small farm quarterly 10.1.12

Feature Articles• Legal Risks of Direct Marketing........…...............…Page 4

• The Cheney Letters.............................................….Page 7

• Vermont’s Winning Cheese…...................................Page 9

• Vegetable Equipment Considerations.....................7Supplement to Country Folks

SMALL FARM QUARTERLYGood Living and Good Farming – Connecting People, Land, and CommunitiesSMALL FARM QUARTERLY

Good Living and Good Farming – Connecting People, Land, and Communities

FALL 2012

SMALL FARM PROGRAM UPDATE

Cornell Small Farms Program Update.........................................................Page 3

BOOK NOOK

The Business of Growing Green Ideas:The small farm book business grows organically, by Jill Swenson...........Page 5

BUSINESS MANAGEMENT

Legal Risks of Direct Marketing Your Product, by Jason Foscolo............Page 4

COMMUNITY AND WORLD

The Cheney Letters, by Stewart Cheney..........................................................Page 7

FARM TECHWater Saving Strategies for Your Farm & Garden,by Patricia Brhel....................................................................................................Page 16

Vegetable Equipment Considerations for New Farmers,by Sara Runkel and Tianna DuPont................................................................Page 16

FARM ENERGY

Compost Power! by Sam Gorton...................................................................Page 6

HORTICULTURE

Chyrsanthemum White Rust: Good Management Prevents Major Losses,by Elizabeth Lamb, Margery Daughtrey and Margaret Kelly...........................Page 19

Cucumber Downy Mildew, by Michael Mazourek.........................................Page 19

LOCAL FOODS & MARKETING

What Makes Vermont’s Award-Winning Cheese Engine Run?by Martha Herbert Izzi.....................................................................................Page 9

Faces of our Food System: Red Rabbit, by Becca Jablonski.....................Page 8

NEW FARMERS

Loan Opportunities for New Farmers, by Kristie Schmitt........................... Page 13

Holistic Training Helps Women Farmers Thrive, by Ann Adams................Page 14

New farm, Old Farmland, by Michael Chameides.......................................Page 13

NORTHEAST SARE SPOTLIGHT

Taking Tourism as High as a Hot Air Ballon,by Rachel Whiteheart.....................................................................................Page 18

PHOTO ESSAY

Dairy Delight.................................................................................................Page 12

RESOURCE SPOTLIGHTS

Marketing Help for Sheep & Goat Farmers, by tatiana Stanton ...............Page 12

STEWARDSHIP & NATURE

Happy Cows, Healthy Fish, by Carley Stei..................................................Page 5

YOUTH PAGES

The Next Generation of Small Farmers.........................................................Page 10

ABOUT OUR ADS...All advertisements in Small Farm Quarterly are managed by Lee Publications. Cornell’s SmallFarms Program, Cornell Cooperative Extension, and other Small Farm Quarterly sponsors and contrib-utors do not endorse advertisers, their products or services.We receive no revenues from advertisers.

To find out how your business or organization can advertise in Small Farm Quarterly, contact: JanAndrews, Lee Publications, 518-673-0110 or [email protected]

SMALL FARM QUARTERLY - FALL 2012TABLE OF CONTENTS

Cornell Small Farms Programwww.smallfarms.cornell.edu607-255-9227

NYS 4-H Teen Programwww.cce.cornell.edu/4h

607-255-0886

www.cce.cornell.edu www.cals.cornell.edu

SUPPORTING ORGANIZATIONS:

Cover photo credit: Dedricks Fruit Stand in Dryden, NY sells produce andgarden plants from May – October. Photo by Violet Stone

SMALL FARM QUARTERLY October 1, 2012

www.nrcs.usda.gov802-865-7895

SMALL FARM QUARTERLYGood Farming and Good Living —

Connecting People, Land, and CommunitiesSmall Farm Quarterly is for farmers and farm families — including spouses and chil-dren - who value the quality of life that smaller farms provide. It is compiled by theCornell Small Farms Program, based at Cornell University in Ithaca, NY. The CornellSmall Farms Program fosters the sustainability of diverse, thriving small farms that con-tribute to food security, healthy rural communities, and the environment. We do this byencouraging small farms-focused research and extension programs.

OUR SMALL FARM QUARTERLY GOALS ARE TO:• Celebrate the Northeast region’s smaller farms;• Inspire and inform farm families and their supporters;• Help farmers share expertise and opinions with each other;• Increase awareness of the benefits that small farms contribute to society

and the environment.• Share important research, extension, and other resources.

Small Farm Quarterly is produced by Lee Publications, Inc., and is distributed fourtimes a year as a special section of Country Folks. Volume 10 publication dates:January 9, April 2, July 2 and October 1, 2012.

EDITORIAL TEAM:• Violet Stone, Cornell Small Farms Program Managing Editor 607-255-9227• Anu Rangarajan, Cornell Small Farms Program Editor in Chief 607-255-1780• Laura Biasillo, Broome County CCE New Farmers 607-584-5007• Jamila Walida Simon, NYS 4-H Youth Development Program 607-255-0287• Sam Anderson, New Entry Sustainable Farming Project Livestock 978-654-6745• Gary Goff, Cornell Natural Resources Department 607-255-2824• Martha Herbert Izzi, Vermont Farmer New England Correspondent 802-492-3346• Betsy Lamb, CCE Integrated Pest Management Program Horticulture 607-254-8800• John Thurgood, USDA-Natural Resources

Conservation Service-Vermont Stewardship and Nature 802-865-7895• Nancy Glazier, Northwest NY Dairy, Livestock

and Field Crops Team Grazing 315-536-5123• Jill Swenson, Swenson Book Development Community and World 607-539-3278• Michelle Podolec, NE Beginning

Farmer Project Coordinator Farm Technology 607-255-9911

FOR SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION CONTACTTracy Crouse, Lee Publications, Inc., PO Box 121, Palatine Bridge, NY 13428

888-596-5329 [email protected]

FOR ADVERTISING INFORMATION CONTACT:Jan Andrews, Lee Publications, Inc., 518-673-0110 or 800-218-5586, ext. 110

or [email protected]

SEND YOUR LETTERS AND STORIES TO:Cornell Small Farms Program

15A Plant Science Building, Cornell University , Ithaca, NY, 14853607-255-9227 • [email protected]

About copyright: The material published in Small Farm Quarterly is not copyrighted unless otherwise noted.However, we ask that you please be sure to credit both the author and Small Farm Quarterly.

by Jill Swenson

Growing the seeds of goodideas into books is akin tofarming in some respects. Inpublishing, like in farming,there are large multination-al, multimillion dollar corpo-rations dominant in theindustry. Yet, thegroundswell of good booksabout small scale farms,seasonable cuisine, andsustainable living reflectsthe growing market for goodideas.You may have noticedmore books of interest in thefeed store, the hardware,the farmers market, andlibrary.

It's interesting to note thatmany big commercial pub-lishing houses now seesmall farming and home-steading topics as anemerging sector of the bookmarket. But it's most heart-warming to know about twopublishers dedicated tosmall farm subjects whosesuccess results from read-ers who are local, grass-roots, and organicallygrown.

The Story behind StoreyPublishingMost farmers don't havemuch time to sit around andread. But there are a few

books kept handy for refer-ence on most small farms. Ifyou pull it off the little shelfby the old telephone, dirtythumbprints, stained pages,and a torn cover provide theevidence of its utility as areference. Open the insidecover, and I'm guessing thebook is published by one oftwo American publishersdedicated for a quarter cen-tury to providing booksabout small scale sustain-able farming.

Storey Publishing began asan independent publisher in

October 1, 2012 SMALL FARM QUARTERLY

How can I get Small Farm Quarterly?Country Folks subscribers automatically receive SFQ four times a year at

no extra cost. Country Folks is delivered weekly for $47 per year.

SFQ-only subscribers receive just the 4 issues of Country Folks that contain the SFQ insert for only $5 a year.

Cooperative Extension Associations and other organizations can offer their members a subscription to SFQ as a member benefit! Your organization collects the names, forwards them to Country Folks Subscriptions, and pays Country Folks just $2.50 for each subscriber.

Country Folks mails out the copies.

Bulk orders: You can order multiple copies of any issuefor just 10¢ a copy! Minimum order is 50. Orders must be placed at least 4

weeks before the publication date

To find out more, contact:Tracy Crouse, Country Folks Subscriptions

P.O. Box 121, Palatine Bridge, NY 134281-888-596-5329 or email: [email protected]

Join the ConversationHave a resource, opinion, or question

to share? – Post a response to our

online Small Farm Quarterly blog at

www.smallfarms.cornell.edu, send us

an email, message us on Facebook

or send us an old-fashioned letter.

Our email is

[email protected]

Fall, Winter, and Spring Online Classesfor Small FarmersWhether you are a seasoned, new, or aspir-ing farmer, there's something for you in our2012-2013 line-up of online courses.

There are courses covering commercialproduction topics like raising veggies,berries, and poultry, and many more cover-ing management of a successful farm,including business planning, holistic finan-cial planning, marketing, and getting startedin farming.Take advantage of this opportuni-ty to interact with other farmers, developyour farming plans, and learn new skillsfrom the comfort of your own home. Mostcourses are 6 weeks long and a bargain at$200 each.

Learn more athttp://nebeginningfarmers.org/online-courses.

Guide to On-Farm Poultry SlaughterWe are pleased to announce publication ofour new On-farm Poultry Slaughter Guide,geared toward farmers that process lessthan 1000 birds/yr. The guide outlines thechallenges of small-scale on farm process-ing, such as getting liability insurance.Designed to complement a hands-on train-ing in how to properly kill and prepare apoultry carcass for sale, this guide focuseson the critical points for producing a productthat is safe to eat.

This 28-page guide contains sections on the

1000-bird limit exemption, where you canlegally sell your birds under this exemption,labeling requirements, sanitary operatingprocedures and more. It includes severalappendices, such as a sample flock recordlog and a questionnaire that your insurancecompany may use to assess your knowl-edge of safe poultry processing practices.

If you process less than 1000 birds/year onyour farm, following the practices in thisguide doesn't guarantee that you'll find aninsurance company willing to provide youwith liability insurance. But demonstrating toinsurers your knowledge of best practices inpoultry slaughter and processing may helpconvince them that you're not a high-riskoperation. Download the guide atwww.smallfarms.cornell.edu

Figs and Farm EnergyWhat do figs have to do with farm energy?Come out and visit Leo Seimion's 25 acreorganic farm in Summit, NY on October 5thto find out. Leo is growing oranges, lemonsand figs in his greenhouse which is warmedby radiant heat. He also has a 9.4 KW gridtied PV electric system and a roof mountedevacuated tube solar hot water system,among many other energy conservationand renewable energy features. The farmenergy field day is the first of a seriesoffered throughout New York during themonth of October. For the full schedule andto register, visit www.smallfarms.cornell.edu

Message from the Managing EditorCornell Small Farms Program Update

Happy Fall! Is your kitchen getting foggywith steam rising from scalding ripe toma-toes? One of my favorite childhood memo-ries of Fall is spending time in the kitchenwith my mother and sisters boiling apples tocrank through our hand-operated apple-sauce maker. The warm, sweet aroma ofapplesauce permeated the air and the heatrising from the pot kept autumns chill frompressing in at the windows.

One of the nicest things about farming andgardening is the evocative nature of it. Theexperience of growing food and raising ani-mals abounds with so many rich colors andaromas that it creates lasting impressionsfor many of us. This struck me clearly whilereading through letters from Stuart Cheney,a 78 year old Vermont farmer whose mem-oirs we are introducing in this issue. Whilerecalling farm memories from 7 decadesearlier, he brings the sensory experienceright to the surface. He describes hangingfreshly butchered pork in the pantry as ayoung boy: “The salt pork shoulders andham went into the crocks with brine to cure,

before we hungthem in an old barreland smoked themwith nice dry applewood. Later on,when winter movedin we cut some ofthe cured salt porkup into one-inch squares and put them in akettle. We set the kettle on the back of thewood stove. After the pork was melteddown, we poured off the lard to get the tasti-est fat scraps to eat - nothing better. Yum,yum!” I think you’ll enjoy his vivid recollec-tions of farm life in the 1940s over the nextfew issues. Flip ahead to “The CheneyLetters” to read more.

Do you have a memory of this or past farm-ing seasons to share as we slip into a morereflective season? As always, we love tohear from you. Drop us a line anytime!

Best wishes,

Violet

BOOK NOOK

The Business of Growing GreenIdeasTwo Publishers Specialize in Small Farm andSustainable Living Books

Cont. on page 4

Doo youu likee too writee aboutfarming?? Bee aa contributer!

We currently have writer/editor positionsopen for the following columns: “LocalFoods and Marketing”; “BusinessManagement”; and “Farm Energy”. Weare especially looking for editors andwriters from outside of New York State,so that we can improve our coverage ofNew England and Pennsylvania. AllSFQ editors and writers are volunteers.If you’re interested, please contactViolet Stone at 607-255-9227 [email protected].


by Jason Foscolo

There has never been a better time forNew York farmers to sell their productsdirectly to consumers. The number offarmers markets is growing exponential-ly, and public interest in local foods hasnever been higher. Our farmers now havemore options than ever to get their prod-ucts directly to consumers.

Farms transitioning into direct marketingneed to consider how changes in theirbusiness plan might affect their legalexposure. Agricultural producers may beunwittingly exposing themselves to civilliability for illness or injury caused bytheir products.

In New York State civil lawsuits, all foodproducers are held “strictly liable” for theharm caused by their products. Strict lia-bility is a legal standard of care which isbest described as liability for injury with-out regard to fault or negligence. In astrict liability lawsuit, plaintiffs, and theirtort lawyers, do not need to go throughthe difficulty and uncertainty of provingthat a farmer has behaved negligently orcarelessly in the production or process-ing of food. In a strict liability case, aninjured party must merely prove that aproduct was sold in a dangerous ordefective condition, and that this danger-ous or defective condition was the causeof an injury. For plaintiffs, this is a simpli-fied route to financial recovery. For ourstate's direct market farmers, it is thehighest duty of care the court system canimpose upon them.

