WELCOME

Onondaga County Soil & Water
Conservation District

6680 Onondaga Lake Parkway
Liverpool, NY 13088

(315) 457-0325
Fax:  (315) 457-0410
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    SAVE THE DATE
   September 21, 2017

   Celebrating 25 years of excellence in Natural Resource Management.  Please visit
www.u-s-c.org/USCForum for more information.
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SHARING THE ROAD WITH
SLOW MOVING VEHICLES.
What you need to know.
 Click here    http://www.safeny.ny.gov/media/SMV-broc4-09.pdf

WHY DO DAIRY FARMS BUILD SATELLITE MANURE STORAGE STRUCTURES??

Manure storage is an important environmental protection practice and more dairy farms across NYS are installing or adding to their storage capacity.  Manure storage allows for improved application timing so that nutrients can be better recycled for crop use.  Farms that are regulated or that receive state or federal cost sharing must design and build manure storage in accordance with strict USDA-NRCS standards.  New regulatory requirements are bringing additional limitations that affect when manure may be applied making adequate manure storage capacity a necessity, and this will also drive an increase in construction of manure storages.  Many farms have built manure storage structures near the barns where the animals are housed for ease in loading. Manure needs to be applied at an agronomic rate to crop land, according to crop need, and this means manure must be transported to most fields operated by the dairy, some near, some far.  Further, traditional bedding sources like straw or sawdust have become very expensive or difficult to find, so many farms provide mattresses or have turned to bedding with sand or recycled manure solids for cows in freestall housing.  This results in manure with a liquid consistency, and often containing 90-95% water.  This watery material is bulky and presents challenges to move around at the optimum spreading time to land that grows crops for the cows.  For these reasons, it often does not make sense to enlarge or add a second manure storage structure at the home location, but to create storage near other blocks of land where manure will be land applied anyway.  These structures are referred to as satellite storage. 
A satellite storage allows farms to pump or transport manure during less busy times and in ways that reduce traffic intensity and odor prevalence.  This is a benefit for the environment, neighbors, and the farm.   This system also allows farms to focus on manure application when the land is ready, as the time-consuming aspect of hauling was taken care of before the growing season starts.  This means more timely manure application and also better results for the farm and the environment, because risks of nutrient loss are lower when timing is better.         


Karl Czymmek and Peter Wright
PRO-DAIRY Program
Cornell University
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Learn more about the Onondaga County Water Authority on their website - read their water saving tips.
http://www.ocwa.org/about/watersense-fix-a-leak/
2016 DISTRICT ANNUAL REPORT AVAILABLE HERE

SOIL HEALTH WORKSHOP
with Cover Crop Interseeder & Herbicide Demonstration

Tuesday August 22, 2017
8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Orleans County
4-H Fairgrounds - Trolley Building
12690 Route 31
Albion, NY 14411
8:30-9:30: Registration & Refreshments

9:30-10:45: Wendy Taheri, TerraNimbus, LLC
Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi (AMF) 101

10:45-11:45: John Wallace, Cornell Assistant Professor
Best Management Practices and Herbicide choices when
Interseeding Cover Crops

12:00-1:30: Lunch and travel to field trial site

1:30-2:30: Station 1: Cover Crop Field walk to observe 8 trials of cover crop plantings

2:30-3:30 pm Station 2: Soil pit with Wendy Taheri

Learn what’s going on underground
To register for this event, please return this form to
Orleans County SWCD at 446 W Ave, Albion NY 14411 with
checks made payable to Western New York Soil Health Alliance enclosed. You may also register by emailing your name and number of attendees to wnysoilhealth@gmail.com with payment due in cash at the start of the workshop. Register by August 18th for reduced pricing. $40/pre-registered participant; $50 walk-ins. Lunch included.

Name ___________________________________
Email ___________________________________

Number of attendees _______________________

Agricultural Energy Audits Available to New York Farms Through NYSERDA 
  New York farms can cut energy use and energy costs with the Agriculture Energy Audit Program

Last spring, NYSERDA launched the Agriculture Energy Audit Program . The Program offers farms and on-farm producers no-cost energy audits.  No up-front costs are required form the farmer as NYSERDA pays the consultant directly.  Three levels of audits are offered.  The level II audit adheres to ANSI/ASABE S612 standards and can be submitted with EQIP applications or to other third parties for funding consideration.  
 
The next EQIP deadline is June 18, 2017.  Farmers are encouraged to sign up for the audit immediately and begin the application process with their local NRCS office.  Level II audits are required for EQIP applications. The audit does not have to be completed by June’s deadline but farmers must be enrolled in the AEAP program to qualify.  
 
Audits are available on a first-come, first-served basis. The program runs through the end of the 2017 or until funds are expended.  For general information or to request flyers for your office call 800-732-1399 or email aeep@nyserda.ny.gov.  To discuss the program further or contact the Program Manager, Lisa Coven, at extension 839 or lisac@ensave.com.    
 
Applications available at https://nyserda.seamlessdocs.com/f/AgAudit

In Case of Emergency

In case of an agricultural spill, and it's after office hours (4:30 p.m.) you can call Mark Burger directly at 315-415-5057.
Our mission is to promote excellence in the wise use of our rural/urban natural resources.
Our vision is to live in a society in which future generations will have natural resources necessary to sustain and enrich their quality of life.