCSWCD services are available to help producers implement practices to improve the soil health in their fields. A few cost-sharing opportunities and services include:
Cornell’s advanced Soil Health Assessment Cover crop seeding Contour strip cropping Diversions & waterways Water & sediment control basins
Fall vs. spring tillage, which is better?
1
Information from Mahdi Al-Kaisi1 and Mark Hanna2 Department of Agronomy 2Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering To read the full article go to : http://www.extension.iastate.eduCropNews/2010/0923alkaisi.htm
As harvest and fall management begins, there are a few facts that should be considered when deciding whether or not to till. The two main considerations are soil conditions (e.g., soil drainage, slope, organic matter, and soil texture) and soil management (e.g., residue management, crop rotation, equipment availability and efficiency). These factors can have significant effects on how successful the tillage system (no-till or conventional tillage system) is and what kind of effect tillage can have on soil quality, productivity and water quality.
The decision to till in the fall or spring will be dictated by many factors that are not easy to control. The two main factors for tillage in the fall or spring are soil moisture conditions and soil temperature. These two factors can have significant impacts on soil fracturing, tillage depth, clod size and level of soil compaction. Therefore, soil moisture and soil temperature can influence tillage practice, and ultimately yield and soil quality performance.
Don’t farm naked!
Normally, if there has not been excess rain during harvest, the fall soil moisture profile will be more suitable for tillage and soil fracturing than in spring when soil moisture is most often at field capacity or above. When soil moisture is above field capacity any travel on the field, whether combining or tilling soil, can cause maximum soil compaction, potentially smear the soil, and be counterproductive. However, tillage in general needs to be the last management option considered for improving soil tilth and productivity. There are alternatives that are equally as effective as conventional tillage. Site specific conditions, soil quality consideration, water quality consideration, and economics of tillage need to be included in the decision whether to till. As always, careful consideration should be given to the soil’s long-term health and productivity as decisions are made. Feed your hungry soil!
5 Soil and Water Update
Another management decision that should be included in the fall - especially if you till - is the use of cover crops. Winter cover crops are an ideal way to add organic matter because they replenish soil nutrients depleted over the growing season and build organic matter and soil integrity. Cover crops protect the life in the soil and soil particles from harsh winter winds and late winter runoff, which later contributes to soil health during the growing season and yields at harvest. Autumn, 2014
Decision Maker's Forum 2014 Genesee County Chamber of Commerce Agriculture Committee’s 25th Annual Decision Maker’s Forum was held on September 23rd. In attendance were about 50 business, education and community leaders. Tour stops included companies that provide precision agriculture advancements, customer-specific feed blends, and specialty meat products to the community. Some of the tours highlights: BCA Ag Technologies in Oakfield, NY combines GPS and computer-aided technology to assist farms with soil testing and planting, fertilizing, and harvesting crops. Z&M Ag and Turf is Western New York’s largest John Deere dealer. Keith Conway, the manager of Z & M Ag and Turf’s Oakfield store, described how precision farming equipment is used while a tractor driven on a computer-aided GPS track passed by the tour group. Cargill, Inc. Animal Nutrition facility in Batavia provides nutrient driven solutions to the dairy industry all over Western New York. As part of the Animal Nutrition division of Cargill, the Batavia plant reaches 193 customers from Springville to Newark and from Lake Ontario down into Northern Pennsylvania. “We feed 30,000 to 40,000 cows from this plant,” said Clayton Wood, the plant’s business development manager. The tour ended with a visit to M&M Meats, also in Batavia, to learn about meat processing. M&M Meats was established in 2007 initially to cut and process venison during deer hunting season. People inquired if they would be re-opening their former slaughter house business to butcher and process beef and pork. They have expanded to do custom smoking and sausage making and a small retail counter was also opened. The pepperstix and jerky are the hottest selling items. The facility is an active participant in the Venison Donation Coalition in New York. The District, as one of the Forum sponsors, would like to thank all the County leaders who participated in the tour.
