#5: Interview with Jared Buono on the Hudson Valley Research Lab - 04-25-2024

Summary

New York Farm Bureau News Bytes – Episode #5 Summary

Released on April 24, 2024

Title: Interview with Jared Bono on the Hudson Valley Research Lab

Hosts: Steve Ammerman (Director of Communications, New York Farm Bureau) and Jared Bono (Director, Hudson Valley Research Lab)

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Introduction to Agricultural Research in New York

Steve Ammerman opens the episode by emphasizing the critical role of research in advancing New York’s agricultural sector. He highlights how sustained research efforts have historically led to innovations in technology, sustainability, and efficiency for farmers. Ammerman underscores the urgency of continued investment in agricultural research, noting that other regions like Europe and Asia are currently outspending the United States in this domain.

Notable Quote:

“We need to make sure that we have a viable and substantial food system in this country in order to feed ourselves well.”
— Steve Ammerman [00:45]

Ammerman introduces Jared Bono, the director of the Hudson Valley Research Lab, who discusses the lab's mission and its impact on local farmers, particularly those in the Hudson Valley.

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Background of Jared Bono

Jared Bono shares his personal and professional journey, rooted deeply in the Hudson Valley’s agricultural landscape. Growing up on a small, recreational farm in Saugerties, Bono developed an early affinity for farming and environmental stewardship. His experiences abroad, particularly a semester in West Africa observing subsistence farming and food insecurity, shaped his dedication to sustainable agriculture.

Notable Quote:

“My specialty is plant, soil, water interactions. I'm not that great at growing things, but I've always been working with farmers on the water side of things.”
— Jared Bono [02:22]

Bono returned to New York in 2017 to balance his professional pursuits with family life and commenced his role with Cornell Cooperative Extension at Ulster County before leading the Hudson Valley Research Lab.

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Establishment and Mission of the Hudson Valley Research Lab

The Hudson Valley Research Lab boasts a centennial legacy, established in 1923 as part of the New York State Agriculture Experiment Station. Situated in Highland, New York, the lab operates through a collaborative partnership where growers own and maintain the facility, while Cornell University supplies the research expertise.

Notable Quote:

“Our goal is to keep agriculture vibrant in the Hudson Valley through applied research.”
— Jared Bono [05:14]

The lab focuses primarily on agritech, covering a diverse array of research areas including tree fruit, vegetables, field crops, livestock, berries, and viticulture. This broad scope ensures comprehensive support for the region's agricultural needs.

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Key Research Initiatives

1. Fire Blight Management

Fire blight, a devastating bacterial disease affecting fruit trees, poses significant threats to orchards in the Hudson Valley. Bono explains the lab's multifaceted approach to managing this disease:

• Predictive Modeling: Utilizing weather and disease models to forecast high-risk periods for fire blight, enabling targeted interventions.

  Notable Quote:

  “We're always trying to improve those models… so we can predict when the tree is most at risk.”
  — Jared Bono [07:48]

• Innovative Treatments: Developing alternative methods such as UV seed light treatments to eliminate the bacteria without relying solely on chemical sprays.

  Notable Quote:

  “We're building one of these UV light systems this year… hope that doesn't damage the fruit but achieves killing the fire blight.”
  — Jared Bono [08:10]

2. Invasive Species Control: Spotted Lanternfly

The spotted lanternfly, an invasive pest from Asia, threatens local agriculture by attacking key crops like apples, grapes, and maples.

Key Points:

• Early Detection: The Hudson Valley Research Lab was among the first within the Cornell system to establish a spotted lanternfly colony, allowing for early research and control measures.

• Lifecycle Studies: Utilizing 3D-printed models to study the different life stages of the lanternfly enhances understanding and management strategies.

