By Kirk Arnold, NODPA Co-President
I hope this fall finds everyone doing well. For one of the first times in memory, I can't complain, nor have I heard any other local farmers complain, about the weather this year. We have had an overall good growing season, with lots of grass that kept growing most of the summer and only really slowed down this fall, as it has been getting quite dry as we head into the later part of the year.
I'm not used to having dry pastures this time of year and it's quite pleasant not having any muddy pastures. The river in our valley is the lowest I have ever seen it be this time of year. The dry fall sure does make late season harvesting of corn silage and high moisture corn much more enjoyable.
From all reports, it sounds like the NODPA Field Days were well attended and enjoyed this year! Also sounded like some great farm tours and presentations with lots of great knowledge shared. I was sorry to have missed being there this year but a trip to Hawaii was too much to pass up! Fun fact, Hawaii is a large exporter of beef animals. When I first heard that, I couldn't believe it. I looked it up and apparently they ship thousands of beef animals at around 6 months of age by either cargo ship or plane and raise them in Oregon until going to feedlots in Texas for fattening and slaughter. I had never thought of beef animals being flown somewhere!
I hope everyone has signed up for ODMAP through your local FSA office as we just had our payment come through. Also there is an organic certification reimbursement program that helps cover some of the costs of certification. I highly recommend signing up for both.
Kirk Arnold, NODPA Co-President
Truxton, NY
Phone: 607-842-6631
Email:kickaha21@gmail.com
Posted: to Industry News on Sun, Nov 3, 2024
Updated: Thu, Nov 7, 2024