New York's direct market farmers areheld to this high standard of care regard-less of their size or annual revenue. Itmay seem unfair to burden small-scalefarmers with such a high standard of lia-bility, but this legal concept has a com-pelling public policy goal. Its purpose isto encourage all food producers, regard-less of size, to place the highest priorityon food safety.

The legal risks of direct market farming,though high, are manageable. A gener-ous insurance policy, one which coversproduct liability, is an essential part of arisk management strategy. Direct marketfarmers should make especially certainthat policies cover processed food prod-ucts if they are engaging in any value-added activity.

Performing all of your agricultural activi-ties using a limited liability entity, such asaLimited Liability Company (LLC) or byincorporating, may also help to shieldsome of valuable personal assets fromcivil judgments in the event that a farmproduct causes someone to become ill.

Biological controls, however, are still thevery best way to prevent harm or injury toconsumers. The only way to avoid thepotentially disastrous consequences of astrict liability lawsuit is to make a productthat is absolutely safe. Maintain a zerodefect mentality when growing and han-dling food products. Stay current with thelatest good agricultural practices, and ifengaged in value-added processing, rig-orously adhere to a Hazard Analysis atCritical Control Points (HACCP) plan.

There is no such thing as “too careful” inthe food business.

Jason Foscolo is the principal attorney of

Jason Foscolo LLC, a general practice

lawfirm dedicated to the special needs of

farmers and food entrepreneurs.

Legal Risks of Direct Marketing Your Product

Farmers now have more options than ever to get their products directly to con-sumers, but legal risks can be high.

FARM BUSINESS MANAGEMENT

an old creamery in Charlotte, VT. They published garden-ing books that helped people grow their own vegetables,fruits, flowers, and herbs. They added cookbooks andguidebooks to raising small animals, building fences andbarns, and other self-sufficiency skills.

Now headquartered in North Adams, MA, Storey has soldmore than 35 million books and lists more than 500 activetitles, 70 of which have sold more than 100,000 copies.Storey has been at the center of a cultural revival of DIYlifestyles, fueled by environmental awareness and respon-sibility, with an appetite for homegrown local food, and apassion for nature.

Earlier in June this year, I met with Adrienne Franceschi,Trade and Gift Sales Manager for Storey Publishing atBook Expo America at the Jacob Javits Center inManhattan. She recently joined Storey's team becausethey remain one of the only independent publishers dedi-cated to its core readership of small farmers. We're a loyalreadership because these affordable paperbacks can becounted on for accurate information and practical advice.If you've got goats, rabbits, sheep or just some chickensin your backyard, Storey's “Guide to Raising” seriesbelongs on your bookshelf.

Adrienne Franceschi of Storey showed me SarahAnderson's The Spinner's Book of Yarn Designs to bereleased in November. As a spinner, I drooled over thestep-by-step guides to help you create 80 distinctiveyarns. Put this on your holiday wish list. Likely to be nextyear's bestseller is the forthcoming Reinventing the

Chicken Coop by Matthew Wolpe. Kevin McElroy includes14 complete buildings plans from the functional to the fab-ulously fun. On the trade floor of Book Expo they show-

cased what Storey Publishing has to offer in books on tra-ditional skills, livestock, preserving, pets, equine, birds,and crafts. Their tag line says it best. The whole Storey: 25years of personal independence in harmony with the envi-ronment.

Chelsea Green Stakes its Claim on the Future:Employee OwnershipA second publisher leading the industry on books for thepractice of sustainable living, Chelsea Green also tookroot in Vermont far from the publishing district in New YorkCity. Margo Baldwin, President and Publisher, establisheda publishing house Chelsea Green based on a triple bot-tom line: one that benefits people, planet, and profit.Margo Baldwin's leadership is evidenced in the publish-er's commitment to serve farmers with practical informa-tion that encourages personal independence in harmonywith the environment.

Current bestselling titles from Chelsea Green includeSandor Katz' The Art of Fermentation, David Holmgren'sPermaculture, and the new Mastering Artisan

Cheesemaking: The Ultimate Guide for Home-Scale and

Market Producers. Chelsea Green books have great shelflife. On my shelves are Eliot Coleman's books aboutorganic four season harvesting, The Straw Bale House,and the eco-fable first published 25 years ago, The Man

Who Planted Trees.

On July 2, 2012, independent book publisher, ChelseaGreen, announced that it is now an employee-ownedcompany, with close to 80 percent of its stock held byemployees. In an industry dominated by investor-drivenmultinational corporations, this ensures the company'sindependence and roots in rural Vermont.

The business of books about small farms is healthy: noboom, no bust. No floods, no dustbowls nor droughts inthe forecast.

Growing Green Ideas Cont. from page 3

by Carley Stein

Gordon Waite, a man with a friendlydemeanor and steady smile, managestwenty Herefords on his 67-acre farm situat-ed in Granville, VT. Gordon cannot picturehimself doing anything besides farming. “Ilove farming, and I love my animals,” Gordonproudly announced, an honest statement hedemonstrated by calling each of his cowsfrom a distance by name.

Gordon maintains his cheerful attitudebecause he enjoys caring for his animals'health and welfare, despite the constantconcern of coyotes, foxes, and dealing withseventeen expectant mothers. Gordon cur-rently is looking after fifty newly hatchedchickens and helping his daughter succeedin the egg business, a true family collabora-tion. Gordon hopes to grow his herd up tothirty brood cows in the future, but wants tocontinue as a small farm because he feelshis animals deserve personal attention.

Gordon started his first conservation work in2011 and was a voluntary participant in theFarm Service Agency's (FSA) ConservationReserve Enhancement Program (CREP).The program focuses on improving waterquality through vegetative buffers, such as ariparian forest buffer, which Gordon now hason his property. The program is also able toprovide up to 90% of the cost of the projectand annual rental payments for fifteen years(this can vary by State) on the CREP landthat is no longer available for grazing. KateTeale, with the Natural ResourceConservation Service (NRCS), providedGordon technical assistance, includingdevelopment of a planting plan, and follow-up with field checks of the planting.

The main objective of Gordon's project was

to protect water quality in the White Riverthrough the establishment of a riparian for-est buffer.The White River spans 60 miles inthe state of Vermont and is a tributary to theConnecticut River. The riparian forest bufferplanted on Gordon's property includes sev-eral species of native trees and shrubs,which when fully grown will span a fifty-footarea between the river and grazing area.This buffer will greatly improve water qualityby preventing streambank erosion and pro-viding a new habitat for birds and smallmammals.NRCS and FSA were not alone inthis project; The White River Partnership

and US Fish and Wildlife Service proved tobe valuable partners in this endeavor.

The White River Partnership had previouslyassisted Gordon on a river corridor ease-ment project, which they believed wouldgreatly benefit from a riparian forest buffer.As part of the CREP project the White RiverPartnership organized the labor to plant thebuffer. This arrangement reduced the cost ofthe project and allowed for communityinvolvement. Students from VermontTechnical College, Rochester HighSchool,and Stockbridge Elementary Schoolwere all given the opportunity to get outsideand assist in planting. The White RiverPartnership had worked on similar plantingprojects in the local area and the knowledgethey shared was useful to Kate Teale whenshe was formulating the planting plan. All ofthe trees were ordered from local nurseries,which gave them a higher potential for suc-cess and kept all of the money local.

The United States Fish and Wildlife Service(USFWS) worked as a cost-share partnerfor the additional 10 percent of the cost thatthe CREP program did not cover. USFWSassisted in payments on the fencing thatwould ultimately protect 3,500 feet of thestream bank and 4.4 acres of riparian habi-tat. This fencing would also help protect theaquatic life in the river, most notably thetrout. Gordon installed all of the fencing him-self, with some assistance from his nephew.He is excited to see how the new buffer willwork to protect his grazing land from flooddamage. Gordon is especially sensitive toflooding after Tropical Storm Irene, whichdamaged his property.

Gordon truly enjoyed working with all of thedifferent agencies that were involved in hisproject. Gordon would absolutely recom-

mend thisprogram andwas grateful

for the help from all of the “good people atthe NRCS.” Gordon has volunteered hisfarm to be used by the USFWS as a long-term monitoring location. The USFWS willmonitor the effects the buffer has on birdpopulations and the overall success of treeand shrub growth. This project highlights thecollaboration between FSA, USFWS,NRCS, The White River Partnership, andfarmer, Gordon Waite, for water quality andwildlife habitat enhancement in Vermont.If you would like to implement a riparian

forest buffer on your farm or would like moreinformation on the Conservation ReserveEnhancement Program, please contact yourlocal Farm Service Agency or NaturalResources Conservation Service office. Fora directory see: www.fsa.usda.gov orwww.nrcs.usda.gov respectively.

Carley Stein is a Natural ResourcesConservation Service 'Earth Team' volun-teer.


STEWARDSHIP & NATUREHappy Cows, Healthy FishGordon Waite received funding to install a riparian forest buffer on his Vermont farm to protect the WhiteRiver.

Fencing along Gordon Waite’s riparianforest buffer.

Photo by Katherine TealeGordon Waite with his Herefords, Amberleft, Casey, right.

Photo by Carley Stein

SMALL FARM QUARTERLY October 1, 2012FARM ENERGY

by Sam Gorton

Any farmer is well aware that a large heap offresh manure, livestock bedding and otherorganic farm residuals will generate substan-tial heat for several weeks or months.What isless widely known - and what this articleintends to introduce to readers - are themethods for capturing this heat for use onthe farm while simultaneously producinghigh quality organic soil amendment. In fact,a growing number of farm businesses in theNortheast are already generating usableheat from farmstead compostable material!To build upon this progress, Compost Power,a small network of researchers, farmers,engineers and do-it-yourself enthusiasts hasbeen investigating and experimenting withsmall farm and homestead-scale systems forextracting useful heat from compost. In thefollowing article, I will present some resultsof our efforts thus far, focusing on those ofinterest and relevance to farmers at anyscale as well as sustainable agriculture andrenewable energy enthusiasts.

Before we dig in too deeply, you may bewondering: Does compost really generateenough usable heat? Well, it turns out ourancestors and contemporaries have repeat-edly found methods for utilizing the heat by-product of compost. Firstly, records fromancient China depict heat utilization fromcompost heaps approximately 2,000 yearsago. In more recent history, around the turnof the 20th century, in pre-automobile Paris,farmers disposed of the city's horse manurein composting “hot beds” which heatedglasshouses for urban vegetable production[1]. This ancestral wisdom may have inspiredpost-industrial farmers to explore the valueof compost heat capture in sustainable agri-culture.

A rather extraordinary example of compostheat utilization is that of the French farmerand forester Jean Pain, who, through the1960s and '70s, experimented with compost-ing methods on his farm in southern France.In his book [2], Pain describes how he and acrew harvested fire-prone brushwood fromhis farm to create composting mounds ofbrushwood. These so-called “Pain mounds”were as large as 100 yards and producedenough thermal energy to heat a batch biodi-gester and provide the hot potable waterneeds of the farmstead. In his book, Paindescribes equipment he used to capture andutilize the heat, biogas and fertilizer by-prod-ucts of this integrated renewable energy sys-

tem. I should note that while compost heatextraction and biodigester technologies havebeen independently shown to be technicallyand commercially viable, there is no recordof any replication of Jean Pain's combinationof these technologies into a successfulenterprise.

Closer to home here in the Northeast, thereare a few examples of farm- and commer-cial-scale compost heat extraction. In the1980s, at the New Alchemy Institute onCape Cod, MA, Bruce Fulford and a team ofapplied researchers evaluated the conceptof compost-heated greenhouses for seasonextension and carbon dioxide enrichment ina commercial farm setting [3]. Since 2005, inFranklin County Vermont, Diamond HillCustom Heifers (DHCH) has been compost-ing approximately 800 tons per year of heifermanure, bedding materials and local bio-mass to heat potable water and radiant floor-ing in its farm facilities [4]. Further north, inNew Brunswick, Canada, the GreaterMoncton Sewerage Commission (GMSC)has pilot-tested a system to extract heat fromoutdoor sewage-sludge based compostwindrows [5]. Finally, since it's founding in2010, the Compost Power team has activelysupported the construction or operationmore than ten farm and homestead-scalecompost heat extraction systems, mainly inVermont and bordering areas [6].

So far, I have glazed over the exact methodsand technologies for extracting heat fromcompost. All compost heat extraction tech-nologies are based on either air-based andwater-based (hydronic) heat capture meth-ods.The best way to explain these two meth-ods is through specific examples of theirrespective application. Air-based heatextraction is exemplified in Diamond HillCustom Heifers' system, which employsAgrilab's proprietary IsoBar technology [7].In the DHCH system air is pulled downthrough active compost piles (an arrange-ment referred to as “negative aeration com-posting”) by blowers, which then force theresulting compost-heated hot vapor flowthrough ductwork and over the IsoBar array.The IsoBars are actually thermosiphontubes, which rapidly transfer heat from thehot vapors within the ductwork to potablewater in an insulated bulk tank with no directenergy input.

By contrast, Jean Pain, the Greater MonctonS ewe ra g eCommission

and Compost Power have all employedhydronic heat capture methods. In thehydronic method, a network of pipes inembedded under, around or directly withinan active compost pile. Water or glycol/water(antifreeze) solution is pumped throughthese pipes, which heats the fluid. The hotfluid is then pumped to a suitable heat loaddevice, such as a radiant flooring slab, fluid-to-air radiator, or flat-plate heat exchanger.The compost-embedded pipe network andheat load device are thus connected in aheat exchange loop with associated expan-sion tank and pump.

Now let's get to some more specific detailregarding the energy-generating potential ofcompost. A heat capture rate of 1,000 BTUper hour per ton of active compost is themaximum reported from the compost heatextraction processes we've investigated.Such a rate has been recorded to last up to18 months [2]. However, based on my ownobservations of this technology and consul-tation with experts in this field, a more realis-tic estimation for the heat generation poten-tial of active compost is 1,000 BTU/hr/ton forno longer than 6 months. The heat genera-tion rate and longevity are critical variables indetermining the viability of heat extractiontechnology. As such, the Compost Powernetwork is collaborating with experts in thecomposting community to develop low-costmethods for confidently estimating the heatgeneration potential of a given compostrecipe. Such a method would allow for morerapid and realistic assessment of the viabili-ty of compost heat extraction methods.

