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Small farms. The name says it all. Modest. Practical. Connected to the earth and the local population. Small farms were once the backbone of this country.
Small-scale farmers grow a diversity of fresh produce; often using very few or no chemicals. They raise livestock avoiding added hormones and antibiotics. They sell their goods at local markets and directly to neighbors, friends, and other members of their community.
They’re a self-reliant lot; sometimes stubbornly independent. They love the outdoors. They’re not afraid to work 80 hours a week. And they’re content to reap fair and honest compensation for fair and honest work. They’re creative, resourceful, resilient agricultural entrepreneurs who love their land and the food they grow on it; food that’s the finest, the freshest, and the best that money can buy.
As consumers, we have a choice. We can buy our food from small, local, independent growers who sell their own home-grown produce and meat direct to the public and enjoy the freshest, highest-quality food possible, or we can buy food produced on industrial, corporate, factory farms; and support stockholders, middlemen, and a soulless, faceless, global, industrialized-food-system.
For the first time, the Adirondack Council’s Essex Farm Institute’s Micro-Grants for Adirondack Farms and Value-Added Producers will offer grants of up to $8,000 for the implementation of environmentally-beneficial and sustainable projects led by Adirondack farms and value-added producers. Prior grants had not exceeded $5,000, with most awarded in the $1,500 range. The grant application was updated for the 2022 cycle to provide more resources for larger operations or those projects led by a team of applicants.
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and Agriculture and Markets have announced that the seventh annual Invasive Species Awareness Week (ISAW) will be held June 7-13.
The Warren County Soil and Water Conservation District (Soil & Water) has announced it has been awarded an urban 
Gift giving during the holiday season can be a wonderful thing. It can be even more wonderful when what you give is not only appreciated by the recipient, but also supports a 
Leanna Thalmann of Chazy, NY, earned nationally-recognized First Place honors for her poster presentation of the 
Field-level research funded by the Northern New York Agricultural Development Program is responding to the need to better understand how tile drainage influences nutrient efficiency, water quality, crop production, farm economics, and environmental stewardship.
Cornell Cooperative Extension has announced a class on managing Fruit Trees has been set for Thursday, August 22nd, from 4 to 6 pm.
The Cornell University Willsboro Research Farm Open House has been set for Wednesday, July 10 from 1:30 to 4 pm.
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Agriculture and solar
The leaves are changing color quickly in the Adirondacks and were quite beautiful on Friday when the Explorer team met in Long Lake for a birding walk. Larry Master, one of our board members and a talented wildlife photographer, helped us spot wood ducks, great blue herons, song sparrows and belted kingfishers on our trip to Shaw Pond.
In case you missed it, last week state and local agricultural leaders attended a conference in Saratoga Springs. I stopped by and asked New York State Agricultural Commissioner Richard Ball and U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack some questions including what their thoughts were about solar development on farmland. Read the story here.
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