CAFO Roadshow 2014 Thursday, November 13th, 1-3:30pm Noblehurst Farm Field House, 7955 York Road, Pavilion, NY 14525. Registration deadline: November 11th, 2014. Cornell PRO-DAIRY, NEDPA, NYFB and Farm Credit East announce a new CAFO Roadshow in cooperation with the New York State Departments of Environmental Conservation and Agriculture and Markets, and USDA-NRCS. This series of four seminars (one of which is in Genesee County) to be held in November across NYS will focus on ways for farmers to do an even better job of preventing runoff and water well problems and to learn more about what may be in the new CAFO permit to address these issues. A few topics to be covered include DEC and contamination concerns, review of wet weather spreading guidelines, planning, CAFO permitting, NRCS standards for manure storage/transfer/treatment, small CAFO farms, and new funding opportunities through the Dairy Acceleration Program. Advance registration is required for attendance to ensure the locations can accommodate everyone. Please see deadlines below for each event. Space could be limited in some locations, so please register early. Register online at (http://nyfb.informz.net/NYFB/event.asp?eid=7BB238BE-77BE-48A9-AA963EECC29F852C) or call New York Farm Bureau at 1-800-342-4143, ask for Jessica Lopez and be prepared to provide details of who is attending and which event you will be participating in. 6 Soil and Water Update
Autumn, 2014
7 Soil and Water Update
Autumn, 2014
Serving all of NYS since 1983
ALLEGHANY FARM SERVICES LLC Drainage Contractors Plow - Trencher GPS Controlled GPS Mapping - Tile & Topo Excavation - Hedgerow Removal Manure Storage Installers Drew & Chad Klotzbach 7342 Alleghany Road, Basom, NY 14013 Phone:
E-Mail:
Drew: 716-560-1979 Chad: 716-560-0470 Office: 585-762-4411 [email protected] [email protected]
Genesee County Soil and Water Conservation District 29 Liberty St., Suite 3 Batavia, NY 14020 (585) 343-2362
Tree sale is just around the corner, see our next newsletter!
Genesee County SWCD and Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) programs and services are offered on a nondiscriminatory basis without regard to race, color, national origin, religion, political beliefs, sexual orientation, sex, age, marital status or disability. Genesee County SWCD, NRCS and USDA are equal opportunity providers and employers.
Non Profit Organization U. S. Postage Batavia, New York Permit No. 228
Meet the new techs! This past summer we bid farewell to our terrific SWCD Technician Mark Elliott as he has decided to pursue a new career. Happily we welcome two new techs to our staff: SUNY Brockport Graduate Student Molly Stetz, and SUNY Morrisville Graduate Jared Elliott. Molly should be a familiar face as she has interned at the District through the AmeriCorps program for nearly two years after she completed her Bachelor’s degree in Water Resources. Originally, Molly is from Wales, NY in Erie County. Molly will be working part time for the District as she completes her Master’s degree in Environmental Science. Jared hails from a dairy farm in Marathon, NY in Cortland County. In 2012 Jared earned his Associates degree in Natural Resource Conservation, and has just now completed his Bachelor’s degree, majoring in Renewable Resources. As a complement to the classroom side of this academic path, Jared spent the last several months working under the NRCS District Conservationist in Chautauqua County, as well as assisting the Soil & Water technicians in Jamestown. We are very pleased to have these bright young people join us in Batavia—make sure to say hello and get to know them as they head out and about the fields, streams, and watersheds of Genesee County!
Phone: 585-343-2362 Fax: 585-347-7122
INSIDE GCSWCD 70th year Celebration!......2 Current Conservation Projects……......3 Winter Manure Management…..4 Fall Soil Health................5 Decision Maker’s Forum.................6 CAFO Roadshow……...6
Genesee County SWCD Est. 1944 Genesee County Soil Conservation Est. 1944 CELEBRATING 70 YEARS Many conservation practices have continued from the past to the present... Building a manure storage pit (1987)
Building a water diversion to prevent erosion (circa 1940’s)
Contrasting paraplow no-till operations (1984)
Paraplowing to allow no-till operations ( circa 1984)
Cultivating on the contour (circa 1940’s)
Surveying on a winter day
Conservation plans
2 Soil and Water Update
Drainage tiling (1954) Autumn, 2014
A few current conservation projects Gully erosion in an agricultural field
District Staff George Squires District Manager
Before
After
Bob Berkemeier Senior Technician
Elizabeth BentleyHuber Technician/ AEM Coordinator
Jared Elliott Technician
Molly Stetz Technician
Judy Spring Conservation Educator
Silage leachate collection system & vegetative treatment area (VTA) after photos
Jodi Chamberlain District Clerk/Treasurer
District Directors Shelley Stein Chairman, County Legislator
Ted Konieczka Farm Bureau
Marirose Ethington
Manure storage facility in progress
Fuel & fertilizer containment after photo
Fencing for pasture management in progress
Watering facility stabilization before photo
At-Large
Dennis Phelps Grange
Gregg Torrey County Legislator
USDA-NRCS Natural Resources Conservation Service Heath Eisele District Conservationist
Interested? Call our office today to begin your AEM plan!