I'd like to close my discussion with a few keydesign considerations for farm-based com-post heat extraction systems. It is importantthat you have a keen understanding of thecomposting process before embarking onany serious consideration of compost heatcapture technology. A seasoned composterwill know that critical parameters involved ina proper composting process include theC:N ratio, moisture content, the relativebiodegradability, porosity of the compostrecipe as well as the geometry and physicaldesign of the active composting mass (pile,mound, windrow, bunker, etc). It's also impor-tant to utilize the heat generation to thefullest extent possible. In a recent feasibilitystudy, a design team including myself, deter-mined that heat extraction technology canonly be economically attractive for a small-

scale farm if the

design matches the farm's heating and nutri-ent application needs such that substantialenergy and fertility costs are offset. While thecalculation is sensitive to some variation, Ibelieve this situation is only possible if com-post heat is utilized for at least six monthsout of the year. And, in order to achieve sucha level of utilization, the system may need toincorporate thermal storage mechanisms(i.e. insulated bulk storage tanks) to allow for“banking” of captured heat for short periodsof time (like when the sun is out for a green-house heating application). This, of course,will result in additional capital costs andoperational complexity.

By now, current and aspiring farm-scalecomposters reading this may be consideringhow to incorporate compost heat extractiontechnology into their operation. A good placeto start is to estimate how much (approxi-mate volume in yards) compostable materialyour farm generates, what may be locallyavailable and key characteristics (productionrate in tons/month, C/N ratio, moisture con-tent, particle size, etc) of each material. Keepin mind that, oftentimes, composters at anyscale are limited by the amount of carbonsource they can obtain. Next, consider yourseasonal heating needs. Do you have abaseload or regular demand for hot water at1200F - 1400F? Using an estimate of 1000BTU/ton/hr of active compost, do any of yourheat loads match your compostable materialgeneration rate? You may even start gettinga little ahead of yourself like me and consid-er what new farm enterprise this plentifulheat source might power to improve yourfarm operation while reducing its impact onthe environment. If you find yourself here, orstuck any point in between, be sure to lookup Compost Power!

Sam Gorton is a part-time PhD student atthe University of Vermont and works as aprocess engineer involved in the researchand development of clean technology. Hecan be reached at 802-370-5112, at [email protected] or on Facebook andLinkedIn.

References:1. Aquatias, P. (1913). Intensive Culture ofVegetables (French System). L Upcott Gill:London, UK.2. Pain, J. & Pain, I. (1972). Another Kind ofGarden: The Methods of Jean Pain.

Compost Power!Is it really possible to extract heat from compost to warm your barn, greenhouse or home? A grassroots research network is finding out.

Cont. on page 7

After several alternating layers of compost and water pipeare installed, the pipe ends are connected to the heat load(in this case a house's radiant floor system).

A layer of coiled rigid black plastic water pipe is placedin between the layers of compost.The cinder blocks(2nd and 3rd photos in sequence) are removed whenanother layer of compost is piled on, so as to keep thecoils in concentric loops and avoid tangling.

Mound construction starts by preparing a foundationof wood chips. Then layers of compost, roughly 6" -18" thick, are spread over the foundation.


Wessels’ Farms, Inc.Quality Plants: Grower to GrowerMum or Poinsettia Cuttings:Quality Rooted Cuttings Started by ourExperienced Growers.Plant-N-Ship: Pre-Planted Flats Available in MostCommon Tray Sizes.WESPLUG Plugs:No Minimum for Listed Varieties, 3 Tray MinimumCustom Limited Use of Growth Regulators - Our Plants Grow!

Many Varieties to Choose FromLocal Grower - Delivered from Our Door to Your Door

a Family Farm Since 194594 Bull Road Otisville, NY 10963

Call Direct or Contact your Henry F. Michell, Richard D.Smith, Fred C. Gloeckner, W.H. Milikowski or Griffin

Greenhouse Supply Salesperson.

Call Today!800-431-8353 or 845-386-5681

www.wesselsfarms.comBedding Plants ~ Hardy Chrysanthemums ~ Perennials~ Poinsettias ~ Plugs ~ Summer Annuals ~ Plant-N-Ship

Wessels’ Farm Wesplug Wessels’ Farm Wesplug

Wessels’ Farm Wesplug Wessels’ Farm Wesplug Wes

sels’

Farm

Wes

plug

Wes

sels’

Farm

Wes

plug

Wes

sels’

Farm

Wes

plug

Wessels’Farm

Wesplug W

essels’Farm W

esplug Wessels’Farm

Wesplug

by Stewart Cheney

Introduction:In late February of this year I received a letter bearing the nameof Stuart Cheney. A native of Brattleboro, VT, Stuart wrote to tellme that he enjoyed my memoir piece “Slaughter Daughter” fea-tured in the Winter, 2012 issue of this magazine. I was flatteredand surprised to receive such a heartfelt message, especiallyin the increasingly rare form of a hand-written letter. Stuart con-tinued on to tell me a bit of his own childhood growing up in afarming community; the yellow legal-sized pages of his letterrecounted of his early childhood days killing chickens in thebarnyard, taking a pig down to the old slaughterhouse and salt-ing hams and bacon. Charmed by Stuart's unashamed andsincere style, I asked him if he wrote much and offered to readany stories he might like to share.

In the months that followed, Stuart and I became pen-pals.Nearly every week, I received a carefully addressed stampedenvelope from him, each containing a new tale about Stuart'slife: a jeep accident when he was a teenager, a missedencounter with a pretty girl at a barn dance. He shared theheartbreaking account of losing his childhood dog, and thehumorous tale of a Halloween spent in jail. Be they tragic orcomedic, Stuart Cheney has a lot of stories to tell and I am sothankful to have the opportunity to share these humbly-writtentales with our SFQ readers. Over the next few issues, pleaseenjoy some segments of what I tenderly refer to as “TheCheney Letters.” I hope you are as blessed by these authenticrecollections of Vermont farm life as I have been.~Lindsay Debach

Hello Lindsay Debach:Please let me introduce myself. My name is Stewart and I live

alone up in the hills of southern Vermont. As I sit here at mytable, I can look out over the hills to the west and see two ridgelines and quite a few open fields and pastures. I lost my goodwife to lung cancer 13 years ago.

I read your wonderful story in the Small Farm Quarterly paperof January 6th, 2012. I have read it over at least every other daysince then. You do such a good job of telling it like it is. As formyself, I started out when I was about 6-years old killing chick-ens. My father would go to the chicken house and catch one,and give it to me. I had to take it out back and lay the chickenover and old log and chop its head off. Well, those big axeswere pretty heavy for a little guy like me to handle, and some-times it didn't always go where I aimed - I have three prettygood scars on my left index finger to prove it - but, one way oranother, I got the job done.

My Mother would have a pail of water all heated up and assoon as the old hen got through dancing around, I tossed herin the pail. At just the right time, I'd hang it up on a beam andpluck off the feather onto a newspaper that was laid under-neath.When I got that all done, I'd take another newspaper andlight it a fire and singe the whole hen.Then, I'd take it in on thesink shelf, which was wood, and draw the innards out, and giveit a good rinsing; and it was ready for the pot. By the time I waseight, I was an expert chicken killer.

Meanwhile each fall, I'd help my Dad and Grampa kill andbutcher a couple of pigs…By the time I was 13, all the woodentubs we had were getting kind of worn and leaked pretty badly.So, my father made an appointment with the local butcher shopto butcher one of our four pigs. Saturday morning, Dad said tohelp him take the back seat out of the car. Then, he had meback the car around on the far side of the pen next to the barn.

He opened the door to the back and we hustled Mister Hogright in, and shut the door. Then he told me, “You can drive itdown to the slaughter house”, which was about 6 miles, allback roads.

So, off I went to Bert Whittermores slaughter house. They hadsome pretty big smiles on their faces when they saw me pull upto the old barn that served as a slaughter house. It was just awooden table, pair of pully-blocks, a tub with hot water, and a32 Winchester Rifle. It all done the job, and pretty soon, the gutscame tumbling out and went down through a hole in the floorbelow.They showed me how to go down stairs, so I could hearthe “music,” as they called it. There must have been a millionbig, black, hard-shelled beetles down there. Sounded like athousand soldiers rattling their sabers. I didn't stay long.

A couple hours later, I drove back home with two sides of porklaying on an old sheet in the back. When I got home, Dad car-ried the sides into the pantry and cut them up. The salt porkshoulders and ham went into the crocks with brine to cure,before we hung them in an old barrel and smoked them withnice dry apple wood. Later on, when winter moved in we cutsome of the cured salt pork up into one-inch squares and putthem in a kettle. We set the kettle on the back of the woodstove. After the pork was melted down, we poured off the lardto get the tastiest fat scraps to eat - nothing better.Yum, yum!

Stuart Cheney grew up on a 145 acre diversified farm nearBrattleboro, VT. He resides on the farm in a small 5 roomhouse built by his grandfather in 1940.

To read Lindsay Debach's story, “Slaughter Daughter”, whichinspired the Cheney-Debach correspondence, see http://small-farms.cornell.edu/quarterly/archive-2/winter-2012/

The Cheney Letters78 year old Vermont farmer shares memoirs with Lindsay Debach, daughter of a Pennsylvania-based butcher, after reading her Small Farm Quarterly piece“Slaughter Daughter”

Domaine Les Templiers:Villecroze,France.3. Fulford, B. (1986). TheComposting Greenhouse at NewAlchemy Institute: A Report on TwoYears of Operation and Monitoring,March 1984 - January 1986. NewAlchemy Institute ResearchReport No.3.4. Tucker, M.F. (2006). ExtractingThermal Energy from Composting.BioCycle, Vol. 47, No. 8, p. 38.5. Allain, Conrad (2007). EnergyRecovery at Biosolids CompostingFacility. BioCycle, Vol. 48, No. 10,p. 50.6. Compost Power website,http://compostpower.org/7. Agrilab website, http://www.agri-lab.org/

Additional composting resources:Highfields Center for Composting website,

http://www.highfieldscomposting.org/Rynck, R. (1992). On-Farm CompostingHandbook. Northeast Regional AgriculturalEngineering Service: Ithaca, NY, USA.

Cont. from page 6

COMMUNITY/WORLD

Finally, the mound is "capped" with additionalcompost to insulate the heat capture system andincrease the active composting volume.

SMALL FARM QUARTERLY October 1, 2012LOCAL MARKETING & FOODS MARKETING

by Becca Jablonski

For the fourth profile in a series highlighting distributors ofNew York State farm-grown products, I spoke to RhysPowell. Rhys is the Founder and President of Red Rabbit,located in New York City. Red Rabbit was founded in 2005“to fix the school food system”. According to their website,they do this in three key ways, by: “partnering with localschools and providing them kid-tested, made from scratch,customized healthy meal programs; working with local farm-ers, suppliers and artisans to optimize the nutritional valueof all meals, promoting sustainability while supporting andgrowing the local economy; and, educating kids, teachers,families and communities about wellness, nutrition andhealthy eating choices so they can make the right decisionsfor themselves when not in school. And the best partis…this is all done at or below the current Federal reim-bursement level.”

Q: How did you get the idea to start Red Rabbit?A: A friend of mine was having trouble finding healthy foodfor his four year old. He was looking for an option so he did-n’t have to cook her lunch every day. I agreed to help himand once I started looking, I realized that there were nogood options.

Q: How is Red Rabbit able to provide locally-grown prod-ucts at or below the federal reimbursement level?A: One of the main ways is by working with local farms. Oneof the big misconceptions out there is that locally sourcedproduce has to be more expensive than traditionallysourced products. We found that is not the case. We alsocook all of our meals from scratch so we have strict controlover the ingredients used and the costs of the ingredients.

Q: To how many schools do you currently supply meals?A: During the 2011-2012 school year we supplied meals to

about 70 schools. We are hoping to increase that number to100 for this coming school year. We supply meals to a mixof public, private and charter schools.

Q: Is it easier to work with private schools than publicschools?A: While we have found a lot of success working with privateschools and charter schools, the public schools, particular-ly in NYC, are challenging. I think it has to do with the factthat the public schools are all controlled by the Departmentof Education, and there is a lot of bureaucracy. It is difficultto determine who is a decision maker, who you need toapproach in order to offer your services.

Q: How many growers do you work with and where are theylocated?A: It changes based on the season, but in the height of theseason, we work with about two dozen local farmers andartisans. Our local farmers and artisans are all currentlylocated in the tri-state area.

Q: How do you define ‘local’ and ‘artisan’?A: We define local as in our region - 200 miles from NYC -but we don’t have a hard definition. We definitely considerthe tri-state region local. We do our best to source productfrom local producers, but sometimes we cannot find them -or we cannot find them in the quantity we need - and so wework with artisans. For example, we work with an artisanbusiness called ‘All Natural Bakeries’ located in Long IslandCity.

We define artisan by encompassing various things such asscale (niche market vs. national/mass market), the peopleinvolved in the process, the way they source and producetheir products and their mutual commitment to top quality.We visited All Natural Bakeries and their facility before westarted working with them. We met with their head baker

and learned about the ingredients they use. It isthat level of access for which we look. We don’thave specific requirements that all of our suppliersallow us to visit, but all of the farmers and artisanswe work with have offered this to us and we try toget out to visit and learn more about their opera-tion.

Q: As you are based in NYC, how do you find andmake connections with growers?A: A lot of on-the-ground work! We have been run-ning around for the last 4-5 years and have built upa network. Grow NYC has been very helpful -especially in the beginning years. It is mostly aboutour commitment to going out and meeting peopleand being open with local growers. When growerscontact us, even if we aren’t ready to start workingtogether at that moment, we keep the conversationopen with them.

Q: Are all of the products procured by Red Rabbit‘local’?

A: Not all products are local and artisan,we have to supplement. We have foundthat the supply is not stable enough toprovide us with all of our needs - particu-larly in the off-season. And there areitems we just can’t get locally, like pineap-ples. However, any vendor we do workwith, no matter where they are located, isfirst vetted by us to ensure they are in-linewith Red Rabbit’s commitment to provid-ing top quality ingredients to makehealthy food for our kids.

Q: How do you get product from localgrowers to your distribution center (inHarlem)?A: Though this can be a challenge, weare working with a combination of ownvehicles and arrangements with thegrowers-including picking up at localgreen markets (farmers’ markets inNYC), where many of our farmers comeas part of their business. The infrastruc-

ture is a work in progress.

