Overview
Our mission
Our mission is to assess current
knowledge, identify research and educational needs and conduct applied research in the field and the laboratory. We facilitate technology and knowledge transfer between researchers, farmers, and crop advisors and aid in the
on-farm implementation of strategies for field crop nutrient management, including timely
application of organic and inorganic nutrient sources. We aim to improve profitability and
competitiveness of New York farms while maximizing environmental protection. For more information see our NMSP flyer.
Agriculture is one of New York's largest businesses. Maintaining economic viability while ensuring environmental
sustainability is key to supporting New York agriculture. At the Nutrient Management Spear Program, we strive to fulfill the vision of land-grant universities. We make an effort to connect with farmers and crop advisors of upstate New York and have shaped our program around their needs for the past 25 years.
Our Focus
We have six key pillars that we focus our integrated extension, research and class-room teaching efforts on, each supporting New York agriculture in a unique way.
1) Land-Grant Responsibility
All of our research supports land-grant responsibility, providing farmers and crop advisors with science-backed solutions. We provide agronomic nutrient guidelines, risk assessment tools like the P-index, nitrate leaching index, groundwater protection guidelines, winter spreading guidelines and adative management guidance to help with nutrient management while maintaining environmental stewardship and supporting the economic well-being of farmers.
2) Soil Health and Climate Resiliency
We have several ongoing soil health projects and programs investigating the role of manure and inorganic fertilizer in supporting soil health and reducting greenhouse gas emissions while improving nutrient use efficiency. This includes assessment of soil microbial health indicators, in addition to soil phyiscal and chemical assessment to help farmers streamline their crop management.
3) Precision Agriculture
We wrestle with data so farmers don't have to and employ novel methods and technology to yield monitoring. This work with farmers with yield monitor systems to map yield, determine yield potentials, generate yield stability based zone maps, and evaluate through advanced on-farm research methods, how best to manage zones. We also use satelite and drone imagery for yield assessment and on-farm research.
4) Dairy Sustainability
We work with farmers, farm advisors and companies on estimation of whole farm nutrient use efficiencies (N, P, K) and greenhouse gas emissions for New York dairy farms. Such assessments help farmers identify opportunities for improvement and economic savings, and demonstrate progress already made. We have developed dairy sustainability curricula and are currently working on creating an on-farm biodiversity assessment as well, in partnership with the dairy industry.
5) On-Farm Research
We firmly believe that the best way to gain confidence in making a management change is by conducting the research at your own farm. We strive to support farmers and crop advisors by working with farms throughout the state, accounting for the variable conditions that they face every day. A main statewide project currentlty ongoing focuses on the value/power of manure.
6) Student Engagement
One of the ways that we support the farmers of the future is by supporting students that are our future farmers,researchers, extension educators, certified crop advisors and more. We provide them with hands-on research and extension experience to support their career development. This is done through an 8-week summer internship program but our team also works with undergraduates throughout the academic semesters. We also support interns from Zamorano in both the fall and the spring semesters.