  Notable Quote:

  “They can be economically dangerous pests… they're spreading by the day.”
  — Jared Bono [14:43]

3. Plant Breeding and Viticulture

The lab is actively engaged in breeding programs to develop resilient and marketable fruit varieties:

• Hudson Valley Cabernet Franc: Maintaining a vineyard to test and identify clones and rootstocks that thrive in the region's climate, aiming to produce a signature wine that can bolster local viticulture.

  Notable Quote:

  “We're maintaining that vineyard in partnership with our friends at Eastern New York Commercial Horticulture.”
  — Jared Bono [15:47]

• Apple Variety Trials: Experimenting with new apple species and varieties to ensure future orchards can withstand changing environmental conditions.

4. Agrivoltaics: Integrating Solar Energy with Orchards

Agrivoltaics, the dual use of land for both agriculture and solar energy production, presents a promising opportunity for enhancing sustainability.

Key Initiatives:

• Solar Panel Implementation: Installing solar panels over high-density apple orchards to generate clean energy without sacrificing agricultural productivity.

• Environmental Benefits: Providing shade to reduce water stress on trees, protecting crops from hail, and mitigating frost damage by regulating temperatures.

  Notable Quote:

  “We can actually manipulate that with the panels to see if we can provide some shade to these trees during the middle of the hottest part of the day.”
  — Jared Bono [17:47]

• Economic Advantages: Allowing farmers to generate immediate revenue from solar energy while their crops mature, thereby improving the financial viability of orchards.

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The Importance of Research Funding

Ammerman and Bono discuss the pressing need for increased research funding to sustain and advance agricultural innovations.

Key Points:

• Current Funding Limits: Research constitutes only 2% of the farm bill, with efforts underway to advocate for an increase to 4%.

• Economic Impact: Effective research directly translates to cost savings for farmers through reduced chemical usage and improved crop yields, essential in an industry with slim profit margins.

  Notable Quote:

  “If it’s going to save the growers time and money, it really makes sense.”
  — Jared Bono [11:27]

Bono emphasizes that enhanced funding is crucial for developing new solutions to emerging challenges, such as climate-induced stresses and pest invasions.

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Future of Agriculture in the Hudson Valley

Looking ahead, Bono remains optimistic about the growth and resilience of Hudson Valley agriculture. He cites demographic shifts, such as an increase in young farmers and heightened public interest in sustainable farming practices, as positive indicators.

Key Trends:

• Resilience and Community Engagement: The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the essential role of local farms in maintaining food security, fostering stronger community ties.

• Innovative Practices: Continued adoption of technologies like agrivoltaics and advanced pest management techniques will drive sustainability and productivity.

  Notable Quote:

  “The future is bright, actually… farming is cool again. People want to do it.”
  — Jared Bono [25:02]

Bono envisions a future where research-driven practices ensure the longevity and prosperity of local farms, adapting to environmental and economic shifts.

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Conclusion and Call to Action

Steve Ammerman concludes the interview by reiterating the vital importance of agricultural research and encouraging listeners to support funding initiatives. He highlights the collaborative efforts between researchers and farmers as the backbone of a sustainable food system.

Final Quote:

“We need to make sure that our farmers have the tools that they need to be successful for whatever comes their way in the coming years.”
— Steve Ammerman [27:00]

Listeners are invited to engage with agricultural research through platforms like Cornell Agritech and to advocate for increased investment in the sector.

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Additional Resources: For more information about the Hudson Valley Research Lab and ongoing projects, visit the Cornell Agritech website.

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Thank you for listening to New York Farm Bureau News Bytes. Remember to support your local farmers and the research that keeps our food system strong and sustainable.