Q: Do you work with other NYS distributors as well?A: Yes, we have done some work with other distributors, butsometimes it is difficult for us to work with another middlebusiness in terms of reaching an amenable price point. Weare continuing conversations with a few distributors and willsee if there are more opportunities to work together in thefuture.

Q: Are all the producers you purchase from GAP certified?Are there other types of certification or inspection that yourequire?A: No, we do not require farmers to be GAP certified. Wedon’t have specific certification or inspection requirementsourselves, but go through a vetting process with every farmwe work with-allowing us to visit the farm and have opencommunication with us regarding their growing, harvestingand handling practices so we are confident in their ability toprovide top quality products that meet our criteria for healthand wellness.

Q: What are the challenges you face working with localgrowers and/or obtaining locally grown products?A: Pack size is one of the challenges - inconsistent packsize. It is something we have found work-arounds for, but itis an added step in the process. We buy vegetables thatschool kids really like - broccoli, green beans, carrots, corn,tomatoes, and cauliflower. We buy products fresh fromgrowers and then we cook them. In the off-season we some-times work with a processor - like Farm to Table Co-Packers(http://farm2tablecopackers.com). We also got an idea froma facility we just visited in Massachusetts. They purchasevegetables in bulk from growers - similarly to how the con-tract growers operate. Growers drop off a truckload of veg-etables, without wasting time or money putting them theproduce into smaller boxes. We believe this could savegrowers - who often spend up to $2/box - and help us keepcosts down. We purchase in high volume, so we are veryoptimistic about trying this.

Q: Are you looking for additional growers? A: Yes - we are always looking for the items we mentionedabove. If farmers are interested in working with us, they canlearn more about us on our website http://www.myredrab-bit.com and call/email us at T: 866-697-3372 E: [email protected]. However, farmers should be aware that a min-imum order for us is currently at least 500 lbs - so we arelooking for growers able to supply that sort of quantity.

For more information, please feel free to contact the authorat [email protected] author wishes to thank the fol-lowing funders for their support of local food distributionresearch: the Cornell Center for a Sustainable Future,NESARE, and the Cornell Small Farm Program.

Faces of our Food System: Red Rabbit

Rhys Powell, the Founder and President of Red Rabbit stands in the com-pany's fresh fruit prep area with two kitchen team members.

In this photo - an actual Red Rabbit school meal madewith whole grain ziti pasta with part-skim mozzarellaand parmesan cheeses in our house-made marinarasauce. A side of farm fresh, locally sourced steamedbroccoli and locally sourced seasonal fresh cut fruit anda glass of nonfat milk from local partner RonnyBrookFarms.

New Heights Academy Charter School - A cooking lab held in theRed Rabbit Kitchen located at 1751 Parke Ave. with a group of 5thgraders. The cooking labs teach children about food using all 5senses. In this photo two students are smelling the basil they willbe using to make their whole wheat pizza.

Photos by Red Rabbit


by Martha Herbert Izzi

Vermont holds the brass ring as the premierstate hosting the most artisan and farm-stead cheese makers per capita in thecountry. Not bad for a little place with a lot ofrocky hillside farms and barely 650,000 peo-ple. As the cheesemakers expand andimprove, the prizes keep coming, the saleskeep mounting and the cash registers keepringing.

According to the Vermont Cheese Council,twelve of its 45 members (who produce overa 150 different cheeses) took home thirtyribbons in August of this year from the pres-tigious (known as the “big deal”) AmericanCheese Society show in Raleigh/DurhamNorth Carolina. In June, Vermont Butter andCheese Creamery, a big winner at ACS was“elated to report” that it took sofi Gold medalawards for all three categories at theNational Association for the Specialty FoodTrade annual competition in Washington, D.C. The celebrated creamery also took twogolds, a silver and a bronze at the 2012World Championship Cheese Contest.

So Vermont has been in the vanguard of anew revolution in the craft of Americancheese-making which began about twentyfive years ago with the first wave of ‘back-to-the-landers’ and ushered in the era of seri-ous competition with European cheese-makers. The question is why? WhyVermont? Why now?

Nothing happens in a vacuum, especially ina small state like Vermont where peoplepoint to important players in the growth andsuccess of the artisan and farmsteadcheese industry. Artisan cheese refers tocheese that is handmade from milk pur-chased from nearby farms, while farmsteadcheese is made on the farm where animalsare raised.

The GatekeepersTo the question, ‘Why?’ came severalsalutes to people like Paul Kindstedt, Ph.D,Co-Director of Vermont Institute for ArtisanCheese (VIAC) at the University of Vermont.It is the first and only comprehensive centerof its kind devoted to research and teachingintensive courses on artisan cheesemaking.People like Wendy Hallgren, President of

Provisions International, a purveyor whohandles forty Vermont cheese-makers, saysthe Institute is “doing a wonderful job withthe science of cheese craft.” It is, saysHallgren, “leading to more consistency ofproduct and more concern among cheese-makers for controlling environments andworking out problems. That, and a hugeamount of dedication as they continue tohone their craft.”

Kindstedt, a mozzarella expert, tributesVermont’s success to “the Agency ofAgriculture for being small-cheese-making-friendly since the early eighties.” He saysthe Agency has “provided the vision andresources and gone to great lengths to helpcheesemakers.” Diane Bothfeld, DeputyDirector of the Vermont Agency ofAgriculture, proudly points to her agency’srole as a key player in the cheese evolutionbecause of its proactive policies that havethe agency working with prospectivecheesemakers from beginning to end. “Wedo a lot of work at the start up. Our regula-tors interact with [farmer/processors], helpthem to set up and work well. They mustbuild a proper facility. If they don’t maintainequipment according to code, they mustshut down. We test quality of their milk andmake sure they are processing correctly.Vermont is different from other states whocome in at the end of the process.” Bothfeld,in turn, hails Kindstedt and the faculty fortheir research, teaching, and books on thebasics of cheesemaking.

Kindstedt, whose classes attract studentsfrom far and wide, says that “probably 50%of the farmstead cheesemakers have comefrom successful careers and are well capi-talized. They have been attracted toVermont for its special resources, its people,and environment. They are philosophicallydriven with almost a spiritual quality andwant to make food that matches their val-ues.”

In his 2002 book, The Cheeses of Vermont,Henry Tewksbury pointed out that the new-comers “don’t fit the image that the wordfarmer brings to mind. They’re sharp busi-nesspeople, expert problem solvers, protec-tive of the environment and without excep-tion they love their animals.” Along withrespect for Kindstedt, he too, credited the

Agency of Agriculture and another nowfamiliar name, Peter Dixon, a widelyrespected veteran cheesemaker.

The CheesemakersThe lead players, of course, are the cheese-makers, whose profiles are often as diverseand fascinating as the cheeses they make.Angela Miller, owner of organic “ConsiderBardwell Farm” in West Pawlet, came toVermont in 2001 to buy a house. She neverdreamed that today she would have abouttwelve employees, be shipping eighty fivethousand pounds of cheese annually torenowned restaurants and specialty shops,and have several years of award winninggoat and cow cheeses. Miller’s ‘RupertMarches’ took a silver at the ACS this year.Though she performs every duty on thefarm (“We’re all overworked and underpaid”)Miller was and still is a literary agent withoffices in New York City. Her book Hay Feveris a vivid account of her journey to the worldof goats and cheesemaking.

Miller also credits the star-quality of many ofthe Vermont cheesemakers to the fact thatmany of them have come from other places,either through birth or travels and havebrought their ‘tastes of place’ and food tradi-tions with them. Places like South America,France, Corsica, Italy, Chile, Spain, Hawaii,England. The concept of ‘taste of place’translated from the French terroir refers tothe particular taste features that a localitycontributes to its food products and isbecoming a means of explaining the distinc-tive types and quality of cheeses thatVermont steadily produces.

Andy and Mateo Kehler are the owners ofJasper Hill Farm and the Cellars of JasperHill. The brothers grew up in Colombia,South America, but spent their summers inVermont. Between 2009 and 2002, Mateoworked in the U.S., England, France andSpain making hard and soft cheeses, whileAndy worked in Chile. They began makingcheese in Greensboro, Vermont in 2003 at atime when consumer interest in local foodwas on the rise. Vince Razionale, once acheesemonger from Chicago, now handlessales for Jasper Hill. The farm sells holidayassorted cheese gift baskets to the gourmetfood supplier, Williams-Sonoma. He says,“Cheese is a place-based food.Vermont hascache to people in New York, Boston,

California and Chicago, and those con-sumers are resistant to huge scaling up.They are focused on the hyper-local move-ment that is happening in food.” But it’s thecheese taste and quality that counts andthis year at the World ChampionshipCheese Contest, Cellars at Jasper Hill tooka gold for its ‘Harbison’ (a bark-wrappedbloomy-rind cheese with woodsy, sweet,herbal, and bright flavors) and a silver for‘Moses Sleeper’ (bloomy-rind cheese with abuttery, bright, and savory flavor whenyoung and brassica vegetable flavor whenlonger aged).

Vince also hails the work of Paul Kindstedt.“We send our employees to the Institute forhygiene and sanitation. They have a goodreputation around the country. Their twoweek short course is probably the best thingavailable. The landscape would look verydifferent without VIAC.”

The Cellars at Jasper Hill is an artisancheese partnership developed by the Kehlerbrothers that creates sustainable businessopportunities for local dairy farmers. It is a

What Makes Vermont's Award-Winning Cheese Engine Run?

Angela Miller, owner of organic “Consider Bardwell Farm” in West Pawlet, VT. Andy and Mateo Kehler are the owners of Cellars at Jasper Hill Farm.

Local Foods & Marketing

Cont. of page 12

This young Bayley Hazen Blue fromJasper Hill Farm will become a naturalrinded blue cheese after 2-3 months ofaging in the Cellars.

Each summer, 4H teens across New Yorkvisit the Cornell University campus toexplore academic fields and career explo-ration, develop leadership skills, and gethands-on experience in a college setting.

This fall, we are featuring Emaleigh Perry’sessay on her experience participating inthe “Exploring the Small Farm Dream”Career Exploration program.

During the 4H Career Explorations pro-

gram, I took part in the ‘Exploring the Small

Farm Dream’ group. In this group we

learned about and visited small farms that

have found ways to thrive and fit the lives of

the owners. These farms included Dilmun

Hill Farm, Boyce Thompson Research

Farm, Northland Sheep Dairy and Cherry

Knoll Berry Farm.

The first day we arrived, we went to visit

the Dilmun Hill Farm which is the student

run farm located on Cornell campus. Here

we got to see many different ways of gar-

dening. There were terraced gardens on

the hill side and also raised beds down

below the barns. On top of the hill was a

permaculture garden. In this garden we got

to see multiple layers, short and tall, of dif-

ferent plants that were all perennials. This

was a neat garden to see because it was

one that they did very little work to each

year. During our visit, we got

to harvest lettuce and winter

sorrel. Then we used shov-

els to clear an area. We

filled up the wheelbarrow

with compost to place on

the cleared area, and then

planted rhubarb. This was a

fun experience and taught

me a lot about different

ways you can garden and

put a variety of plants

around the same area.

The second day we started

out by visiting the

Thompson Research Farm

in Freeville. It was amazing

to see how big this facility

really was. Here we got to

see how crops are rotated

through the fields every year

and learn how they irrigate

plants. They use a drip line

system that they have made so it works

along the rows of plants very well. They

also use a sprinkler system but wind pre-

vents the plants from getting the full water

amount they need. We also observed how

they used materials that they had to fit what

they needed. They had a planter that was

the combination of three different pieces of

equipment and it was amazing to hear what

they went through to put it together. We

also learned that part of the way they make

their profit is renting plots out to different

groups who want to experiment for different

reasons. One plot we looked at, the profes-

sor who rented that spot was testing differ-

ent types of pesticides on one type of plant.

Visiting the research farm was very inter-

esting and showed us a different type of

farming.

Then we traveled out to the Northland

Sheep Dairy. At this farm they process the

The Next Generation of Small Farmers4H teens learn about the hard work and creativity needed to run a successful small farm during CareerExploration Days on the Cornell University Campus.

Worcester Creameries

• Do you know there is still one milk market that isfamily owned and would like to buy your milk?

• The following are benefits that could be yours.

Competitivee MarketPremiums

Qualityy Premiums

Volumee Premiums

Qualityy Fieldd Service

Caringg Service

Healthh Insurance

For more information please call.

607-397-8791 Toll Free...

800-705-6455


Cherry Knoll blueberry farm discussion.Photo by Emaleigh Perry

Raking hay with horses.Photo by Jeff Perry

Harvesting winter sorrel for tasting.Photo by Jeff Perry

Small Farm Quarterly

Youth Pages


• New York State Vegetable Growers Association

• Empire State Potato Growers

• New York State Berry Growers Association

• New York Farmers’ Direct Marketing Committee

• The New York State Horticultural Society

• Cornell University

• Cornell Cooperative Extension

• NYS Flower Industries

The 2013 Empire State Producers Expo is sponsored by:

For trade show andexhibiting information,

please contact Dan WrenLee Trade Shows, P.O. Box 121,

Palatine Bridge, NY13428 800-218-5586

e-mail [email protected]/expo/info

January22-23-24

2013

EMPIRE STATEPRODUCERS EXPO

Oncenter • Syracuse, NY

WEDNESDAY KEYNOTE SPEAKERJim Prevor’s Perishable Pundit, the industry’s most importantforum for the discussion and analysis of issues relevant to thetrade is widely recognized as a leader in understanding and assess-ing the state of the perishable food industries.

Mr. Prevor is the fourth generation of his family to be active in thefood business in the United States. Prior to launching his owncompany, he served as a director of his family’s company, whichwas an importer, exporter and wholesaler of foodstuffs.

Mr. Prevor combines the real world experience of one who hasworked in the trade with the analytical perspective of an editor andanalyst.

THURSDAY–DIRECT MARKETING SPEAKERDon Frantz- A three-time winner of the Guinness Record for theWorld’s Largest Maze, Don developed a new, outdoor, familygame called the “Amazing Maize Maze®.” His American MazeCompany has built hundreds of projects, entertained millions ofplayers, instigated a world-wide maze fad and has given him thelabel of “Father of the Corn Maze.”

