Orchard Improvement Can Boost Yield & Income for NNY Apple Growers

Northern New York -- Apples are grown on nearly 4,000 acres in Northern New York and contribute a farm gate value of $16 million to the regional economy. Although the region has knowledgeable and progressive growers, an extensive infrastructure, and proximity to large markets, Cornell University Horticultural Sciences Professor Terence Robinson says, “To remain competitive in the world apple market, Northern New York apple growers need to continue to modernize their orchards to improve production efficiency and fruit quality.”

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Orchard Improvement

The Femivore’s Dilemma

Four women I know — none of whom know one another — are building chicken coops in their backyards. It goes without saying that they already raise organic produce: my town, Berkeley, Calif., is the Vatican of locavorism, the high church of Alice Waters. Kitchen gardens are as much a given here as indoor plumbing. But chickens? That ups the ante. Apparently it is no longer enough to know the name of the farm your eggs came from; now you need to know the name of the actual bird.

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The Femivore’s Dilemma

Professor: Cutting IPM program could endanger public health and safety

The NYS Integrated Pest Management (IPM) program has been zero-funded in the proposed New York budget. Yet IPM saves farmers millions of dollars and keeps New Yorkers safer and healthier by keeping thousands of tons of pesticide out of water and soil, says Cornell professor Don Rutz. He added that IPM also represents a massive return on investment for the state. Meanwhile, emerging pests like bed bugs and Swede midge are poised to take off and take over.

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Cutting IPM Program

Bees in the City? New York May Let the Hives Come Out of Hiding

Andrew Coté, NYC Beekeepers Association.

She said she could not think of anyone else in her neighborhood who would have complained about the two beehives she kept under a pine tree in her front yard in Flatbush, Brooklyn, leading the city’s health department to fine her $2,000 last fall. “I was kind of surprised,” said Mrs. Boyer, an art director with a media company. “People see us in our bee suit and they’d bring their kids to watch us and ask us questions.”

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Bees in the City