3 Soil and Water Update
Autumn, 2014
Winter Manure Management: Tricky but not impossible, and EXTREMELY important! We receive a frequent number of manure related calls during the winter months from community members concerned about their farming neighbor’s application methods and worries of well contamination. The facts are that animal agriculture produces manure each and every day of the year, winter spreading is legal in New York State, and most farmers do their very best to keep manure on the field where it belongs. The strength of the dairy industry in Western New York has enjoyed strong public support over the past few years due in large part to the trust that most folks place in their neighboring farmers as superior environmental stewards of the land. That said, it will behoove all producers to maintain this public favor by increasing their efforts to improve manure handling. What the industry does not need are community members becoming discouraged by odors and suspicious of run off. Consider these ideas to assist with better manure management during the winter months: --Establish a lead person; this provides a liaison between farm owners, land owners, crew and custom applicators, and also trains the field crew. The lead person not only plans when and where to spread, but also makes game day decisions to deviate from the plan after evaluating a change in weather or soil conditions. --Train your field crew; these employees need to know application rates, where spreading is allowed as well as where it is not, and what steps to take immediately if an emergency spill occurs. ***Rain or melting snow predicted? DELAY SPREADING IF AT ALL POSSIBLE!*** This is the take home message here: simply put, wet soil conditions lead to compaction and run off. Each farm should plan for an emergency spreading location when weather says “no spreading today!”, but the storage facility says “we’ve got to spread today!” --Have enough storage; this will help producers avoid having to spread when weather and/or soil conditions are not optimum. Also, making an effort to empty your storage facilities in the fall will help prevent future headaches in the winter. Other ideas farms can utilize to increase storage space are to separate solids out, or to employ storage covers. Resource concerns are the primary focus of Genesee Co. Soil & Water Conservation District and therefore cost share funding may be available. Feel free to call and speak with a technician. Water quality is a valid concern for everyone, farmers and non-farmers alike. The North East Dairy Producers Association (NEDPA) is collaborating with New York Farm Bureau, Pro-Dairy, and the NY Soil & Water Conservation Committee to help address this sensitive issue. Last winter was a record year in terms of dairy manure-related water quality complaints and confirmed run off resulting in ditch and well contamination. NYS will most likely be imposing stricter rules in the upcoming CAFO permitting process. What can producers do to help the situation?
Be proactive; plan to prevent discharge problems now.
4 Soil and Water Update
Autumn, 2014
Fall Soil Health Cost-sharing opportunities and services available to improve agricultural soil health Current and future cost-sharing opportunities and GCSWCD services are available to help producers implement practices to improve the soil health in their fields. A few cost-sharing opportunities and services include:
Cornell’s advanced Soil Health Assessment Cover crop seeding Contour strip cropping Diversions & waterways Water & sediment control basins
Fall vs. spring tillage, which is better?
1
Information from Mahdi Al-Kaisi1 and Mark Hanna2 Department of Agronomy 2Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering To read the full article go to : http://www.extension.iastate.eduCropNews/2010/0923alkaisi.htm
As harvest and fall management begins, there are a few facts that should be considered when deciding whether or not to till. The two main considerations are soil conditions (e.g., soil drainage, slope, organic matter, and soil texture) and soil management (e.g., residue management, crop rotation, equipment availability and efficiency). These factors can have significant effects on how successful the tillage system (no-till or conventional tillage system) is and what kind of effect tillage can have on soil quality, productivity and water quality.
The decision to till in the fall or spring will be dictated by many factors that are not easy to control. The two main factors for tillage in the fall or spring are soil moisture conditions and soil temperature. These two factors can have significant impacts on soil fracturing, tillage depth, clod size and level of soil compaction. Therefore, soil moisture and soil temperature can influence tillage practice, and ultimately yield and soil quality performance.
Don’t farm naked!
Normally, if there has not been excess rain during harvest, the fall soil moisture profile will be more suitable for tillage and soil fracturing than in spring when soil moisture is most often at field capacity or above. When soil moisture is above field capacity any travel on the field, whether combining or tilling soil, can cause maximum soil compaction, potentially smear the soil, and be counterproductive. However, tillage in general needs to be the last management option considered for improving soil tilth and productivity. There are alternatives that are equally as effective as conventional tillage. Site specific conditions, soil quality consideration, water quality consideration, and economics of tillage need to be included in the decision whether to till. As always, careful consideration should be given to the soil’s long-term health and productivity as decisions are made. Feed your hungry soil!