EDUCATION SESSIONS ONAlliums for Beginners

Beginning Farmers

Berry

Blueberry Potato

Cole Crop

Cover/Crops/Soil Health

Direct Market

Extreme Weather

Food Safety

Greenhouse/Horticulture

High Tunnel/Greenhouse

Hops

Labor

Leafy Greens

Pesticide SafetyProcessingRoot Crop Roundtable

Small Scale OnionsTomato/Pepper

Tree FruitVine Crop School

Make Plans Now to Attend thesheep wool as well as the milk. They havetheir own shop area with all the properequipment to make sheep milk cheese.They keep it extremely clean and it isinspected so they are approved to make it.They also are going eco friendly and usinghorses to do the farm work that needs toget done. While we were there, their internfor the year was out raking hay beingpulled by a horse. It was interesting to seea farm based on animals.

The last place we visited was the CherryKnoll Berry Farm. This farm is family ownedand has been in the same family for gener-ations. They have acres of different typesof blueberries and do u-pick when blueber-ry season comes around. The farmer doesa lot of weeding and make sure the plantsare accessible. He also has these smallcannon machines that make a loud noiseevery few minutes to keep the birds fromeating his crop. He keeps his farm goingyear after year by focusing on one cropwhich many of the other farms did not do.Seeing how much time and effort was putinto this place, showed us what we trulyhad to do to make a farm successful. Theowner also makes blueberry wine andvinegar to diversify the products that he

can sell.

The last day we stayed on campus andplayed the Exploring the Farm DreamGame. In this game we were given landand a financial scenario, and one or moredifficulties that may go wrong. With whatwe were given we had to design a farmabout what we were given. Some peoplechose dairy, some chose beef and manyothers also chose horses. Looking at allthese things we were given showed usmany different ways you could make landwork for you. It gave us a good idea of whatwe would like to do for a future and was funand enjoyable.

Overall, this small farms group was veryenjoyable. We had fun and learned a lot. Ithink everyone would agree that we defi-nitely explored the small farm dream.

To learn more about 4H, visithttp://nys4h.cce.cornell.edu

Emaleigh Perry is a 4-H member inCortland County with the Mechanics andMetals club. She can be reached via theCortland County Cooperative Extension at607- 753-5077.

Rhubarb planting in compost.Photo by Jeff Perry


22,000 square foot underground cellar overwhich the Jasper Hill brother’s forty fiveAyrshire cows pasture. Currently six cheese-makers turn their green cheese over toJasper Hill where trained affineurs care forthe unripened cheeses: customizing, test-ing, and tasting for quality. The collaborativealso markets and distributes the cheeses forthe producers. “We rent a corner of thebuilding to develop new Jasper Hillcheeses,” says Vince.

Just north in Westfield, Vermont, LainiFondillier milks forty- two registered Alpinegoats that produce cheeses that can befound from the Northeast to Chicago. Lainibelies her organic farm name, Lazy LadyFarm, by providing obsessive attention togood care, feeding and nurturing of herherd. A workaholic who has been featured inthe New York Times magazine, among other

national periodicals, one reviewer said hercheeses “rival anything from France.”Though Laini worked on several farms inFrance and Corsica for several years beforelearning her craft, she started in 1986 with afew sheep and a garden and virtually nofunds.

Laini and her partner, Barry built the cheesecaves, shaped like lobster traps, where themany cheeses she produces are aged. Theyhave lived off the grid for fifteen years usingsolar and wind which gives further evidencethat Laini doesn’t do anything the easy way.She is a consummate goatherder who paysstrict attention to genetics, conformation andanimal health. To that end, during kiddingtime in February, Laini ‘sleeps’ on the couchnear the barn so that she is present forevery birth of 44 freshening goats despitethe fact that she has three employees. Inthat way she insures that before she sepa-

rates each kid from the dam, the kid hasplenty of the dam’s healthy colostrum.

The Consumers and the Vermont CheeseCouncilThe Fourth Annual Cheese Festival, spon-sored by the Vermont Cheese Council inJuly, was additional evidence that thecheese market has continued to expand“even through the economic downturn,”according to Paul Kindstedt. Cheese loversand food professionals bought 1750 ticketsat a hefty $40 -$50 for the day-long event.

Begun in 1996, The Vermont CheeseCouncil is the professional and public faceof the Vermont artisanal and farmsteadcheese industry. The Council showcasescheese and cheese producers throughadvocacy, marketing, educational and net-working events. It also sponsors TheCheese Trail (which National Geographicincluded in its ‘Drives of a Lifetime’ Series)with maps, farms and cheese descriptionsand invites cheese-lovers to visit about 35cheese producers throughout the state.

ConclusionVermont’s remarkable rise as a premierartisan and farmstead cheesemaking statecontinues to expand and shows no signs of

abating. All of the cheesemakers who con-tributed to this story are increasing produc-tion and expanding their product lines. Andprice points at between $20 and $30 apound do not seem to be meeting marketresistance, though some people questionwhy European cheeses are sometimescheaper than domestic specialties. Itappears that as long as the demand forlocally grown and produced small scalefoods holds up, the cheese market willmeet that demand.

Though the Vermont ‘mystique’ is strongand products sold with the Vermont labelregularly enjoy success, the competitionoutside of Vermont, for cheese especially,is also growing. It underscores the need forconsistency, innovation and superior prod-uct quality of unique as well as classiccheeses. The producers also know that thenational product shows and winningawards are key to their success. Lastly, theVermont infrastructure that supports,guides and advocates for them are essen-tial and unique partners. And their loyalcustomers are the ‘holy grail.’

Martha Herbert Izzi is a writer and farmerat Bel Lana Farm in Shrewsbury, VT. Shemay be reached at [email protected].

Vermont Cont. from page 9

Forty five Ayrshire cows graze on pasture in high summer at Jasper Hill Farms.

To learn more about artisan cheesemaking, consult the following books:Mastering Artisan Cheesemaking: The Ultimate Guide for Home-Scale and MarketProducers, by Gianaclis Caldwell American Farmstead Cheese, by Paul KindstedtCheese and Culture, by Paul KindstedtThe Atlas of American Artisan Cheese, by Jeffrey P. RobertsMastering Cheese, by Max McCalman

Artisan Cheesemaking Resources

by tatiana Stanton

SheepGoatMarketing.info originated inthe late 1990s. It grew out of the NortheastSheep & Goat Marketing Project at CornellUniversity which received a grant fromUSDA with the goal of improving producer

access to equitable markets while buildingregional capacity to supply the growingconsumer demand for high quality lamband goat meat. The emphasis of the origi-nal grant was on producers and specialtymarkets in the Northeastern states.However, the web site was redesigned as

a national information resource when itwas hosted by the University of Marylandfor several years using NESARE fundingobtained by Susan Schoenian. Throughthe effort of tatiana Stanton, the SmallFarms Program at Cornell University pro-vided funding in 2012 to again redesign

the site and return it tobe hosted by theDepartment of AnimalScience at CornellUniversity.

The site includes aMarketing Directory toassist farmers to net-work with sheep andgoat buyers, proces-sors, auction barns, andlivestock haulers in theNortheast U.S. It alsoincludes a ProducerDirectory where sheepand goat farmers canpromote their products(dairy, fiber, and meat)and animals (breedingstock and market ani-mals). The ClassifiedAd section is currentlylimited to advertisingmarket animals for saleor market orders thatbuyers need to fill. Wehope to expand it in thefuture. The Calendarsection provides dates

and marketing information for holidayswhen lamb and/or goat is traditionally con-sumed.

The Education section has a wide rangeof articles to help farmers to evaluate theiranimals and educate themselves moreabout marketing and processing. It alsoincludes information on livestock manage-ment and processing requirements forHalal and Kosher marketing and informa-tion about previous marketing projects.

We welcome your suggestions to improvethe site. Check it out at www.sheepgoat-marketing.info

For more information contact Dr. tatianaStanton, Cornell Small RuminantExtension Specialist at 607-254-6024 [email protected] or our webmaster, LindaPoppleton at [email protected]

Marketing Help for Sheep & Goat FarmersResource Spotlight

Our Fall photo essay comes to us from JasperHill Farm in Greensboro, Vermont. BrothersAndy and Mateo Kehler began farming and

making cheese in 2003 with a goal of creating amodel to be replicated by other farmers inVermont who wished to diversify their quickly

disappearing farms intomore workable options.They wanted to demon-strate that it is still pos-sible to prosper on arocky hillside farm, cre-ate a vehicle for therenewal of their localdairy economy in theform of a businessmodel that can be repli-cated on other dairyfarms. Today the farmproduces a collection ofprofessionally aged andmarketed cheeses inaddition to custom agingcheese for other dairiesin a 22,000 square footunderground cellar. Tolearn more about thefarm, visithttp://www.cellarsat-jasperhill.com

Photo Essay

Reed Kehler bottle feeding an Ayrshire calf.

by Michael Chameides

Columbia County, NY has a vibrant farm his-tory - the farmland at Sparrowbush Farm inHudson, NY has been farmed since 1853.Generations of farmers have grown cropsand fruit on the farm's rich, fertile soil. WhileSparrowbush Farm is continuing the farminglegacy, the farmer, Ashley Loehr, isn't part ofthe Palatine and Tinklepaugh families thatfarmed the land for over a hundred years.Her fifty-one acre farm, Sparrowbush Farm,is located on the land as part of a five-yearlease agreement that Loehr has with thelandowner.

Loehr is a participant in the Columbia LandConservancy's (CLC) Farmer LandownerMatch Program. The Program connectslandowners looking to have their landfarmed with farmers seeking land. It alsoprovides support by showing landownersand farmers how to navigate farmerlandowner arrangements, including leases,insurance, and the Agricultural Property TaxAssessments.

“The economics of farming has changedand farmland is disappearing,” says MarissaCodey, CLC's Conservation and AgriculturalPrograms Manager. “The FarmerLandowner Match Program helps farmersadapt to the new conditions and providesland access options that enable local work-ing farms to become economically viable.”Since the program began in early 2009,CLC has had 21 successful matches, farm-ing on 1,060 acres of land.

Loehr began farming at age thirteen. Livingin Andover, NH, she spent her summersworking at a local farm. When she graduat-ed high school, she worked at the farm full-time for a year. Then she joined friends inColumbia County and started a farm inGermantown. She took a break from theproject to get more formal training and spenta semester at Cornell University's College ofAgriculture and Life Sciences. After a fewyears of growing her business, Loehr real-ized that she wanted a larger property withmore land security - her Germantown land

was farmed through an infor-mal rental agreement. Givenhow many acres she neededand the cost of real estate,Loehr decided that leasing

The long range strength andsoundness of the future of agricul-ture in the Northeast is dependenton individuals entering the industry.As with any industry, starting a newbusiness comes with challenges.Farms require capital for upfrontexpenses, such as land, equip-ment, seed, etc. - capital that manystartup operations lack. New farmsoften lack the credit history, repay-ment ability and/or collateral, somany lending institutions are hesi-tant to invest in their startup busi-ness. Furthermore, any new busi-ness lacks sufficient businessknowledge, time managementskills, confidence and marketingresources to efficiently launch andrun a new business.

“Farm Credit has a long-term com-mitment of helping young, begin-ning and small farmers get startedin agriculture and helping existingfarms transition to the next genera-tion” said Bill Lipinski, CEO of FarmCredit East. “We recognize thedemands for capital and financialmanagement skills that make it dif-ficult for these entrants to establish

their business. To fulfill FarmCredit’s vision of a vibrant, entre-preneurial agricultural communitywe have developed programs,such as Farm Credit East’s Young,Beginning and Small FarmersIncentive Program (YBS),FarmStart, LLP and GenerationNext to give strong, new entrants ahealthy start in the agricultureindustry.”

In 2011, Farm Credit East’s portfo-lio included 6,729 small farm loans,4,274 beginning farm loans and3,107 loans to young farmers. Ayoung farmer is defined as afarmer, rancher, producer or har-vester of aquatic products who is35 years of age or younger as ofthe loan transaction date. A begin-ning farmer has 10 years or less offarming experience and a smallfarmer normally generates grossannual sales of $250,000 or less.(Categories overlap for reportingpurposes.)

“Young and beginning farmers facemany daunting challenges whengetting started in farming,” said

Gary Bradley, an executive vicepresident who helped originateFarm Credit East’s Young,Beginning and Small Farmers pro-gram. To help this growing cus-tomer segment get started in theindustry, Farm Credit East’s YBSIncentive program, established in1995, provides special incentivesto program participants. Incentivesinclude discounts on services suchas farm accounting software, taxpreparation, consulting andappraisal for up to five years.Thesecustomers also receive discountson FSA guaranteed loan fees andinterest rate assistance. FarmCredit East’s special incentives for2011 were $221,240.

FarmStart, LLP is a program tosupport talented, hardworking indi-viduals entering agriculture. Thefirst initiative of its kind in theUnited States, FarmStart investsworking capital of up to $50,000 tohelp northeast agricultural busi-nesses become operational. Theinvestment functions the same asan operating line of credit. It isintended to provide the critical lastdollar of funding to be used asworking capital.

“There are many excellent youngpeople getting started in agricul-ture and we are very pleased toprovide capital in support of theseentreprenuers,” said David Boone,regional manager and FarmStartprogram director.Since the firstinvestment approved in August of2006, FarmStart has investedmore than $4.1 million to 96 partic-ipants (as of June 2012).

“Knowing there are funds availablethrough the FarmStart programhas helped me to stay calm infinancial situations” explained

FarmStart participant MarcyO’Connell of Holland Farm CSA inMilford, NH. “The staff at FarmCredit East are extremely knowl-edgeable in farming, and knowingthey are just a phone call away hasallowed me to stay focused on mytrue passion, farming.”

Each FarmStart participant workswith a FarmStart advisor.This advi-sor provides substantial consultingand financial planning to helpyoung farmers stay on track towardachieving their business objectivesand establishing a positive busi-ness and credit history.Furthermore, each FarmStartrecipient is required to complete abusiness plan. The business planhelps organize the new entrepre-neur’s mission and business goals,as well as define how to distributetheir FarmStart funds. The planserves as a roadmap for the firstfew years of their startup business.

