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Quick Take: Delaware honors longtime farm family; PSU names ag station director.

June 24, 2021

3 Min Read
Scuse and the Vincent family
VINCENT FARMS: At a recent visit to Vincent Farms in Sussex County, Del., Michael Scuse, secretary of agriculture, presented the Vincent family with the Secretary’s Award for Distinguished Service to Delaware Agriculture. Pictured are (from left) Scuse and the Vincent family: Josh, Nathaniel, Ray, Clay, Jonah, Erin, Haley, Connor, Carole (seated) and Teresa; and Kenny Bounds, deputy secretary of agriculture. Courtesy of Delaware Department of Agriculture

Now that things are starting to return to some sort of normality, in-person events and farm education workshops are coming back, but there are still some important online webinars farmers should take advantage of.

One example is the "Lunch and Learn" webinar June 28 for Vermont farmers to learn more about the Agricultural Clean Water Initiative Program.

Tony Kitsos and Zac Smith, University of Vermont Extension farm business advisers, will lead the session, which runs from noon to 1 p.m. The webinar is free, but registration is required to receive the Zoom link. To register, visit go.uvm.edu/cwiprogram.

A second webinar will be held at noon Aug. 18. "Grant Preparedness for Clean Water Improvements on the Farm" will focus on the steps and processes to successfully assess, finance, implement and manage a water quality improvement project on the farm. Details will be available closer to that date.

Delaware farm honored with award

With COVID-19 restrictions in place earlier this year, the annual presentation of the Secretary’s Award for Distinguished Service to Delaware Agriculture looked a lot different than a ballroom full of agriculture supporters.

Recently, Michael Scuse, ag secretary, took a road trip to Sussex County to make a surprise presentation to a family farm in Laurel. Scuse recognized the Vincent family for their commitment to Delaware through agricultural production and equipment sales, for providing gainful employment to community members, and for continuing to alleviate hunger through their participation in USDA’s Farmers to Families Food Box Program.

A fifth-generation farm family, Vincent Farms has a long history of growing food sold in retail markets up and down the Eastern seaboard and even into Canada. While the sixth-generation is beginning to grow — two young granddaughters are waiting their turn to get a role on the farm — the fourth generation, brothers Clay and Ray Vincent, along with their children — Jonah, Haley, Nathaniel, Josh, Connor and Erin — and their mother, Carole, are involved in the day-to-day operations of Vincent Farms.

The award was started in 2008 to recognize individuals and families who make significant contributions to Delaware’s agricultural industry.

PSU names ag station director

Blair D. Siegfried, professor and chairman of the Department of Entomology and Nematology at the University of Florida, has been named associate dean for research and graduate education and director of the Pennsylvania Agricultural Experiment Station in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences, effective Oct. 1.

Siegfried will administer a research portfolio with annual expenditures averaging $115 million per year. He also will oversee 15 graduate education programs, as well as the college's participation in nine intercollege graduate degree programs.

Learn about barn fogging 

The Northern New York Agricultural Development Program has awarded a grant to Cornell Extension dairy specialists Lindsay Ferlito and Casey Havekes to assess and troubleshoot ventilation systems and their effects on the health of preweaned calves on farms in northern New York.

Smoke sticks are used to fog a barn to check the ventilation system

LEARN ABOUT SMOKE STICKS: Smoke sticks are used to fog a barn to check the ventilation system. Learn more about barn fogging in northern New York during two field days in late July.

The researchers will demonstrate barn fogging, a process that makes air flow visible, as part of calf barn ventilation educational presentations on regional farms July 27 in North Lawrence and July 28 in Carthage. Registration is free, but space is limited. Contact 607-592-0290 or [email protected] for details.

Nominations open for Dairying for Tomorrow Awards  

Applications will be accepted through Aug. 16 for the American Dairy Association North East’s 2021 Dairying for Tomorrow Awards. The awards recognize farmers’ passion for dairy and those who use exemplary practices in three categories: animal care, community outreach and environmental stewardship.

A new online application form, complete with award criteria and details, is available at AmericanDairy.com under “Dairy Farms/For Farmers.”

Overall and honorable mention winners will be awarded in each category. Each overall winner will receive a donation of $1,000, and each honorable mention winner will receive a donation of $500 in their name to an ADA North East retail or school initiative.

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