Dairy farmers in the north country power up equipment every day
to finish chores, but they rely on the brainpower of researchers
to tell them the latest strategies for making their operations
profitable. Thats why about a dozen farmers took time Tuesday at
the Ramada Inn, 21000 Route 3, to listen to researchers from
Cornell University, Ithaca, report findings from multiyear
research projects funded by the Northern New York Agricultural
Development Program. Highlighted were studies on how predatory
worms called nematodes are being used to combat the invasion of
the alfalfa snout beetle, the latest strategies for planting
winter cover crops and a free online tool that helps farmers cut
spring fertilizer costs. Many farmers are applying the
microscopic roundworms called nematodes to their alfalfa crops
to battle the alfalfa snout beetle, said Cornell entomology
professor Elson J. Shields, who has conducted research on the
beetle since the late 1980s. Results have been especially
promising in an ongoing study sin