Any beginning farmer, fisherman,forestry producer, farm relatedbusiness owners and/or coopera-tive with great promise for suc-cess, but a minimal track record todate and limited financialresources is eligible to apply toFarmStart. To apply to FarmStart,an applicant must submit aFarmStart application, current bal-ance sheet, income statement,monthly cash flow budget and abusiness plan, along with two per-sonal references. For more infor-mation on the program and how toapply, visit FarmCreditEast.com.

Farm Credit East has also devel-oped a ‘Generation Next’ programto assist those young farmerstransitioning into managementroles on the farm. This programprovides management develop-

ment training for young people,ages 20 to 35, who are involved inthe agriculture industry and arethe middle-managers/managersof a farm or agricultural business.The program offers three seminarsessions geared towards pro-gressing participants’ overall busi-ness knowledge and managementability. For more information on theGeneration Next program and forupcoming dates in your area visitwww.FarmCreditEast.com

Through programs such as theYBS Incentive Program, FarmStart, LLP and Generation Next,Farm Credit East recognizes theneed to invest in the future offarming and agriculture in theNortheast. Northeast agricultureis strong for many reasons,including the diversity of its farmoperations along with its widearray of farm products. Thestrength of Northeast agriculturewill continue with the next genera-tion and new entrants into theindustry. Northeast farms con-tribute to a strong agriculturalsector that provides wholesome,fresh products to consumers andessential economic activitythroughout the rural communitiesof New England, New York, andNew Jersey.

For more information on any ofFarm Credit East’s programs foryoung, beginning, small and nextgeneration farmers, visitwww.FarmCreditEast.com

Kristie Schmitt if KnowledgeExchange and CommunicationsSpecialist at Farm Credit East,ACA. She can be reached at800.562.2235 or [email protected]

October 1, 2012 SMALL FARM QUARTERLY NEW FARMERS

Combine SalvageK & J Surplus

60 Dublin Rd.Lansing, NY 14882

(607) 533-4850 • (607) 279-6232

Hazzard’s Seed Store� More than 8,000 annual & perennial varieties

� Thousands of plants available also

Easy online ordering!All varieties are pictured!

www.hazzardsgreenhouse.com(989) 872-5057

CornishCross Broilers &Colored Broilers(7 Meat Varieties)

Extremely hearty &perfect for free range

Layer Chicks, TurkeysDucklings, Guineas, Much More

(814) 539-7026www.myerspoultry.com

Loan Opportunities for New Farmers Farm Credit East offers multiple programs to support young, beginning and next generation farmers

Marcy O’Connell of Holland Farm CSA in Milford, NH.Photos by Samantha Stoddard

New Farm, Old FarmlandAshley Loehr is the first non-family farmer cultivating Sparrowbush Farm since 1853.

New Farm page 15


NEW FARMERS

by Ann Adams

There’s a group of women famers in theNortheast that are turning their farmsaround and making an impact in their com-munities. They’ve been able to accomplish itas a result of participating in a unique train-ing program managed by HolisticManagement International (HMI) and par-tially funded by the USDA National Institutefor Food & Agriculture’s Beginning Farmerand Rancher Development Program. Thesewomen are implementing the Holistic

Management whole farm planning systemand are successfully managing their farmsfor profit, land health, and quality of life. Hereare their stories.

Creekside Meadows FarmTricia Park claims that she and her familygot into farming by accident. Accident or not,Tricia knew that when they started farming,they needed to get some business planninghelp. That’s why she joined HMI’s BeginningWomen Farmers (BWF) Program in 2010.Since completing that program, Tricia hassold her 26-acre farm and purchased a 150-acre farm near Cazenovia, New York andbegun making a tidy profit on her farm.Tricia, her husband, Matt, and their son,Cameron, now raise grass-fed beef andpasture-raised chicken, turkey and pork ontheir new farm and are excited to be sellingto an ever-increasing local market as aresult of some key marketing efforts andword of mouth advertising.

One area of improvement has been foragemanagement. “We used to run out of grassaround July,” Tricia says. “Now we’re grazinguntil Halloween. This was at the old farm.Now at the new farm we never stopped graz-ing - all winter!!! We fed hay outside on theground when we ran out of forage. It waspretty easy since we only overwintered 8head of cattle (2 mom cows and rest youngsteers). The field we wintered them on had-n’t seen cows in at least 10 years! It hadbeen a hay field for that long.”

Tricia also realized that just because you sellall your product, doesn’t mean you are asuccessful farmer. After looking at the num-bers, she realized they weren’t making anymoney. In HMI’s Beginning Women FarmerProgram, she learned what she needed todo. “The financial classes helped us figureout expenses and get a grip on what moneywas flowing out the door and how it washappening. By then the egg enterprise wasout the door. We ditched it. It failed for every-thing…. Too much time, no profit, and we

didn’t even like them anymore! We decidedto concentrate on 4 main enterprises:Grassfed beef, pasture raised chicken, porkand turkey.”

In the first year of participating in the pro-gram, Tricia found that using the HolisticManagement testing questions helped hermake more informed decisions, create$7000 more profit, and have more time to dothe things she wanted. When she went tothe bank manager to procure a loan for thenew farm, she was able to show the jump inone year from $1,000 net to $10,000. “Thebank manager didn’t even want to see ourbusiness plan,” says Tricia. “She could seewe had a solid understanding of our finan-cials. I even showed her my certificate fromthe Beginning Women Farmer program.They gave us our loan.”

The near-term goal for the Parks is to makeenough money farming that Matt can quit hisoff-farm job and farm full-time with Tricia andCameron. The longer term goal is to makethe farm successful enough that Cameronwill be able to start his own enterprises andbe the second generation farming onCreekside Meadows Farm.

Maple View FarmKate and Jason Bogli moved back to MapleView Farm, the Bogli family farm, in 2003.This 50-acre, 3rd-generation farm foundedin 1950, is near suburban Hartford,Connecticut. Kate had previously worked inthe fashion industry and had no farmingbackground, but when Jason, an attorney,said he wanted to return to the family farm,she agreed to take on the role of farmer’swife as well as new mother. When she heardabout HMI’s Beginning Women Farmer pro-gram through HMI’s Connecticut collabora-tor, Northeast Organic Farming Association-Connecticut (NOFA-CT), she decided to jointhe 2010 class to improve the success of thefarm.

The farm offers a variety of farm productsincluding chickens, goats, cows, andChristmas trees which they sell through theiron-farm store as well as offering horseboarding and riding lessons.

“We’ve had to figure out how to makemoney,” says Kate. “The financial planningsessions really helped with this. I startedwith the horse boarding enterprise. Oneboarder had a special deal with us. When Istarted doing the numbers, I realized I waspaying him to keep his horse. I felt bad aboutasking for more money, but I did the num-bers and knew it was crazy not to do some-thing now that I understood what was goingon. That knowledge then helped me do thenumbers for the other enterprises. It evenmade it fun. Things have improved 1000%.”

Kate says the networking in the BeginningWomen Farmer program has been reallyimportant. “It’s really cool to be with otherwomen doing the same thing. I decided toget together with other Granby women farm-ers so we can use each other as resources.Now there are 18-20 of us meeting regular-ly.”

“What I learned from the program was thatit’s okay to get started. Do anything. Bravofor you! It’s like a little baby walking. Trysome things and don’t worry about failing. It

made me want to come to class, and thewhole class with all the women was an inspi-ration.”

Green Valley FarmHeather and Daniel Driscoll began farmingin 2007 at Green Valley Farm in Eastford,Connecticut. At that time it was a home-stead operation where they raised a fewpigs for themselves and family. “It was a lotof work, but we wanted to raise a heritagebreed (Berkshire) and be able to sell a qual-ity product,” says Heather. That commitmentto a great product and the desire to make afull-time living from farming is what broughtHeather into HMI’s Beginning WomenFarmer in 2011.

“I was frustrated when people would tell meyou can’t make a living farming,” saysHeather. My grandparents raised 7 kids onthe profit they created from their dairy farm.I believe you just need to be a good busi-ness person if you want to be a successfulfarmer. That’s why I participated in the pro-gram.”

After working the kinks out of the system,the Driscolls started to sell to the generalpublic in 2008.They started with a handful ofcustomers. By 2010, they had about 30-40customers which included organic grocerystores, the University of Connecticut, andsome restaurants. Their primary marketingstrategy was by word of mouth. They haveabout a 50/50 split between retail andwholesale customers.

But to grow the farm, Heather knew she hadto push the marketing. “I really like my retailcustomers. These people come to the farmwith their kids and it’s a great experience foreveryone,” says Heather. “We had 50 pigs in2011 and we are planning on doubling that

to 100 for 2012. We can increase the pro-duction so we are working to get all of theproducts sold.”

To address this marketing weak link,Heather worked with Beginning WomenFarmer Program mentor, Emily Brooks, onher marketing plan. In particular, theyfocused on gaining clientele from the inter-net, through their website and social net-working.“The marketing is really paying off. We canbegin to pay ourselves the wages we wantfor our work,” says Heather. “I worked as aparalegal before and was making $30/hour.I need to think about making that samewage as a farmer.”

“The program really helped me to get a han-dle on the numbers. You’ve got to be clearabout the numbers so you know what youcan or can’t do. We were originally thinkingabout getting into breeding and doing feed-er pigs. The good news was we would beable to get rid of the product quickly. Takingthe pigs all the way to finish was more ofcommitment, but when we did the numberswe saw how much more profitable that was.Selling them as feeder pigs cut into the prof-it and just wasn’t worth it.”

With the Driscolls’ focus on good businessplanning, Green Valley Farm is movingtoward being a steady supplier of premiumBerkshire pork products and an integral partof the local food system in Connecticut.

Dr. Ann Adams is the Director of Educationwith Holistic Management International. Shecan be reached via email at [email protected]. To learn more aboutHolistic Management go to www.holistic-management.org.

Holistic Training Helps Women Farmers Thrive

Central New York Farmer Tricia Park (par-ticipant in the project).

Heather and Daniel Driscoll with children, Megan, Riley, and Gavin.

was the best option. That way, she could focus her efforts onbuilding the business.

Now, at age twenty-six, Loehr is starting the first growingseason of Sparrowbush Farm. After searching for land forover a year, she found a good match and is leasing 98 acresthat is mostly comprised of USDA designated prime soils,prime where drained soils, and statewide important soils.While acknowledging the stress of running a farm business,she is glad that she has the opportunity. “I feel most stimu-lated and alive when I'm challenged to make decisions.” Andthere are many decisions the farmer of a new farm has tomake.

“It takes a lot of time to learn the nuances of new land,” saysLoehr. “That's why it's really important to have a long-term land agreement.” Given the unique drainage, sun, and soil

conditions of any given property, it takes a season or two toadjust to a new location. As Loehr calibrates what worksbest on her farm, she is producing a wide array of products.She has chickens, pigs, and twenty different crops. She willalso soon add lambs to her farm. Next year, she will reviewwhich crops worked best and reduce the number to ten.

Loehr is developing a winter CSA, or Community SupportedAgriculture, where members pre-purchase a share in theharvest. Loehr will combine her harvest with food items pur-chased from other local producers to create an omnivore'spackage of fresh bread, milk, meat, eggs, cheese, drybeans, and winter storage produce. CSA members will pickup the food twice a month from November through May.

“I want to work year-round and less feverishly,” explainLoehr. Farmers typically work grueling hours during thegrowing season and then have stretches of downtime duringthe winter. By putting off the distribution of some of the har-vest until winter, she will create a more consistent workschedule.

The specifics of the winter CSA were based on feedbackfrom Loehr's prior CSA members. She developed relation-ships with her customers and solicited comments and sug-gestions. People expressed excitement for obtaining adiverse array of local food in the winter.

In addition to the winter CSA, Sparrowbush Farm has eggshares available for pickup at three vegetable CSA's:Lineage Farms, Great Song Farm (a successful FarmerLandowner Match), and Shoving Leopard. SparrowbushFarm also sells products at the Hudson Farmers Market onSaturday mornings.

In the interest of promoting more discussion and training onsuccessful farm leases, Sparrowbush Farm is hosting

Columbia Land Conservancy's Down To Earth farm leasingworkshop on Oct. 14 from 1-4 p.m. “I'm excited that theColumbia Land Conservancy is working to create infrastruc-ture for local farms,” says Loehr.

The Farmer Landowner Match Program is part of theColumbia Land Conservancy's mission to ensure that farm-ing remains a central aspect of the local economy and land-scape. CLC holds conservation easements on 21,980 acreswhich permanently protects the natural characteristics of theland, including soil resources. Approximately 1/3 of this landis working farmland. CLC is currently working with theColumbia County Agriculture and Farmland ProtectionBoard to craft a plan to support and promote local agricul-ture. For more information on CLC's Working Farms pro-gram, contact Marissa Codey at 518-392-5252, ext. 211 [email protected], or visit http://clctrust.org/working-farms/. To learn more about Sparrowbush Farms, visitwww.sparrowbushfarm.com

Michael Chameides is Outreach Associate at ColumbiaLand Conservancy. He can be reached [email protected].

October 1, 2012 SMALL FARM QUARTERLY NEW FARMERS

The Agri-Mark dairy cooperative works

year-round for higher farm milk prices,

better markets and effective dairy

legislation on behalf of our Northeast

dairy farm families. For more information

on working with other farm families for

higher on-farm milk

prices, contact our

Membership

Department toll-free at

11-800-225-0532.

Rt. 20, Sharon Springs, NY • (800) 887-1872 or (518) 284-23461175 Hoosick St. Troy, NY • (518) 279-9709

New Farm from page 13

Farmer Ashley Loehr (left) speaks with Columbia LandConservancy’s Marissa Codey (right).

Photos by Michael Chameides

Feed sign in greenhouse at Sparrowbush Farm.

Chicken in front of chicken coop at Sparrowbush Farm.


FARM TECH

by Patricia Brhel

It's been a long, hot summer. July was thehottest month in over a century, and a lot offarmers, from tiny one acre plots to hun-dreds-of- acre century farms, have beenworried about their water supply. It turns outthat those who farm using old fashioned ororganic principals are faring best in this newera of climate disruption.