Transcript

[Steve Ammerman]

Research is the name of the game when it comes to moving New York agriculture and our food system forward. Fortunately, we have some of the best researchers in the country right here in New York State. Hi, I'm Steve Ammerman, director of communications for New York Farm Bureau, and welcome to News Bites. Research is so important to New York farmers. Over the decades, it has led to new technology, new equipment, new methods, new breeding, old whole host of opportunities and tools to help farmers do better, be better. It's led to us being more sustainable, more environmentally friendly. It's helped our farms be more efficient, in other words, producing more food for much less inputs. And overall, it's really helped move our food system forward. However, we need to constantly be keeping up with research and investing in more research. In fact, other countries in Europe and Asia are outspending the United States, and that is of concern for many people because we need to make sure that we have a viable and substantial food system in this country in order to feed ourselves well. Recently, New York Farm Bureau went on a tour of the Hudson Valley Research Lab. It's associated with the College of Ag and Life Sciences at Cornell, as well as their agritech program. And we really got a firsthand look at some really innovative programs that are happening there at the lab that will benefit particularly our fruit and vegetable growers in the Hudson Valley and ultimately across the state. So today we're going to introduce you to Jared Bono. He is the director of the research lab and is going to shine some light on things that are really, really going to be moving our industry forward. Well, Jared, thanks so much for joining us today on News Bites. We were just down your way a few weeks ago for a tour of the Hudson Valley Research Lab as part of Cornell Cal's extension and seeing all the great work that you do down there. So I'm excited to talk a little bit about that more today. So thanks for being with us.

[Jared Bono]

Yeah, thank you so much for having me. It was fun to host you, really enjoyed it.

[Steve Ammerman]

Yeah, it was fascinating, you know, just to see the scope of the work. So we're going to just dive right in. And before we hear a little bit about the research lab, I'd like to hear a little bit about you. You know, what's your background? What got you interested in studying, you know, agriculture and learning about ways that you can help farmers?

[Jared Bono]

Oh, yeah. So I grew up on a farm in the Hudson Valley, actually a small farm in Sargarty's. We are a little recreational farm, but I grew up with, you know, Lots of animals, lots of chores, lots of things to do on the farm. So always sort of been associated. I was a 4H kid. And then throughout my college career, I always wanted to work in an environmental work. And I was lucky enough to do a semester abroad in Africa, where my sister was a Peace Corps volunteer. So I went to West Africa and I saw subsistence farming. I saw how important it was for people who, who needed it to eat on a daily basis. I saw, like, food insecurity, environmental degradation in a way I hadn't seen necessarily in the Hudson Valley. And it sort of gave me this focus to study, actually. My background's hydrology. So plant, soil, water interactions is what my specialty is. I'm not that great at growing things, but I've always been working with farmers on the water side of things. And yeah, that's what, that's what led me back here to New York. My wife and I have had a couple small kids and we wanted to be back closer to home. So after working in different parts of the world, decided to come back in 2017 and started working with Cornell Cooperative Extension at Ulster County. And then I took over the Hudson Valley Research Lab about a year and a half ago.

[Steve Ammerman]

So let's talk about the lab. It's. It's really all encompassing and it does so much. What, what is the, you know, how did it get started? And tell me a little bit about its history.

[Jared Bono]

Well, it started a long time ago, so we celebrated 100 years in 2023, which is pretty amazing. So the New York State Experiment Station, the New York State Agriculture Experiment Station started in Geneva, gosh, 115, 120 years ago. They have 700 acres. It's where a lot of the Cornell faculty are based. And at some point in time, Long island, the Hudson Valley, other parts of New York, said, look, we love your recommendations of what you're doing in Geneva, New York, but really we're ahead of you by several weeks in terms of climate. We face different disease and pest pressures. Could we start an experiment station? They convinced the legislature in New York State to start one, and the governor signed it. Gosh, 1923 was when the Hudson Valley land started. I think the year before that, the one out on Riverhead in Long island started. So it's been a long time. And it's. We're this really interesting partnership because the growers own the building I'm sitting in. They maintain this facility, and Cornell provides the faculty, researchers who provide, you know, this applied research for the growers in the Hudson Valley and eastern New York.

[Steve Ammerman]

So it really is a great partnership. And the fact that farmers are directly involved with so much of what you do, I think really does amplify that work. And it's pretty broad work. You know, when we were down there, we saw everything from working on invasive species to plant breeding to. I mean, there were so many things, you know, ultimately, before we look into some of the projects, you know, what is the overarching goal or mission of the research labor?

