Accidents, injuries, and illnesses are part of horse ownership. When an emergency arises, you’ll need to know how to respond, especially when a veterinarian can’t be reached or can’t get to the horse for an extended period. Accidents, injuries, and illnesses are part of horse ownership. When an emergency arises, you’ll need to know how to respond, especially when a veterinarian can’t be reached or can’t get to the horse for an extended period. “For this reason alone, every horse owner should be able to administer basic first aid,” said Steve Adair, DVM, an associate professor of equine surgery ..read more

As the coronavirus pandemic continues, many families are re-thinking the way they shop for groceries, particularly meat. Consumer behavior and outbreaks linked to meatpacking plants have caused disruptions throughout the supply chain. Many Americans who venture out of their homes to purchase groceries are confronted by empty store shelves. Thankfully, meal delivery services make weathering the experience more enjoyable. Not only can you avoid the new protocols such as mask wearing and sanitizing grocery carts, you can find everything you need for hearty meals at home, all from your computer. A ..read more

As Americans get used to the idea of spending more time at home this summer and into the fall, family meals are becoming more important. The idea of sitting around the table for a meal, once unattainable during busy schedules, has become our new normal. Gather around the table (or around the yard) with friends and family and enjoy a wide range of meats available from mail order steak services. Using mail order options, you can avoid the grocery store and have high quality, USDA prime meats delivered straight to your door. As an added bonus, a mail order steak service is likely to have a better ..read more

As Americans get used to the idea of spending more time at home this summer and into the fall, family meals are becoming more important. The idea of sitting around the table for a meal, once unattainable during busy schedules, has become our new normal. Gather around the table (or around the yard) with friends and family and enjoy a wide range of meats available from mail order steak services. Using mail order options, you can avoid the grocery store and have high quality, USDA prime meats delivered straight to your door. As an added bonus, a mail order steak service is likely to have a better ..read more

Bob Schlosser uses a flat-edged scoop to check the sheeting of syrup. If it’s thin and drips off, it’s not ready. When it comes off in more of a sheet, he knows it’s done. Today, many producers use hydrometers and refractometers for more accurate readings. Photos courtesy of Sandiwood Farm. A 35-acre old-growth sugar bush in Wolcott, Vermont, provides the sap for Sandiwood Farm’s maple syrup. The forest has been tapped since the 1850s. Today, sugaring is just one part of the farm’s diverse agricultural ventures. “It was part of our dream to be able to make a living year-round agricultura ..read more

One thing is certain in animal agriculture. There is manure, and it happens year-round. But handling that manure changes with the seasons. The weather has major impacts on manure application strategies, and winter manure handling brings additional considerations. Snow cover, winter precipitation, frozen ground, and winter melts all complicate the management of manure. Climate change predictions indicate that wetter winters, more extreme storm events and weather variability will create increasingly challenging conditions for farmers needing to apply manure outside of the growing season. Manu ..read more

On the surface, it would be safe to say that 2015 has been a good year. Technically though, the year, according to the sugar making industry, ended in June 2015. According to the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service, it’s Northeastern Regional Field Office reported that the region’s maple syrup production (Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Pennsylvania, and Vermont) rose 7 percent from 2014’s from 2.78 million gallons to 2.96 million gallons. The state of Vermont remained supreme, producing more than 1.39 million gallons, which represents nearly 41 percent ..read more

Whether on a livestock operation where it is important to keep critters in or on a vegetable farm where it is important to keep critters out, fencing is an unavoidable task. Building and repairing a fence is one of those jobs that are as much a part of rural life as riding a tractor. Whether on a livestock operation where it is important to keep critters in or on a vegetable farm where it is important to keep critters out, fencing is an unavoidable task. Anyone who has done fence work knows how exhausting it can be to drive nails or staples into an endless row of fence posts. Andy and ..read more

Early in the year, economists predicted that milk prices would raise nearly $2.00 per cwt during the year, but oversupply increased production and “baggage” from the previous two years tempered excitement over increased prices. Halfway into 2017, the outlook remains the same. Guarded optimism was the common theme among industry experts regarding 2017 milk prices. Early in the year, economists predicted that milk prices would rise nearly $2.00 per cwt during the year, but oversupply increased production and “baggage” from the previous two years tempered excitement over increased prices. H ..read more

A selective treatment affects individual stems and a broadcast treatment affects all stems in an area. If an interfering species is mixed with a high percentage of the desired species, a selective treatment may be used to reduce injury to the desired species. Editor’s Note: This is the final part of a two-part series on integrated vegetation management. This month’s column will cover the topic of the treatment attribute of broadcast manual and broadcast chemical mode. Check with your state’s cooperative extension or regulatory agency about legal herbicide use.  Mode is selected depending ..read more