5 Soil and Water Update
Another management decision that should be included in the fall - especially if you till - is the use of cover crops. Winter cover crops are an ideal way to add organic matter because they replenish soil nutrients depleted over the growing season and build organic matter and soil integrity. Cover crops protect the life in the soil and soil particles from harsh winter winds and late winter runoff, which later contributes to soil health during the growing season and yields at harvest. Autumn, 2014
Decision Maker's Forum 2014 Genesee County Chamber of Commerce Agriculture Committee’s 25th Annual Decision Maker’s Forum was held on September 23rd. In attendance were about 50 business, education and community leaders. Tour stops included companies that provide precision agriculture advancements, customer-specific feed blends, and specialty meat products to the community. Some of the tours highlights: BCA Ag Technologies in Oakfield, NY combines GPS and computer-aided technology to assist farms with soil testing and planting, fertilizing, and harvesting crops. Z&M Ag and Turf is Western New York’s largest John Deere dealer. Keith Conway, the manager of Z & M Ag and Turf’s Oakfield store, described how precision farming equipment is used while a tractor driven on a computer-aided GPS track passed by the tour group. Cargill, Inc. Animal Nutrition facility in Batavia provides nutrient driven solutions to the dairy industry all over Western New York. As part of the Animal Nutrition division of Cargill, the Batavia plant reaches 193 customers from Springville to Newark and from Lake Ontario down into Northern Pennsylvania. “We feed 30,000 to 40,000 cows from this plant,” said Clayton Wood, the plant’s business development manager. The tour ended with a visit to M&M Meats, also in Batavia, to learn about meat processing. M&M Meats was established in 2007 initially to cut and process venison during deer hunting season. People inquired if they would be re-opening their former slaughter house business to butcher and process beef and pork. They have expanded to do custom smoking and sausage making and a small retail counter was also opened. The pepperstix and jerky are the hottest selling items. The facility is an active participant in the Venison Donation Coalition in New York. The District, as one of the Forum sponsors, would like to thank all the County leaders who participated in the tour.
CAFO Roadshow 2014 Thursday, November 13th, 1-3:30pm Noblehurst Farm Field House, 7955 York Road, Pavilion, NY 14525. Registration deadline: November 11th, 2014. Cornell PRO-DAIRY, NEDPA, NYFB and Farm Credit East announce a new CAFO Roadshow in cooperation with the New York State Departments of Environmental Conservation and Agriculture and Markets, and USDA-NRCS. This series of four seminars (one of which is in Genesee County) to be held in November across NYS will focus on ways for farmers to do an even better job of preventing runoff and water well problems and to learn more about what may be in the new CAFO permit to address these issues. A few topics to be covered include DEC and contamination concerns, review of wet weather spreading guidelines, planning, CAFO permitting, NRCS standards for manure storage/transfer/treatment, small CAFO farms, and new funding opportunities through the Dairy Acceleration Program. Advance registration is required for attendance to ensure the locations can accommodate everyone. Please see deadlines below for each event. Space could be limited in some locations, so please register early. Register online at (http://nyfb.informz.net/NYFB/event.asp?eid=7BB238BE-77BE-48A9-AA963EECC29F852C) or call New York Farm Bureau at 1-800-342-4143, ask for Jessica Lopez and be prepared to provide details of who is attending and which event you will be participating in. 6 Soil and Water Update
Autumn, 2014
7 Soil and Water Update
Autumn, 2014
Serving all of NYS since 1983
ALLEGHANY FARM SERVICES LLC Drainage Contractors Plow - Trencher GPS Controlled GPS Mapping - Tile & Topo Excavation - Hedgerow Removal Manure Storage Installers Drew & Chad Klotzbach 7342 Alleghany Road, Basom, NY 14013 Phone:
E-Mail:
Drew: 716-560-1979 Chad: 716-560-0470 Office: 585-762-4411 [email protected] [email protected]
Genesee County Soil and Water Conservation District 29 Liberty St., Suite 3 Batavia, NY 14020 (585) 343-2362
Tree sale is just around the corner, see our next newsletter!
Genesee County SWCD and Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) programs and services are offered on a nondiscriminatory basis without regard to race, color, national origin, religion, political beliefs, sexual orientation, sex, age, marital status or disability. Genesee County SWCD, NRCS and USDA are equal opportunity providers and employers.
Non Profit Organization U. S. Postage Batavia, New York Permit No. 228