[Jared Bono]

So our goal is to keep agriculture vibrant in the Hudson Valley through applied research. And we also support extension from this facility. So we have several labs equipped for, you know, entomology and pathology, horticulture work, mainly in the fruit industry, because that's always been sort of the. The largest economic driver in the Hudson Valley. And there are still the growers who are members of the station and support the station the most. But we do support some vegetable work. Being Cornell's center in the Hudson Valley, more or less. We also host other parts of Cornell. So even though we're not focused on, say, field crops or livestock, our partners at New York State Integrated Pest Management from Cornell, they're also housed here with us. We provide them some space. So they're conducting their research in the Hudson Valley here, too. And same thing with some of the extension programs who are doing research in addition to their extension. So really, it's a wide range of research that happens out of here. We mainly focus on the agritech employees. Agritech is the new term for the New York State Experiment Station, the agriculture experiment station. They thought agritech Cornell Agritech sounded a little bit easier to say, but we end up explaining it still. Anyway, we mainly focus on tree fruit, but there's a lot of vegetable work, field crops, livestock, berries, and some viticulture that happens in here.

[Steve Ammerman]

And it's research. So, you know, there's a lot of activity that goes on at the lab, but then it. It's applied research, it then moves to the farm. And so it's. It's not, you know, just done in the vacuum there at the lab. And so how integral is. Is that relationship between the lab and the farmers in making that research workable for the farmers?

[Jared Bono]

Gosh, it has to be out on the farms as well, because there's just. We have 22 acres and we like to have a lot of pest and disease pressure here. A lot of the growers don't. So we tend to reserve the space here for, you know, we'll actually inoculate with fire blight which is deadly for orchards, and put that into our orchard, whereas no grower is going to want us to do that. So we need that separation. But a lot of the horticulture work happens on grower fields with their cooperation. We rely on them to. And there's a lot of acres under research that growers are maintaining out there and we go out and sample. If it wasn't for that, we don't have enough space here to do all the research that's required on 22 acres.

[Steve Ammerman]

Well, let's break down some of that research. I mean, you didn't mention, you know, fire blight is something that you're looking at. Let's talk about what is fire blight and why is that a concern to the Hudson Valley?

[Jared Bono]

Oh, bacteria that gets into the flowers when the, when the trees are about to blossom and it just gets in and will cause the, you know, all of the, the flower and the fruiting and the end, even the whole end of the branch to die. And it can devastate orchards. I mean, it just takes the fruit, right? It just. The fruit doesn't. Can't. It's not there. So really needs to be controlled and it's one of the things that growers do their best to keep out. So there's a couple things going on in terms of that research. There are some of the conventional things that people are spraying, but Cornell also has the, a lot of the weather models and disease models. So there's a network out there called nua. It's weather stations on this orchard and in a lot of the growers around here. So it's this network across the state. And this, this model actually looks at what, what's happened in the weather in the last seven days, what the forecast is for the next seven days. And it actually will say, hey, look, Thursday, we've got a really high fire blight risk. And that's a complicated model with, you know, how much humidity and rain there's been and what the temperature is going to be. They know those ideal conditions for that bacteria to get into the flatworks. So, you know, trying to always improve those models is something that we're doing here. Another interesting thing that we're doing for Fireblade, specifically Carrick Cox, faculty researcher up at Geneva, and I think some of the great folks up there too, working on UV seed light instead of a spray application, actually a bright UV light that you can drive through the orchard and expose the trees and fruit and blossoms to, and it will destroy that bacteria. And so we're Building one of these things this year, really interesting potential application. So we're going to try it out. We're going to see how it works in the Hudson Valley. We're going to try it during the day where we're actually going to turn the lights up really bright because we've been doing at night for a bunch of reasons. But we can try to add more power and during their end day and hopefully that doesn't damage the fruit but also achieves the result of killing that fire blade.