Mason Gilbert, a small farmer inBrooktondale, NY, worried about the lack ofsnow last winter, and delayed planting, hop-ing that more rain would fall. He credits thecrops he has to a five pronged approach:using raised beds, planting closely to mini-mize water evaporation, mulch, saving thewater from his roof and using the availablewater in a controlled manner. For instance,his tomatoes get regularly scheduled waterboosts to help avoid blossom end rot andthe carrots, in the raised beds, get enoughdrainage to keep from being temporarilyoverwatered and splitting when it does rain.The late start delayed his entry into thenearby Caroline Farmers Market by a fewweeks and initially didn't help his bottomline. What did help, however, was embracingthe new social media outlets. The web sitethat his son put together to showcase thefamily farm and regular updates onFacebook have made a big difference intheir sales. With that extra advertising, theirproduce is now selling fast at the localCaroline Farmers Market and to customersthat visit the farm. His wife, Donna, also car-

ries produce to work to fill orders generatedfrom the web. Check outgilbertfamilyfarm.com to see what's tripledtheir sales.

Christmas Tree Farmer Bob Hunt, inTrumansburg, NY, says, “We're not in troubleyet. The trees haven't started changingcolor, but that's partially due to the clay soilon much of our 233 acres. It tends to retainwhat water we get and while that may be aproblem in the spring when I'm waiting forthe ground to dry up enough to get theequipment into the fields, right now it's ahelp.” With the soil moisture from Springrains disappearing, Bob is concerned thathe has no practical way to water his trees.“Our strategy right now is to pray for rain. Ifit gets worse we'll try to run a pump from ourponds and water the seedlings so that theydon't die, but that's expensive and what dowe do if the pond dries up?”

Don Barber and Rita Rosenberg ofRosebarb Farm in Ithaca, NY use horses tofarm their acres using organic principals.They sell from a roadside stand and pre-serve their own food. “I've been trying toretain all the water I can.” He explains, “Weuse gutters to direct and save the water fromour house and some of the outbuildings. I'vegot water barrels and we've buried a 500gallon tank as backup. We also mulch andwater sparingly, putting the water where itwill do the most good. For instance, wewater the berries as they're setting fruit andas the fruit is plumping up. It's the only wayto ensure a crop. There were some blueber-ries that didn't get enough water and theyjust dried up on the plants. We could proba-bly do a little more in the way of retainingwater and if this climate disruption keeps up,we'll have to.”

The Hatches have been raising sheep, beesand vegetables on their acreage for about40 years. “We water using drip hoses in acontrolled manner. We used to spray thevegetables using water from our pond, butthe pump was noisy and expensive and itwasted a lot of water. Now, with controlledapplication we can use the well in our barnand we haven't run out of water yet. It mighthelp that we live on a hill with an abundanceof water and a forest surrounding us. Whenwe moved here 40 years ago we plantedtrees as a windbreak and learned to use

mulch. It all makes a difference in both theamount of work we have to do and in thebottom line.”

Cal Snows family farm in Caroline, NY hasbeen in existence since 1816 and two of hissons are following in the family footsteps.Son Aaron has helped them branch out intoa value added product, cheesemaking, tohelp grow the business. With nearly 200years of family wisdom Cal has a number ofthings to suggest. He relays an old countrysaying that some farmers who were hit bylast year's floods might relate to. “They saythat a dry year will scare you to death but awet year will starve you.” Still, the lack ofwater this year is not easy to cope with.

“We plant at least 15% more than we expectto need during any year. That way if we havea very wet or dry year, or hit a cold spell,we've got a margin of error. If we end up withmore hay and feed than we need, thatmeans that we have a little extra income thatyear that we can set aside for a bad year.With the amount of land we have and whiletrying to grow the feed for all of our animals,irrigation isn't practical. We do mulch, usecrop rotation, avoid over plowing or overcompacting the soil and we plant varieties ofalfalfa and other crops that can handle thedrier weather. We planted the small grainsearly enough this year that they got somegrowth when there was still some rain, but

our corn is stressed. There are more harm-ful insects in the fields than normal, butwe're not buying or spraying any insecticide.The cost of the chemicals, the fuel to spreadthem and the damage to the beneficialinsects isn't worth it. We use a pond to waterour livestock and so far the springs that feedthe pond haven't failed us, but the heat,even with giving the cows as much water asthey want, is still cutting into milk productionand their general health. For instance, fertil-ity declines when the temperature rises.”

Cornell Cooperative Extension and theUSDA SARE (Sustainable AgricultureResearch and Education) have a number oftips for soil management and conservingwater. They include water capture in rainbarrels and tanks, mulch and drip irrigationon smaller acreage, planting drought resist-ant varieties and native forage wheneverpossible and saving and recycling any waterthat does fall. Taking care to till in a limitedway, so that you're not kicking up dust andfurther drying the soil will also help. Buildingup the soil with organic matter, using covercrops and crop rotation will also help. Thereis also information on innovative systems fortillage, irrigation and runoff collection.

Pat Brhel is a community volunteer and free-lance writer who lives in Caroline, N.Y. Shecan be reached at [email protected] or607-539-9928.

Water Saving Strategies for Your Farm & Garden

Good soil structure improves water infil-tration and decreases runoff and ero-sion.

Photo by USDA SAREA screenshot from an instructional video titled “Rainwater Catchment from a HighTunnel for Irrigation Use”.

by Sara Runkel and TiannaDuPont

Editors Note: This is the firstin a series of three articles.

Equipment is expensive. Butoften it can pay for itselfquickly if you get the righttool for your farm. We wouldlike to share a few consider-ations and tips we havelearned through a recentequipment demonstration atthe Seed Farm New FarmerTraining and IncubatorProgram in Emmaus, PA aswell as from our wonderfulfarmer neighbors and a fewgood resources. We hopedescriptions of different

options will help you find theright equipment for yourfarm.

Hoes have been aroundsince pre-dynastic Egypt,and there are many typesout there. The stirrup hoeis a standard on small veg-etable farms. The oscillatingblade slices right under thesoil surface, cutting off smallweeds on both the pull andpush. Available in manywidths, it works well in mostsoil conditions. Like all hoesit works best on smallweeds, but it can be used onlarger weeds too. Thecollinear hoe works only onthe pull. The thin blade

works best on small weeds.It can slide into tight placesbetween plants and you canslip it right under drip tape.The European push hoe(Photo 1) is a favorite ofsome of our apprentices. Ithas a really long handle witha pistol grip which makes iteasier for the operator tostand up straight and have acomfortable grip. The whaletale shaped blade rides justunder the soil surface cut-ting off small weeds. With awider blade then most, itworks well on widely spacedcrops, but more challengingto use for in-row weeds. Theswan neck hoe from Dewittalso has a long handle

which helps even tall folksstand upright while theyhoe. It is used with a sweep-ing motion that can be hardfor Americans to get usedto.

No matter which hoe youuse, it is important to thinkabout ergonomics. Theblade should be parallel tothe ground. You don't wantto be hunched over. Andmake sure you sharpen yourhoe! It can really cut downon productivity and be hardon your body to deal with adull hoe. When explaininghow to sharpen tools I like touse steps I borrowed fromJosh Volk, Slow Hand

Farms: For a hoe you wanta 30 degree bevel. A six inchsingle mill bastard file with ahandle works well. Files cutonly on the forward stroke.Try not to drag them back-wards which will dull the file.Slide the file smoothlyacross the blade using evenpressure all the way across.For many hoes like a stirrupwhere there is an angle ononly one side of the blade,use one or two quick strokesto take off the bur on theback. The bevel should beflat, not rounded.

There are many types ofcultivators out there. Manyof our neighbor farmer col-

leagues prefer belly mount-ed cultivators with sets ofsweeps or knives (Photo 2).The great thing about a bellymount is you are lookingdown on the crop and soyou can get very close andrun a lower risk of lookingback which causes theinevitable swerve to theside. Specialized cultivatingtractors with offset seatsand engines improve theoperator's view of the crop.

We are currently using twocultivators at the farm: a LowResidue Cultivator (fromI&J) and the Williams ToolsSystem with side knives and

Vegetable Equipment Considerations for New Farmers

Vegetable page 17

tines. The Low Residue Cultivator has aset of S shanks with duck sweeps (Photo 3).The S shanks have a little flex so theyvibrate vigorously, shattering soil, knockingsoil from weed roots and leaving weedsexposed on the soil surface [1]. Instead ofone larger sweep between rows there aremultiple sweeps attached to a parallel link-age on the main tool bar which helps get allthe weeds. However, they call it a lowresidue cultivator because all those sweepsalso do a good job of catching field trashand wrapping it around the sweeps.This cul-tivator, like many others, works better on aflat bed system. It is very useful to have aset of gauge wheels to keep sweeps at aconsistent height. Since the sweeps are justgoing an inch below the surface you don'tneed a lot of horse power to use it. OurKubota only has 23 horsepower and it worksfine.

We also trialed a multi-component weeding

frame called the Williams Tools System(Photo 4). The Williams is a tool bar withmultiple sets of spring (or flex) tines as wellas an additional tool bar where you canmount side knives or other cultivators (weuse side knives). The flex tine weeder canbe used to blind cultivate or by lifting uptines over the row to work around crops upto 16” tall. The tines rake the soil surface to

pull out and expose sprouting and emergingweeds. Many farmers use tine weeders pre-

emergence for large seeded crops. Forexample, at Summit Valley Farm in NewHolland PA, Wade Espenshade uses aKovar flex tine four or five days after plantingcorn. The crop is not up yet and corn plant-ed 1 1/2 inch deep is not bothered by thesurface disturbance. The trick with tineweeding is it works best on tiny weedsbefore they emerge. If you can see the

weeds it may already be toolate. Three great thingsabout a flex tine weeder are:(1) it kills in-row weeds, (2)it's fast (Wade runs it at 8-10mph) and (3) it helps con-serve moisture and sup-press new weeds by creat-ing a dust mulch in the top _inch. This thin dried layerholds moisture below andmakes it hard for the weedsto germinate.

Vegetable farmers we knowalso use flex tines pre-emer-gence on carrots and otherslow to emerge crops. Thecarrot seed which has notgerminated yet just moves

around under the soil. After the crop is upyou have to go much slower but you can tineweed many direct seeded vegetable crops,killing in-row as well as between row weeds.Don't use it right away though on transplant-ed crops and you have to get to know whichdirect seeded crops can take the thrashing.For example, Bill Chambers in Oregon sayshe does not disturb pumpkins for ten daysafter germination [1]. Disadvantages of flextimes include (1) Cultivation timing is criticalweeds with four or more leaves and (2)emerged grasses at any stage are rarely

controlled. Therefore, early-season flex-tineharrowing should be integrated with a moreaggressive cultivator. Research in trans-planted broccoli, snap beans, and sweetcorn has shown that flex-tine harrows canreduce crop stand and yield when usedbefore the crop is well rooted [2].

Once the plants (or the weeds) get a littlebigger we use side knives on the same toolbar to cut off weeds and throw some soil intothe row to cover other weeds. Side knives donot generally throw as much soil as sweeps.You can reverse them to throw more or lesssoil.

When you are buying a tool bar mountedcultivator, make sure it is sized for your trac-tor. You want to make sure you are coveringyour tire tracks. You will also want to makesure that the duck sweeps used to cultivatebehind your tires are wide enough. Theyshould be matched to your wheel width.a

If you are mid-scale and plan to seed ortransplant by hand, another useful toolmight be a row marker. With an idea bor-

rowed from Quiet Creek Farm in Kutztown,we mounted a set of three row markingknives on a tool bar. This allows us to markthree (or two) parallel furrows down the bed.Then, even when hand seeding or trans-planting we can still come back and cultivatewith the tractor without knocking out plants(see marked rows in Photo 3).

For more information about the Seed Farmequipment demonstration visit www.the-seedfarm.org. The Seed Farm links newfarmers with training, equipment and landthrough its Apprenticeship and FarmIncubator Programs eliminating the topthree barriers to farm entry, and openingdoors for a new generation of farmers. Thetraining program is currently acceptingapplications due October 15, 2012.

Sara Runkel is the Seed Farm ExecutiveDirector. She can be reached at [email protected]. Tianna DuPont is asustainable agriculture educator with PennState Extension. She can be reached [email protected] or (610) 746-1970.

References and Resources: [1] Bowman, G., ed. Steel in the Field: AFarmers Guide to Weed Management Tools.1997, Sustainable Agriculture Network:Beltsville, Maryland.[2] Grubinger, V. Cultivation Equipment forWeed Control: Pros, Cons and Sources.Vermont Cooperative Extension, 2001.


2033 Brothertown RoadDeansboro, NY 13328Phone: (315) 841-4910Fax: (314) 841-4649

Hrs: Mon-Fri 8am-4pmSat. 8am-Noon

Spring/[email protected]

~ Available Now ~~ reels ~ poliwire ~ step in posts etc. ~ hi tensile ~ wire mesh

~ gates ~ split rail fencing ~ hay feeders ~ posts of allsizes ~ tools ~ cattle handling equipment ~ water tubs &

valves ~ mineral feeders

Vegetable from page 17

Photo 4. Toolbar with both side knives and spring tines. The large knives on the frontare pumpkin knives that can reach in under spreading crops.

Photos by Tianna DuPontPhoto 3. Seed Farm manager SaraRunkel demonstrates a low residue culti-vator with S tines and sweeps set up fortwo rows at a recent field day.

Photo 2. Belly mounted sweeps allow for precision cultivation. This tractor also hasan offset which allows the operator to look down on the crop he/she is cultivating.

Photo 1. European Push hoe.Photo by Jodi Torock

FARM TECH


by Rachel Whiteheart

Anyone who has driven through the Chautauqua-Lake ErieWine Region of Western New York has seen the rolling hillsof wine country that expand out as far as the eye can see.Farmland totaling 30,000 acres, populated by 23 wineries,blankets the region and provides it with a unique cultural andeconomic character. But, despite the huge economic contri-bution that these wineries provide, Dr. Donna Quadri-Felittii,a New York University tourism specialist, found that therewas room for improvement when it came to tourism market-ing in this region. In 2011, she received a SARE ‘SustainableCommunity’ Grant to conduct research on the ideal tourismexperience for visitors to this region and to disperse her find-ings to small businesses, wineries, and tourism specialists inthe area.

