Hudson Mohawk Grass Masters - Upcoming Events
Wednesday, August 18th at 6:30PM at Mack Brook Farm owned by Karen Christensen and Kevin Jablonski and located at 312 McEachron Hill Rd, Argyle (Washington Co.). We will be touring the farm and discussing animal handling techniques. Mack Brook has also developed a very successful local, low cost marketing strategy. Co-sponsored by Cornell Cooperative Extension.
Friday, September 10th at 10:00AM at Wally Sheffer’s seasonal dairy farm located at 74 Sheffer Rd., Hoosick Falls (Rensselaer Co.). Karen Hoffman from NRCS will be on hand to talk about grazing nutrition for the dairy cow and for finishing beef cattle. The Sheffer’s, with the help of NRCS and the Rensselaer County Soil and Water Conservation District, have installed a new watering system in order to rotationally graze their dairy herd. Co-sponsored by NRCS and Rensselaer County Soil and Water Conservation District.
Sessions are free to attend and all are welcome. For more information or to receive email notification of upcoming events please call the HMRC&D office at (518) 828-4385 x105 or email info@hudsonmohawkrcd.org.
HMRC&D Chair Donna Murray Wins National USDA Award
Troy, N. Y., Jun. 14, 2010–In a time when the farming industry needs all the help it can get, it has found a friend and supporter in Donna Murray. It is Donna’s efforts through the Hudson Mohawk Resource Conservation and Development Council (HMRC&D) that won her the 2009 East Region Individual Earth Team Award from the United States Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service.
In 2009, Donna served 288 hours as an Earth Team volunteer. State Conservationist Astor Boozer presented Donna with her award during the council’s May meeting. The NRCS Earth Team volunteer program has been around since 1981. In 2009, more than 30,000 Earth Team volunteers donated 800,000 hours of their time to conservation. These volunteers gave NRCS $15 million dollars worth of time to preserve our lands and farms for future generations.
Part of what motivates Donna is her experience growing up on a dairy farm in Rensselaer County and seeing firsthand the challenges farmers face. Donna said, “The Hudson Mohawk RC&D Council gave me the opportunity to work with my fellow council members on several projects that benefit both farmers and the community at large. I will continue to volunteer my service by advocating for farmers and finding opportunities to strengthen the agricultural industry in the Hudson Mohawk Region.”
Donna devoted her time to chairing the RC&D council and running its projects, in particular the Northeast Livestock Processing Service Company, assisting the project since its beginnings in 2002. Donna has been particularly effective at reaching out to limited resource, beginning, and women farmers. The company currently assists 103 farmers in 22 New York counties by helping farmers find processing, schedule appointments with processors, provide technical assistance, find new markets for NYS meat, help farmers find additional meat to retail, and provide education to livestock farmers. It is conservatively estimated that the company helped expand 80 businesses and create or retain 115 jobs. The council works on projects in six eastern New York counties.
All events are open to the public and anyone is welcome to attend. For information on facilities or services, or to request sign language interpretation or other auxiliary aids for this tour, please contact Elizabeth Marks, Coordinator at (518) 828-4385 x 105, at least 10 days prior to the date of the event. The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Hudson Mohawk RC&D prohibits discrimination in all its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, and where applicable, sex, marital status, familial status, parental status, religion, sexual orientation, genetic information, political beliefs, reprisal, or because all or a part of an individual's income is derived from any public assistance program. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.) Persons with disabilities who require alternative means for communication of program information (Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.) should contact USDA's TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TDD). To file a complaint of discrimination write to USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20250-9410 or call (800) 795-3272 (voice) or (202) 720-6382 (TDD). USDA and HMRC&D is an equal opportunity provider and employer.