[Steve Ammerman]

Well, that's why you're able to test those things out in your lab before they go to the farm. Like you said, could this damage the tree or the fruit? You kind of want to find that out on your end before the farmers find it out on their end. And I'm assuming that's one important component of your research is that you can be a little more risky and take chances. And if you lose something, it doesn't affect your livelihood, so to speak, like it would for a farmer.

[Jared Bono]

Yeah, exactly. Risk is the right term there. You know, we're the risk capital. Not a lot of growers have the opportunity to do a whole lot of experiments and spend the money to do that. Whereas we can do that here. We get money for publicly funded research and we can be pretty rough on our trees and we are. But I think it was when you came, there wasn't a whole lot on. But come back in the summer, you'll see. We, we let the pressure build pretty high.

[Steve Ammerman]

It's good. You can take those chances. Well, so like you were saying that with the weather stations, you can better predict when the, the tree is most at risk of fire blight. And I'm assuming years ago, decades ago. You know, if farmers didn't have that information, they may just say, well, you know what, I'm going to go out and spray today just, just in case. When now it's more targeted. So maybe that means less spraying, less use of chemicals. It's just. And it's all grounded in science. So ultimately that helps everybody. It saves the farmers money. It's less chemicals being used. Is that one of the benefits of the research that you're doing?

[Jared Bono]

Absolutely. It has to save the growers time and, or money or it doesn't really make a whole lot of sense for us to do. That's what we mean when we say up the applied research. One of our growers I think says it best, and I quote him all the time. Ken Migrelly said, you know, now more than ever we need timely More timely and precise recommendations. You know, a lot of the protections, a lot of the, the chemistries that were used are much less effective or powerful than they were before, but they're much better for the environment. So there's that balance. So, yeah, just got to find out what, what chemistries work with what we have now and, and, you know, how much less can we actually spray?

[Steve Ammerman]

I think that's the goal for everybody is, is using less, being more efficient and finding things that work better, that have less of an impact.

[Jared Bono]

It's just, it's not getting any cheaper. The farmer's job is so difficult as it is. You add inflation and labor costs and there's very little margin out there for any of that. So we're really trying to find those things that are going to save that. You know, it's a game of inches. We're going to try to find those things that save. Save the small percentages here or there. And that adds up and keeps farmers farming.

[Steve Ammerman]

Kind of going. What Ken said, I mean, there's always new things too coming along, and we got to find new ways of attacking them. Invasive species. With a warmer climate, we're seeing more things move northward. Ottered lanternfly, they came over front from Asia. That's now risking some of the populations of our orchards and what have you. I know there's a lot of work going on on the entomology side. And can you talk a little bit about that work?

[Jared Bono]

Yes. So, you know, case in point for why there's a Hudson Valley research lab is the spotted lanternfly. Started in Pennsylvania, it's been growing out of there. North Jersey, New York City, the lower Hudson Valley. It's been, it's. I don't know if you've been in the city in a while, but it's pretty serious and significant everywhere you go and that's slowly marching north. So being here in the mid Hudson Valley, it's coming our way. It's already up and around us. So we were able to start a colony before anybody else in the Cornell system because we're the furthest south and it was already here. So it was easy to get those permissions to start a colony and to start looking at what we can do to combat this and control the pest. So, yeah, one of the reasons why you need to have these stations spread out and the spotted lanternfly is a serious threat. I mean, I think its favorite things are, in addition to, it's the. There's a native invasive tree that it also tends to stay on, which is called the Tree of Heaven. Atlantis. It's an Atlantis. Besides that, it likes apples, hops, maple grapes, which is a lot of Hudson Valley agriculture. So key pest for us. And it's just spreading by the day. We see it all the time. And this is some of the. I don't know if I showed you this when you were here. Do you see? This is a 3D printed.

[Steve Ammerman]

Wow.

