Provided photo – Kerri (McKenna) Richardson was active in 4-H and showing cattle while growing up in Barre. The Albion graduate will be working as the instructor of the Agri-Business Academy at the Batavia Career and Technical Education Center.

BATAVIA – An Albion native has been appointed instructor of the new Agri-Business Academy at the Batavia Career and Technical Education Center.

Kerri (McKenna) Richardson had most recently been working as community educator for the Orleans County Cornell Cooperative Extension.

She grew up in Barre and worked with her parents, George and Iva, at Country Lane Veterinary Services. Richardson also showed animals at local, regional and state fairs. She won the grand master showman award at the Orleans County Fair and also won the Junior Miss title.

She earned a master’s degree from Cornell University in agricultural education. In her new role she will connect students in the Genesee Valley Educational Partnership to opportunities in agriculture.

“The Genesee County area has an impressive, welcoming agricultural community that provides youth with a plethora of opportunities,” Richardson said. “I am excited begin my career as an instructor of the Agri-Business Academy and provide students with the opportunity to explore and delve into the agricultural community through experiences in agri-businesses.”

The Agri-Business Academy will start this fall. It will be available to students at the Batavia Career and Technical Education Center. The Agri-Business Academy is a one-year partnership program between the Genesee Valley Educational Partnership and Genesee Community College. This college prep program is geared toward highly motivated high school seniors interested in investigating careers in the agri-business field.

Students will explore multidisciplinary professions through meetings with career guest speakers, in conjunction with job shadows and field trips at a variety of agricultural and business locations. Food management science, environmental science, global position systems technology, power machinery, international trade, or agri-tourism, are a few of the areas that will be studied.

At the completion of this one-year program, students will earn 12 SUNY college credits.  The credit hour cost for academy students is $50, which is one third of the regular GCC tuition rate.

The Batavia Career and Technical Education Center is a program of the Genesee Valley Educational Partnership.  The Partnership operates as a Board of Cooperative Educational Services providing shared programs and services to 22 component school districts located in Genesee, Wyoming, Livingston and Steuben counties.

Applications are now being accepted for this program.  If you know of a student who might be interested in this program, please contact Richardson at krichardson3@gvboces.org or 585-344-7711 ext 2140 or Catherine Bennett at cbennett2@gvboces.org or 585-344-7773.

Photo by Tom Rivers

ALBION – It’s been raining a lot this morning, which follows a lot of rain on Monday.

I don’t think the farmers will be out planting corn and other crops anytime soon. The top photo shows a flooded field on Clarendon Road in Albion.

The wet fields are also keeping local baseball and softball teams indoors.

Today is forecast to reach a high of 44, followed by a high of 46 on Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service. It will be partly sunny on Wednesday.

The temperature is supposed to climb to 55 on Thursday with a chance for more showers.

Declining bee numbers hurts fruit, vegetable crops

File photo by Tom Rivers – A bee visits a sunflower in Albion last summer.

Press release, U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, is calling on the U.S. Department of Agriculture to bolster its efforts to revive New York’s bee population.

Beekeepers lost an average 30 percent of their hives to Colony Collapse Disorder, hurting New York farms’ ability to pollinate crops. Last month USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack directed $3 million to study bee losses in the Midwest. Gillibrand is urging the USDA to expand their investigation to New York and the Northeast.

“New York’s farms rely on a strong and healthy bee population to pollinate our fruit and vegetable crops,” Gillibrand said. “The alarming decline of the bee population comes at a steep price for our environment, our farms, and our economy. It is critical for the USDA make this investment here in New York to respond to Colony Collapse Disorder, and help revive New York’s farms.”

New York State has an estimated 52,000 beehives, each of which produce approximately 51 pounds of honey, ranking the state 10th in honey production. Bee pollination supports blueberries, cherries, squash and other fruit and vegetables. Apple trees require two to three hives per acre to pollinate.

Bee pollination adds an estimated $300 million value to a $4.4 billion agriculture industry in New York. Throughout the U.S., a staggering 45 percent of beehives were lost just last year.