Donna had a concern that “most marketing just looks at whatthe consumer wants and advises businesses to build theirproducts around that.” So, when she began to design herSARE project, she incorporated a more comprehensiveapproach. She put together surveys that would gather feed-back from both the supply-side (vineyards/businesses) andthe demand-side (visitors and tourists) about their agri-

tourism preferences. She disseminated these surveys toarea farmers and businesses, consumers, and touristswhose names she collected from the visitor logs of business-es in the region.

During the subsequent 2 months, over 1000 tourists and 180regional business owners and wineries responded to her sur-veys. The number and nature of the responses suggestedthat visitors to the region, in Donna’s words, held a “desire tounderstand this asset [farming] in the region” and that vine-yard owners and other area businesses had a strong needfor consumer education - a way to teach visitors about thevalue of farms to the community and the methods of produc-ing wines and other products. The survey responses alsoprovided Donna with important demographic facts about theregion’s wine tourists. For example, many were 55 or older,middle class, college educated women, and the majoritytravelled to the area from New York or Pennsylvania.

When all the data was compiled, Donna used the feedbackto design a series of educational resources, essentially an“agritourism toolkit”, for the farmers and businesses of theChautauqua-Lake Erie Wine Region. In part, the “toolkit”included resources on broad topics like the four themes ofthe agritourism approach (see sidebar) and the basic ingre-dients in any type of tourism experience. It also offered infor-mation on more region-specific topics like the type of winetourism experience that tourists in this particular region wantand examples of region-specific tourism strategies applied tobusiness types (e.g., vineyards, wineries, retail, foodservice,accommodations). Some of the suggested strategies toattract more visitors included hosting musical concerts insidethe wine cellar, offering visitors rides on grape pickers, orscenic hot-air balloon tours over the vineyard. Donna alsofound that, for the demographic that most frequently visitsthis region, putting emphasis on aesthetic appeal (the uniquenatural beauty of the area) hasthe greatest impact on a visi-tor’s intent to return.

Donna, with the help of PennState and Cornell Universityregional programs, localtourism organizations, and

chambers of commerce, used a range of techniques to dis-tribute her toolkit as widely throughout the region as possi-ble. Her main outreach was through a series of PowerPointslides, a tool she saw as the most “readily consumed andefficient way to disseminate information.” She hosted two 90-minute workshops, open to the public, during which shereviewed these slides and discussed how her findings couldbe used by local businesses to enhance the region’s agri-tourism experience. To view these resources, visit SARE’swebsite, www.sare.org and search for Donna’s project(Project Number CNE11-091).

Donna, an Erie PA native, saw an opportunity in her homeregion and was eager to do something about it. Luckily, forthe small businesses and vineyards of the Chautauqua-LakeErie Wine Region, she was able to combine her vast amountof tourism experience with her strong personal tie to theregion, to help fill in the tourism marketing gaps and bring anew level of economic vitality to her home.

To access the agritourism toolkit, visit www.sare.org andsearch for grant CNE11-09 or contact Donna [email protected].

Rachel Whiteheart was a summer intern at the Cornell SmallFarms Program during summer 2012 and is now a juniorEnvironmental Engineering major at Cornell University. Shemay be reached at [email protected].

Taking Agritourism as High as a Hot Air BalloonDonna Quadri developed a comprehensive agritourism plan to help vineyardowners and businesses enhance tourist experiences

Partnership Grants - Due November 1st

Partnership Grants are for agricultural serv-ice providers-extension staff, consultants,nonprofits, state departments of agriculture,and others working in the agricultural com-munity-who want to conduct on-farmdemonstrations, research, marketing, andother projects with farmers as cooperators.Projects must take place on farms or direct-ly involve farm businesses. Reviewers lookfor well-designed inquiries into how agricul-ture can enhance the environment, improvethe quality of life, or be made more prof-itable through good stewardship. Grants arecapped at $15,000. Learn more at:http://nesare.org/get/partnership/

Sustainable Community Grants - DueNovember 15th

Sustainable Community Grants are for proj-ects that strengthen the position of sustain-able agriculture as it affects community eco-nomic development. Communities and com-

mercial farmers must benefit from theseproposals, and the selection emphasis is onmodel projects that others can replicate.Grants are capped at $15,000. Learn moreat: http://nesare.org/get/sustainable-com-munity

Farmers Grants - Due November 27th

Farmer Grants are for commercial produc-ers who have an innovative idea they wantto test using a field trial, on-farm demonstra-tion, or other technique. Farmer Grants letcommercial producers explore new ideas inproduction or marketing; reviewers look forinnovation, potential for improved sustain-ability and results that will be useful to otherfarmers. Projects should be technicallysound and explore ways to boost profits,improve farm stewardship, or have a posi-tive impact on the environment or the farmcommunity. Grants are capped at $15,000.Learn more at: http://nesare.org/get/farm-ers/

Agritourism applies the “four-legged chair” approach to tourism marketing. The four‘legs’ describe aesthetic, educational, entertainment and escapism components. Forexample, the natural beauty of rolling hills sprinkled with vineyards initially entices thetourist (the aesthetic component). After tourists learn more about the region (educa-tion), have fun while learning (entertainment), and experience the relaxing elation ofbeing free from the constraints of the modern world (escapism), the tourists arehooked. By increasing consumer involvement in production/processing, agritourismcan also enhance the demand and appeal for local products and can consequently helppromote diversification of products for farmers.

Riding a hot air balloon over wine country is popular inCalifornia. Champagne sunrise flight, anyone?

Photo courtesy of ‘California Dreamin’

Upcoming SARE Grant Deadlines

The experience economy approach encompasses fourmain persuasion methods: using aesthetics, entertain-ment, education, and escapism.

Photos by Donna Quadri-Felitti

Northeast Sare SpotlightWelcome to the Northeast SARE Spotlight! SARE (Sustainable Agriculture Researchand Education) offers grants to farmers, educators, universities and communitiesthat are working to make agriculture more sustainable – economically, environmen-tally, and socially. Learn about whether a SARE grant would be a good fit for you.


by Elizabeth Lamb, Margery Daughtrey andMargaret Kelly

Chrysanthemum white rust (CWR) is a fun-gal disease of chrysanthemums caused byPucciniahoriana that can cause severe dam-

age, including complete crop loss due todirect effects of the disease or to quarantineprocedures. Pot mums, garden mums andmums grown for cut flowers are all suscepti-ble to the disease. The characteristic symp-toms are small white to yellow spots on theupper leaf surface corresponding to pinkishto white pustules on the lower leaf surface.Early infestations may be hard to identify.Train workers how to identify CWR so thatany outbreaks can be identified early beforethey spread through the crop. The disease isvery contagious within a mum planting, andcan be spread to other plantings by the windduring rainy weather.

For more information on identifying and pre-venting chrysanthemum white rust, addition-al references are available at:http://www.nysipm.cornell.edu/pest_alert/chrys_white_rust/default.asp.

Prevention is the best method of control. Buycuttings from a reliable source. Inspect them

when they come in and regularly thereafterfor symptoms of white rust. Water with driptapes or individual emitters if possible toavoid splashing spread via overhead irriga-tion. Do not keep any decorative plantings ofchrysanthemum on your property from year

to year.

Infected plants may not show symptoms

until the plants are in the proper environ-ment. Cool weather (40-73°F), high humidity (over 75%) and wet foliage for atleast 5 hours promote the development ofCWR. If temperatures stay above 73°F andno rainfall is predicted, no treatment is nec-essary. If rainfall is predicted for a 24-hour orlonger period and the temperatures areexpected to be near or below 73°F, preven-tative fungicide treatment is prudent even oncrops that appear healthy.

Many weather websites provide temperatureand precipitation forecasts based on yourzipcode or a nearby airport. Some optionsare: http://www.accuweather.com/,www.weather.com/

When using rust fungicides preventively,rotate among active ingredients and FRACcodes. Use contact (e.g. chlorothalonil andmancozeb) as well as systemic (strobilurinand DMI) materials within the rotation.Follow all label precautions regardingwhether treatments are recommended forplants in flower.

For additional information on fungicides forrust management, check the Cornell Guidefor the Integrated Management ofGreenhouse Floral Crops or the Cornell Pestmanagement Guide for the Production adMaintenance of Herbaceous Perennialshttp://ipmguidelines.org/Greenhouse/Chapters/CH06/default-39.aspxhttp://ipmguidelines.org/HerbaceousPerennials/Chapters/CH05/default-1.aspxRemember to check the label for specifics ofuse.

Because chrysanthemum white rust is aFederally regulated pest, you must contactyour NYS Horticulture Inspector if you sus-pect your plants are infected. For contactinformation for your local inspector, call theDivision of Plant Industry at 518-457-2087.

Elizabeth Lamb is the coordinator for orna-mental IPM for the NYS Integrated PestManagement Program. She can be reachedat 607-254-8800 or [email protected].

Chrysanthemum White Rust: Good Management Prevents Major Losses

More advanced symptoms on bottom ofleaf.

Early symptoms on top of leaf.

by Dr. Michael Mazourek

Cucurbit downy mildew (CDM)(Pseudoperonosporacubensis), is a serious disease ofcucurbits worldwide that attacks all cultivated cucurbits.Symptoms progress from yellow, angular lesions on theupper leaf surfaces restricted by leaf veins to the productionof gray sporangia that can be seen on the lower leaf surface.Lesions expand, become necrotic, and kill the leaves. Thesporangia become airborne, land on other leaves and, withappropriate temperature and leaf wetness, will germinate toinfect the plant. This rapid production of large numbers ofsporangia makes P. cubensisa a particularly explosivepathogen. (Seehttp://vegetablemdonline.ppath.cornell.edu/NewsArticles/Cuc_Downy.htm for more photographs of symptoms)

The identification of CDM is straightforward at the initialstages on cucumber plants where the jigsaw puzzle patternon the upper side of leaves is quite unmistakable, but theseearly symptoms can be much less distinctive on melon andsquash. With all the cucurbits, the appearance of sporesdirectly below the yellow sectors is dependent on environ-mental conditions. The disease progresses rapidly and asquickly as within two weeks the leaves will be completelydead, brown and shriveled. Squash petioles survive notice-ably longer than the leaves and remain green and erect,holding up the brown, shriveled leaves.

In the U.S., CDM was the most serious pathogen of cucumber until the late 1940’s and 50’s, when resistant

varieties were released. However, in 2004 and 2005, thepathogen re-emerged as a serious threat to cucurbit pro-duction in the US. The pathogen cannot live year roundabove 30 degrees latitude (southern Florida). Thus, eachyear the first crop in the US to be infected with cucurbitdowny mildew is found in Florida sometime between mid-February and early April. The pathogen will then move northas additional cucurbit crops are planted. For many years,cucurbit downy mildew would not be seen in Upstate NewYork until very late in the season (late August orSeptember). However starting in 2005, the pathogen hasbeen found in cucumber fields in July. It is possible that win-ter greenhouse production of cucumbers is enabling P. cubensisto overwinter and infect field-grown plants earlierin the season.

Regardless of origin, new strains that overcome host plantresistance are now present in the US. Cucumbers are veryvulnerable, and although early season production is oftenharvested before the pathogen arrives in our area, mid andlate season harvests are tenuous. Melon harvests are large-ly influenced by a loss of fruit quality as the pathogendepletes the plants’ production of sugars for the developingfruit. Summer and winter quash are fortunately moreresilient.

High tunnel production is a promising approach to control-ling the CDM. High tunnels naturally maintain a drier atmos-phere than open field production that limits leaf wetnessthereby depriving the pathogen of the wet environment itneeds to complete infection cycles. Other pathogens remain

problematic or are amplified in a high tunnel environment.Powdery mildew does not require free moisture like CDMand is able to multiply readily in high tunnels. Bacterial wiltsymptoms are often amplified in a high tunnel environmentbecause the bacterial accumulation in the plant vasculaturerestricts transpiration.

Cucurbit Downy Mildew on Cucumber: New Strains, New Varieties

Picolino - a susceptible cucumber variety, Aug. 26,2010.

HORTICULTURE

Marketmore 97 - a resistant cucumber variety, Aug. 26,2010.

Photo by Michael Mazourek

More advanced symptoms on top of leaf.

Early symptoms on bottom of leaf.Photos by Margery Daughtrey

Cont. page 20


CDM management in NY now requires a combination ofnew cultivars with resistance to the new strain, and precise-ly timed chemical controls. Growers can monitor the distribu-tion and movement of the disease in the US online throughthe CDM ipmPIPE (www.CDMipmPIPE.org) This websitehelps growers know when to spray a cucurbit crop or makeother decisions by being

aware of when downy mildewhas been observed in aneighboring county. For auto-matic updates, the CDM alertsystem allows growers toreceive updates by e-mail ortext messages whenpathogen has been reporteda selected distance from achosen location. In 2012, thesite received confirmedreports of CDM in SuffolkCounty on July 17th, ErieCounty July 25th, and Ontarioand Seneca Counties onAugust 7th and 8th respec-tively.

The search for resistant culti-vars had not been promisinguntil recently. Studies onmelon identified undomesti-cated sources of resistancedecades ago but little work

had been done to transfer thisresistance into a moderncommercial cultivar. A surveyof squash done at Cornell in2009 identified severalsources of resistance. In thecase of both melon and sum-mer squash, Cornell is active-ly working on the develop-ment of new cultivars with thisneeded resistance. Cucumberhas received more attention.S e v e r a l

studies from North Carolina have identified weak resistancein some cultivars. Studies at Cornell have identified partialresistance in a slicing cucumber that is commercially available, ‘Marketmore 97’. Two new cultivars from SeminisSeed Company, SV3462CS and SV4719CS, promise tohave improved resistance and are available as treated seed.

Dr. Mazourek is a vegetable breeder at Cornell University.He can be reached at [email protected].

Symptoms of bacterialwilt on cucumber for comparison.

HORTICULTURE

Right: Symptoms ofpowdery mildew oncucumber for comparison.

Leaf symptoms of cucur-bit downy mildew oncucumber.

Cucurbit from page 20

small farm quarterly 10.1.12

Documents

small farm book business

farm garden

farm techwater

small farm quarterly

generation of small

farm energycompost power

women farmers

good farming