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News of Otsego County

farming

News from the Noteworthy: Much Ado About Methane

News from the Noteworthy

Much Ado About Methane

Our column, The Life of the Land, is an exploration of local agricultural practices. Several of our pieces will focus on farms which raise grass-fed animals; here we address the environmental implications of locally raised livestock.

It is indisputable that industrial livestock management is an ecological disaster. This has led to pronouncements from numerous authoritative agencies to eat “less meat” or even “no meat”. Yet grass-fed production of livestock is an important and growing component of our local agricultural economy. For those of us who wish to support these farms, is their meat actually environmentally “better meat”?

The Present State of Rural Economies

The Present State of
Rural Economies

Glimmerglass Film Days this year featured a documentary entitled “Storm Lake” that chronicled the operating of The Storm Lake Times, a small local newspaper in Iowa farm country much like The Freeman’s Journal/Hometown Oneonta.

The community of Storm Lake endured profound changes in the last two decades as the local farm economy declined and was replaced by a very large Tyson pork processing plant that now employs 2,500 mostly migrant workers. The town’s population is about 11,000; its surrounding Buena Vista County about 20,000 in all.

The film cites corporate consolidation of corn and soybean farming and the “vertical integration” of the pork processing business — a fancy term for owning your suppliers — as the primary reasons for an agricultural downturn. Before the consolidation of the pork business, corn and soybean family farmers in Buena Vista County supplemented their crop business with hogs.

Pumpkin people

Cullen Pumpkin Farm offers u-pick and back-of-the-truck sales, plus supplies much of the region with wholesale pumpkins. (Greg Klein/AllOtsego)

Pumpkin people

Farm minutes from Otsego County
is famous for providing October’s
favorite fruit to region
and offering fall, family fun as well

By GREG KLEIN • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com

CULLEN — In September and October, the delivery trucks stop at Cullen Pumpkin Farm and its twin Shypski Farm nearly every day to load up on pumpkins.

“We certainly hope so,” said Barbara Shypski. “September and October are only two months, so there is a lot of pumpkins to get out.”

Just north of Otsego County, in the town of Columbia, in the hamlet that gives the farm its name, Cullen Pumpkin Farm has been supplying central New York with pumpkins for four, going on five, decades.
Brothers Tom, Richard and John, with help from Tom’s wife, Barbara, and other family members, have been carrying on the family tradition begun by their father, Nester.

DUNCAN: Quality Of Food Goes Back To Soil’s Quality
LETTER from R. SCOTT DUNCAN

Quality Of Food Goes

Back To Soil’s Quality

To the Editor:

Vitamins, minerals, and other supplements – there are numbers of people who say you should take vitamins.

Vitamin C for tissue repair, A for healthy skin, B for stress, E for women over 40, and a very popular one today – Vitamin D for overall health.

But the cost of the vitamins keeps getting higher and higher. A men’s multivitamin today will cost well over $50!

I was looking at the label on the jar and it said that a number of the ingredients are foods, from foods? Why not just eat the right foods? Well, they say foods are
not as nutritional us as they used to be.

I remember reading about one genetically modified grain that was created so it would grow faster. One of the reasons that it grows faster was that the roots are shorter. Well , the shorter roots do not go deep enough to absorb enough minerals, which in turn affects the brain function because of the lack of the minerals.

You can see why a lot of people think that you should eat organic, non-GMO foods. So I wonder why isn’t the food as good as it used to be?

A lot has to do with the soil. It’s been depleted and in many places contaminated.

There’s a graveyard for cars around here. Tons of cars lined up near a river. Every time I drive by I think how stupid to be so close to the river. The acid rain comes down on all the cars and carries all the pollutants into the river and into the farmland.

Man just ignores the cycles of nature, giving little respect to the natural process. They think science can do a better job. There is no balance between nature and science. You really don’t want to wait for nature to build the soil back up.

The way she takes care of things! Think about this: the COVID virus. It is keeping people inside, thereby reducing their impact on nature. Example: air pollution. The virus is killing lots of people, which reduces the population and also the stress on the environment.

