Resilient Agriculture in Central New York

I spent 5 days talking about Resilient Agriculture in central New York the early part of this month on the SUNY-Cobleskill campus and at the Farmer’s Museum Annual Conference on Food and Agriculture in Cooperstown.  I enjoyed visiting with students in the agriculture and natural resources program at Cobleskill to talk about how dairy and beef producers can prepare for changing climate conditions, how to manage for resilience in food supply chain management,  leading edge agricultural education strategies, and how to research and write about sustainable food issues.  I thoroughly enjoyed the conversation at the evening reception and book signing, and my public presentation, Climate Change, Resilience and the Future of Food was standing room only!  The evening events were made even more special because Resilient Agriculture farmers Jim and Adele Hayes were able to attend.  I also enjoyed a visit with Jim and Adele at Sap Bush Hollow Farm to catch up on all the latest news, including their most recent venture taken on by their daughter Shannon and her husband Bob – the Sap Bush Hollow Cafe in West Fulton, NY.

This year’s Annual Conference on Food and Farming, hosted by the Farmers Museum in Cooperstown.  The museum’s collection of 23,000 artifacts reflect 19th century farm life in central New York.  The conference focused on the impacts of climate change on farming in central New York.  I kicked off the day long meeting with a keynote on Climate Change, Resilience and the Future of Food and finished the day with a New Times, New Tools workshop for farmers that presented the results of my research with award-winning sustainable farmers and ranchers in the U.S. and new management practices that a proven to reduce climate risk.