agriculture

Albion seeks farm to work with FFA

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 10 April 2013 at 12:00 am

District has 63 acres open for lease

ALBION – The school district sees 63 prime agricultural acres next to the school campus as more than an opportunity to grow food.

The district wants a local farm to lease the land, and work with students in the FFA on choosing what to grow. Students can also work with the farm in determining the costs for growing, harvesting and marketing what will likely be a grain crop.

One other thing: the farmer needs to donate the net proceeds to the FFA or towards a scholarship for a student pursuing a career in agriculture.

“We have a very generous ag community,” said Shawn Liddle, the district’s assistant superintendent for business. “I think we’ll definitely have some takers on this.”

The district purchased 68 acres from Peter Dragan, a local corn and soybean farmer, about a decade ago but allowed him to lease the land. That agreement would end after Mr. Dragan’s death.

Dragan died last Aug. 7 at age 96. The farm has completed the last cycle of a Dragan crop.

That has prompted school officials to consider other possibilities for the land. The Board of Education on Monday decided to seek proposals from the farming community to work the land while including FFA students. A farm would need to pay a $70 per-acre lease or $4,410 annually for 63 acres.

The district has set aside five other of Dragan’s former acres as an FFA “land lab.”

The district is looking for a farm with more than experience in agriculture. The school wants a farm that has a history of working with students and in education.

Two board members, Kevin Doherty and Brenda McQuillan, expressed concern that the district will have to be subjective in picking a farm if more than one want the opportunity.

The district originally pursued the land, seeing it as an asset if the campus would ever expand southward.

Doherty suggested the district may consider putting the Dragan land up for sale. However, he agreed with other board members that the proposal to connect with a local farm would be a benefit to FFA students. He just worries it will be difficult to justify picking one farm over another.

The district will first seek proposals from farmers to see if any farm wants the opportunity.

While a farm wouldn’t reap profits from the crop, a farm could use the project as a tax write-off, and could factor in equipment use as in expense in working the land. District Superintendent Michael Bonnewell also said a farm may get a better bulk deal for fertilizer and seed for its entire operation when the 63 school acres are included.

Board President Margy Brown said she is eager to hear from the farming community about the initiative.

“It provides a unique opportunity for this district that is strong in agriculture,” Brown said. “It’s an unbelievable opportunity for our ag students.”

Maple producers hoping for sap run bonus

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 4 April 2013 at 12:00 am

Photo by Tom Rivers – Flyway Farms in Medina taps about 900 trees on West Shelby Road

MEDINA – Terry Laubisch knows most local folks didn’t enjoy the freeze-thaw days in March. But for maple producers, those conditions are ideal for sap to flow.

Laubisch and other maple producers expect to cap off the season in the coming days.

He has enjoyed two sap runs so far, a two-week stretch from Feb. 27 to March 11, and then another week-long run from March 24-31.

“It’s been a good season,” Laubisch said. “Now we’re looking for the bonus.”

He thinks the 900 trees he taps on West Shelby Road will give more sap in the coming days. He’s already surpassed last year when the weather hit 80 degrees in mid-March, ending the season.

This season hasn’t been perfect. Many days never broke freezing, so the sap didn’t flow.

“Sap is like water,” Laubsich said. “It can’t move if it’s frozen.”

New York is the country’s second-leading maple producer behind only Vermont. Last year, in a down season, New York maple producers counted 360,000 gallons of syrup, down from 564,000 gallons in 2011. Western New York is home to many of the producers.

Lyle Merle taps 16,000 trees in Attica in one of the bigger operations. He said he will gladly take the cold March over the warmth a year ago.

“When the weather is cold and frozen you still have hope for more sap,” Merle said.

Last year his maple farm produced 5,800 gallons of syrup. He was at 6,500 gallons on Wednesday.

“I’m aiming for 7,000,” he said. “I think we still have a couple to three days left in the season.”

9 farms will get $290k for conservation work

Posted 12 March 2013 at 12:00 am

Press Release: Soil and Water Conservation District

Nine Orleans County farms, a dairy and eight cash crop operations, have been approved for $290,402 in state funding for conservation work in the Oak Orchard Watershed.

The grant will cover 75 percent of the costs to buy seeds and plant cover crops over three years. The cover crops will reduce erosion and soil loss on valuable crop land, said Dan Schuth, manager of the Orleans County Soil and Water Conservation District, which applied for the grant on behalf of the farmers.

The cover crop takes up nutrients in a plant, preventing them from becoming diluted in water and washed away. When the cover crop is killed at planting time for the cash crop, the nutrients are returned back into the soil, he said.

After the three-year grant period, farmers will be expected to be familiar with planting cover crops and will carry on the process unassisted, Schuth said.

The grant comes from the state Department of Ag and Markets’ “Ag Nonpoint Source Abatement and Control Program.” Soil and Water is working on a similar grant application for farmers in the Sandy Creek Watershed.

“Farmers are great stewards of our land and depend upon it for their livelihood,” Schuth said. “They understand the need for soil conservation and clean water on a very personal level. Grants such as this help keep farms profitable, while furthering our interest in a better environment for future generations.”