Nature has her way of balance if we don’t play fair. Building up the quality of soil in Otsego County should be a pretty high priority on the list. Quality of soil equals quality of food equals quality of people.

I wonder what is being done to protect and enrich our local soil for, as they say, future generations?

R. SCOTT DUNCAN
Hartwick Forrest

HAPPENIN’ OTSEGO for TUESDAY, JANUARY 21, 2020
HAPPENIN’ OTSEGO for TUESDAY, JANUARY 21

Farmer’s Learn Animal Nutrition

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FARM CLASS – 5 – 7 p.m. Learn about sheep, goat nutrition for this season when the farmer is solely responsible for the feed with Dr. Tatiana Stanton, Small Ruminant Specialist from Cornell University. Cost, $5/person. Cornell Cooperative Extension, 123 Lake St., Cooperstown. 315-866-7920 or visit cceschoharie-otsego.org/events/2020/01/21/sheep-goat-nutrition-101

HAPPENIN’ OTSEGO for SATURDAY, AUG. 12
HAPPENIN’ OTSEGO for SATURDAY, AUG. 12

Tour County Farms

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FAMILY FARM DAY – 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Visit local farms in Otsego and Schoharie counties and bring home a cooler of farm fresh goods. Call (518) 234-4303, ext. 119 or visit FamilyFarmDay.org

CLOSING CONCERT – 8 p.m. End the season with an exploration of feminine sovereignty through dance, song, and text by Laura Carelss, dancer, choreographer, and actress, in the World Premier of “She Wolves.” Tickets, $15 adults, $12 youth, seniors, and veterans. The Church, at the decommissioned Baptist Church, 2381 St. Hwy. 205, Mount Vision. www.upsi-ny.com/upcoming-events-news/

HAPPENIN’ OTSEGO for SATURDAY, APRIL 1
HAPPENIN’ OTSEGO for SATURDAY, APRIL 1

‘Empty Bowls’ Benefit Today

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EMPTY BOWLS – Noon-2 p.m. Serving homemade soup in your choice of bowl crafted and donated by local potters. Cost, $15 to benefit the local food pantry. Christ Church Parish Hall on Fair Street, Cooperstown. Info, cooperstownchamber.org/calendar-of-events/#!event/2017/4/1/empty-bowls. To volunteer or donate call (607)547-2627

SOUTH AFRICAN BANQUET – 6-9 p.m. The Mali Education project presents a South African benefit bazaar, dinner and documentary fill titled “Taking Root: The Vision of Wangari Maathai,” about the founder of the Green belt Movement in Kenya and winner of the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize. Tickets, $15 adults, $10 children over 5. Unitarian Universalist Society of Oneonta, 12 Ford Ave, Oneonta. Reservation, call (607)434-3303 or email cswolfgould@gmail.com. Info, uuso.org

HAPPENIN’ OTSEGO for FRIDAY, JAN. 27
HAPPENIN’ OTSEGO for FRIDAY, JAN. 27

It’s Movie Night At Y Pool

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COOPERTOWN WINTER CARNIVAL BEGINS!!!

MOVIE NIGHT – 6:30-8:30 p.m. Float with you friends in the pool while enjoying a movie. Root bear floats will be served afterward. Oneonta YMCA, 20-26 Ford Ave., Oneonta. Info, www.oneontaymca.org

HISTORY EXHIBITION – Noon-4 p.m.. “Oneonta’s Trolley Line: The Southern New York Railway.” Greater Oneonta Historical Society, 183 Main St., Oneonta. Info, www.oneontahistory.org/upcomingevents.htm#More

FUNDRAISER – 4:30-6:30 p.m. Brooks Chicken dinner to support the Susquehanna Animal Shelter. Tickets $10. Christ Episcopal Church, 46 River St, Cooperstown. Info, susquehannaanimalshelter.org/brooks-chicken-dinner-fundraiser/

HAPPENIN’ OTSEGO for THURSDAY, JAN. 19
HAPPENIN’ OTSEGO for THURSDAY, JAN. 19

‘Local Heroes’ Exhibit

Opening Reception

 

