GENEVA, N.Y. — Diversifying a farm business with poultry will be a new topic for discussion by New York Certified Organic at its February 14, 2017 meeting at 10 AM in Jordan Hall, 630 West North Street at the New York State Agricultural Experimental Station, Geneva, NY. Also on the agenda will be presentations on the challenge of providing energy in high forage diets for dairy cows and other ruminants, marketing, a brief description of how crop insurance can benefit organic farmers, and how the USDA Risk Management Agency Whole Farm Insurance can help farms with diverse income streams.
There is no cost or need to register to attend the NYCO meetings; participants are asked to bring a dish for potluck lunch. Dress code to enhance biosecurity protection for poultry producers attending is business casual.
Speakers for the February 14 program include Jeff Mattocks, a livestock and poultry nutritionist with The Fertrell Company, Bainbridge, PA; Dr. Jarra Jagne, a poultry medicine specialist with the Animal Health Diagnostic Laboratory of the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine, Ithaca, NY; and Mark Bruland, sales consultant with Potters Poultry Equipment Company, Warwickshire, United Kingdom.
The poultry portion of the February 14 program will focus on bird health and bio-security, nutrition, housing and marketing for operations with 2,000 to 8,000 birds. Presenter Dr. Jarra Jagne, a Cornell College of Veterinary Medicine Senior Extension Associate, has also served as a diagnostician and consultant with the Avian Influenza Response Unit of the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations, a STOP Avian Influenza Project senior veterinary advisor, and a technical services manager for the poultry breeder company ISA Babcock.
Potters Poultry Equipment Sales Consultant Mark Bruland will talk about poultry housing and outdoor access. Potters Poultry serves an international marketplace from its headquarters in the United Kingdom, where it raises more than two million birds annually. One of its signature products is a range of automatic nests for breeding and laying birds as well as systems for free range, barn, and non-caged laying birds.
Jeff Mattocks of The Fertrell Company will discuss the nutritional needs of dairy cows with a special focus on alternative energy sources for rations. Farmers moving toward a high forage diet or a no-grain diet for their cows will find this information valuable. Mattocks has developed dairy rations for more than 20 years and will also discuss the challenge of properly feeding and storing rations and the pitfalls that result from limiting energy in a ruminant animal diet.
The Fertell Company name derives from the starting letters of fertilizer, trace minerals, and elements. In addition to being one of the oldest producers of organic fertilizer in the U.S., The Fertrell Company makes earth-friendly livestock supplements, soil amendments, and natural pesticides.
Round table discussions after lunch provide farmers the opportunity to ask questions and hear from the combined experience of the group that includes new and transitioning farmers and long-time organic producers.
The New York Crop Insurance Education Team and Cornell Cooperative Extension provide support for the NYCO meetings. For more details, contact Fay Benson, 607-391-2699, afb3@cornell.edu. Benson is an educator with the Cornell University SCNY Regional Team, project manager for the NY Organic Dairy Program, coordinator of the NY Soil Health Trailer, and a member of the New York Crop Insurance Education Team. Information on past NYCO meetings is online at http://blogs.cornell.edu/organicdairyinitiative/.
–Cornell Cooperative Extension
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