The pollination initiative would be implemented by the Natural Resource Conservation Service, a branch of USDA, from their field offices in New York State. NRCS conservation experts would provide New York farmers with the technical and financial resources to provide honey bees with nutritious pollen and nectar while providing benefits to the environment.

For example, planting certain cover crops provides a benefit to producers by reducing erosion, increasing the health of their soil, inhibiting invasive species, providing quality forage and habitat for honey bees and other pollinators, as well as habitat for other wildlife.

Apples should be fine, fruit specialist says

Photo by Tom Rivers – An apple orchard on East Bacon Road endures the cold in this photo taken on Wednesday.

ALBION – If you love local peaches you might be out of luck this year. The punishing winter has damaged the buds on many of the trees, a local fruit expert said.

“Peach growers and consumers will be sorely disappointed,” said Debbie Breth, a fruit specialist with the Cornell Cooperative Extension.

The trees start to suffer with some thinning of the crop at about 5 degrees below 0. When it’s 10 below, the buds see a lot of damage. The temperatures have plummeted as far as 12 below this winter, Breth said.

“We’re definitely going to have a short peach crop,” she said.

The grape industry has also suffered, especially in Chautauqua County, where growers there fear 90 percent loss of some of their most valuable varieties for producing wine.

Farmers grow some grapes and peaches in Orleans County, but apples are the main fruit crop. Those trees are hearty and go dormant during the winter. They seem to have weathered the cold just fine, Breth said.

There is a chance some trees that were pruned right before the harsh cold may have injuries, she said. But she doesn’t expect there to be too much damage.

The deep freeze may have a benefit for farmers. Some of the invasive species that have survived recent warm winters may show up in smaller numbers this year, and they may show up later in the season, Breth said.

Fruit growers have worried in recent years about the Spotted Wing Drosophila, a destructive fruit fly. The cold may keep that pest out of the area until later in the season when the crops are harvested or close to harvest.

Photo by Tom Rivers – An apple tree on East State Street is covered in snow in this photo taken last month.

U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand is seeking federal disaster assistance for fruit growers who expect to face a decimated crop due to the extended periods of sub-freezing temperatures.

The harsh cold will likely hurt the grape, cherry and peach crops. Apples are more hearty and are expected to be fine, said Larry Meyer, the director of the Farm Service Agency in Orleans County.

The extent of the damage won’t be known for months, but Gillibrand wants to get the process started. She is asking Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to swiftly grant a disaster designation for Cattaraugus, Cayuga, Chautauqua, Oswego, Yates and additional counties as more crop losses are determined.

Meyer doesn’t expect Orleans to be included on the list because there aren’t a lot of acres for cherries, peaches and grapes, the fruit that has been harmed the most from the deep freeze. Orleans farmers grow about 200 acres each of peaches and cherries and 20 acres of grapes. Farmers have about 6,000 acres of apples in Orleans.

“There’s definitely been a couple of very cold days that have caused damage to the minor crops,” he said.

Grapes are big business in other counties, especially in the Finger Lakes area. New York State’s vineyards generate an estimated $4.8 billion toward the state’s economy. Jobs in New York’s wine and grape industry grew by 20 percent in the last decade, she said.

Gillibrand said some vineyards have lost 90 percent of their crop.

“When New York’s farmers struggle, our entire economy struggles,” she said in a statement. “This long and bitter cold winter has been extremely harmful to grape growers and vineyards. Losing out on these crops will set them behind all season, and hurt local businesses and jobs at a time we just can’t afford anymore setbacks. We need these federal resources on the ground without delay so we can help our farms recover, and grow our economy.”

The federal assistance can help provide farmers with prompt access to the financial and technical assistance they need to recover, including assistance through the Emergency Loan Program, the Supplemental Revenue Assistance (SURE) program, the Emergency Conservation Program and the Emergency Watershed Protection Program.

Meyer said the FSA in Orleans will be assessing the impact of the freeze. The damage should be more clear in the spring, he said.