14-19eventspageART RECEPTION – 5-7 p.m. Meet the artists behind the “Local Heroes” exhibit. Project Space Gallery, SUNY Oneonta, 108 Ravine Pkwy., Oneonta. Info, www.oneonta.edu/academics/art/gallery/gallery.html

PICKLEBALL – Noon-2 p.m. Come learn the sport. Gymn floor, Clark Sports Center, 124 Cty. Hwy. 52, Cooperstown. Info, www.clarksportscenter.com

CONSERVATION MEETING – 12:30-3:30 p.m. Discussion of manure spreading strategies to reduce nutrient runoff. A must for farmers spreading or storing manure this winter. Otsego County Meadows Complex, 140 Ct. Hwy. 33W. RSVP by 1/12, (607)547-8337 ext. 4. or email weaverb@otsegosoilandwater.com

AUDITIONS – 3-6:30 p.m. Catskill Choral Society opens auditions for new members and potential Dox Apprentices. Unitarian Universalist Church, 12 Ford Ave., Oneonta. Call 431-6060 to schedule and appointment.

HAPPENIN’ OTSEGO for WEDNESDAY, NOV. 2
HAPPENIN’ OTSEGO for WEDNESDAY, NOV. 2

Thinking about the Future

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DINNER – 6:30 p.m. “The Future of Food: A Dinner & Conversation with the Local Youth Food Movement.” Cost: $40. Farmers Museum, 5775 NY-80, Cooperstown. Info, farmersmuseum.org/origins

 

MEETING – 4:30 p.m. SUNY Oneonta College Council meeting. Open to public. rm. 209, Physical Science Building, SUNY Oneonta, 108 Ravine pkwy. Oneonta. Info, http://www.oneonta.edu/general/collegecouncil.asp

Congressional Candidates Speak On Farming At OHS

Congressional Hopefuls Meet

For 1st Time At OHS Forum

The Farm Bureau of New York this evening is hosting the five candidates, two Democrats and three Republicans, who will be competing in the June 28 primary for their parties’ nominations to run for the 19th Congressional District seat being vacated by U.S. Rep. Chris Gibson, R-Kinderhook. After a social hour in the Oneonta High School auditorium, the five spoke in the Belden Auditorium. From left are Democrat Will Yandik, Livingston Town Board member, Ulster County; Republican Bob Bishop, agribusinessman, Hamden, Delaware County; Republican John Faso, Kinderhook, former Assembly Republican leader who ran against Eliot Spitzer for governor in 2006; Democrat Zephyr Teachout, the Fordham law professor who challenged Cuomo in the 2014 Democratic primary, and Republican Andrew Heaney, Dutchess County, who has been expanding a family-run oil company. Before the debate, candidates had time to meet and greet local voters at an ice-cream social, sponsored by Stewart’s Ice Cream. Tonight also marked the first time that all five had been in the same room. (Ian Austin/AllOTSEGO.com)
The Farm Bureau of New York this evening is hosting the five candidates, two Democrats and three Republicans, who will be competing in the June 28 primary for their parties’ nominations to run for the 19th Congressional District seat being vacated by U.S. Rep. Chris Gibson, R-Kinderhook. After a social hour in the Oneonta High School auditorium, the five spoke in Belden Auditorium. From left are Democrat Will Yandik, Livingston Town Board member, Ulster County; Republican Bob Bishop, agribusinessman, Hamden, Delaware County; Republican John Faso, Kinderhook, former Assembly Republican leader who ran against Eliot Spitzer for governor in 2006; Democrat Zephyr Teachout, the Fordham law professor who challenged Cuomo in the 2014 Democratic primary, and Republican Andrew Heaney, Dutchess County, who has been expanding a family-run oil company. Before the debate, candidates had time to meet and greet local voters at an ice-cream social, sponsored by Stewart’s Ice Cream. Tonight also marked the first time that all five had been in the same room. (Ian Austin/AllOTSEGO.com)

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21 Railroad Ave. Cooperstown, New York 13326 • (607) 547-6103