Agriculture

(03/09/12) The House Agriculture Committee convenes a hearing this morning on the federal Farm Bill at North Country Community College in Saranac Lake.

The hearing is one of only four scheduled for outside Washington DC so far on the bill. It comes at the invitation of Rep. Bill Owens of Plattsburgh. The public is welcome.

See the live webcast via the link below, and hear more this afternoon on All Before Five. more

(03/09/12) About 300 people showed up for Friday's farm bill forum at North Country Community College in Saranac Lake. The US House Agriculture Committee hearing was one of only 4 to be held outside Washington, DC.

The Farm bill is rewritten every four years--the last time the massive set of regulations was authorized was in 2008. The current farm bill expires in September. more

(03/07/12) Cold nights, warm days, sunshine: chickdees are busy, and the sap is rising. It all adds up to maple syrup season. Whether your operation includes a bulk holding tank and miles of plastic tubing, or just a few buckets hanging off the trees in the backyard, it all starts the same way, with a strategically placed hole in a sugar maple.

And it's today's Heard Up North, produced by Martha Foley.

(03/06/12) Farmers from across the state were in Albany Tuesday for Farm Bureau Lobby day.

Tuesday and at their traditional "taste of New York" reception Monday night, farmers urged state legislators to push for farm-friendly policies and spending in the new state budget.

On the public radio program Capitol Pressroom, Farm Bureau president Dean Norton spoke with Susan Arbetter about how New York farmers are doing--and what they need now, from the legislature:

(03/05/12) It's a scene that was common-place in the early 20th century, horses out on a frozen lake cutting through the ice with bladed plows.

Ice harvesting may not be part of your family's plans this year, but for one rural St. Lawrence County family it's the only way to keep food cool during the summer. Trevor Alford visited the Douglass family farm outside Canton and has our story. more

(03/05/12) U.S. Representative Bill Owens says it's a big deal that Saranac Lake was chosen to host a Congressional hearing on the 2012 Farm Bill. Owens says it's a chance for farmers and others to influence re-authorization of federal agriculture policy, which hasn't been done since 2008.

"I feel really, very, very honored that the committee has selected the 23rd district for this type of event. There's only going to be four or so of them around the country. So this is very significant. This is an opportunity for us to talk about the issues that affect the north country."

The Saranac Lake hearing is Friday morning at North Country Community College. The others are scheduled in Illinois, Arkansas, and Kansas in the coming weeks.

Owens says there are good reasons for Congress to choose this location for the northeast meeting:

"That was picked because they were trying to get to a location that was part of a large agricultural district, the 23rd. But also because it is the northeast hearing, you're covering really New Jersey, New York, portions of Pennsylvania, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont. This is a very significant geographic area, and they tried to pick somewhere that was relatively speaking, centrally located."

The hearing will give Members of the House Agriculture Committee the opportunity to hear firsthand how U.S. farm policy is working for farmers and ranchers in advance of writing the Farm Bill.

(03/02/12) Saranac Lake will host one of only four Congressional hearings on the 2012 Farm Bill in the country. The Saranac Lake session will be the only one held in the northeast U.S. this year.

Representative Bill Owens of Plattsburgh calls it a "tremendous opportunity for New York to make its voice heard as Congress crafts the next Farm Bill."

A press release from Owens office says North Country Community College will host the hearing on Friday, March 9. The other three are scheduled in Illinois, Arkansas, and Kansas in the coming weeks. The hearings are meant to gather on-the-ground input from farmers and others about re-authorization of federal agriculture policy, which last happened in 2008.

(02/27/12) The Uihlein Sugar Maple Research & Extension Field Station in Lake Placid made its first batch of syrup last Thursday. Director Michael Farrell, who's been with the field station for seven years, says it was the earliest he's made syrup.

Crews started tapping trees at the 200-acre Uihlein Forest on January 31. That took about three weeks. Then, workers had to inspect the 60 miles of tubing that carries the sap from the trees to the sugar house.

Chris Morris joined Farrell for a tour last week. Farrell told him that mild temperatures have given area producers a jump start on the season.

(02/17/12) An open house featuring local farmers and a community dinner in Plattsburgh on Saturday, March 3 will showcase local produce, meat and dairy products. Horticulturist Amy Ivy, with Cornell Cooperative in Clinton and Essex counties, tells us more about the second annual "Food from the Farm" event.

She told Todd Moe she's hoping it will energize consumers about this year's growing season and buying locally grown food in the late winter months.

For dinner tickets, call: 518-561-7450, or email: adi2@cornell.edu

(01/30/12) The U.S. Department of Agriculture has released the new version of its Plant Hardiness Zone Map. It's an update of a useful tool for gardeners. Clinton and Essex County Cornell Cooperative Extension Service Horticulturist Amy Ivy says it's a "great piece of the gardening puzzle" in the North Country, but not the whole story. She spoke with Todd Moe.