[Jared Bono]

That are some of the instars. Those are the different life cycles of spotted lanternfly. You can see it looks like three different insects. Really hard to track, really hard to manage. And so, yeah, so we've got some of these in the laboratory now. They're hatching, waking up for the season, and we'll be doing a couple experiments with them and tracking them in the Hudson Valley this year.

[Steve Ammerman]

And do they kill the plants? I mean, what kind of devastation do they pose?

[Jared Bono]

They can. Before we really knew what was happening, you know, there's been some horror stories in Pennsylvania, like vineyards going out. It's not that bad now they. That you can spray them. What we're concerned about is, you know, if you're treating your farm and let's say the, the Tree of Heaven in a forest next to your farm, you know, there could be 10,000 of these per tree. They go to the highest point and so you can clear your field. You might be able to find some chemistries that spray them. There's some recommendations out there. But then they're just coming from the forest like a, like a wave. And so we're, we're wondering how much of an impact that is going to be. But, yeah, they're economically dangerous pest.

[Steve Ammerman]

It's important that we find ways to deal with them. And that's, you know, again, relying on the work that you and your team do.

[Jared Bono]

Yep.

[Steve Ammerman]

There's also, you know, traditional research that goes on with plant breeding. And Amy mentioned, obviously, apple and grapes. You know, we walk through your orchards. You have, you know, vineyards where you're able to, to try different things. What is some of the work that's happening on that end of the spectrum?

[Jared Bono]

Yes. So we have what the. The vineyard block that was the. For the signature grape, the Hudson Valley Cabernet Franc. They wanted to see what grew well in the Hudson Valley and what would be a good, you know, wine grape. What would draw people and have, like, a signature name for marketing for the Hudson Valley. So that started here and we have some clones up on the hill. And so we're maintaining that vineyard in partnership with our friends at Eastern New York Commercial Horticulture. Program part of extension and harvesting and seeing what the wine tastes like. So we'll have some science wine for you to come and try soon to see which of those clones and rootstocks are best, which tastes good. But the Cabernet Frank Coalition, which is a group of growers in the Hudson Valley, really help us maintain that. And they're actually on site because they want, they want it grown to their standard and not necessarily have all the disease pressure that we, we normally do here. So they want to grow to their standard so that they're getting a good idea of what clones and rootstocks taste the best because that's what they're going to turn around and plant. So we've got a lot going on like that, not just in viticulture, but also in apples. We're looking at a new variety trial for newer apple species. We're turning over a lot of the blocks and pulling things out and really look into the next. What's, what's the next. What are the next big crops for the Hudson Valley? What's going to grow well here?

[Steve Ammerman]

Another thing that's kind of, you know, it's a big buzz in the agricultural world is solar development and a lot of farms use it for on farm energy. But there's also growing so large scale solar developments and some concern about, you know, loss of farmland and what could that mean. And you're looking to do a really interesting project with solar and agrivoltaics. I always feel like I'm saying that word wrong, but maybe I just did. Yeah. Talk a little bit about that research because it's fascinating what you may be able to do and say in an apple orchard and incorporate solar use along with the fruit trees. And I thought it was fascinating. We were down there hearing you talk about this.

[Jared Bono]

Yeah. So yeah, agrivoltaics is the term, just means combining solar and food production on the exact same location, like one on top of the other. I think in Massachusetts they're calling it dual use. So it's so new it hasn't really arrived at what, what may be the final name, but some parts of the world, Europe's been doing this for just over a decade and have tried multiple crops. And it turns out that a lot of fruit crops do pretty well with a small amount of additional shade. And we're, we've seen apples and other things, berries, some other tree fruit, actually increase yield with about an increase of 15% shade. And it really depends on where you are and what your other conditions are. But for us what we're planning to do is put solar panels over top of the tree rows for a high density apple orchard. So picture the small trees that are close together and over top of those you've got solar panels that actually originally were made to track the sun to be more efficient in power generation. But what we can do is anti track the sun where we let the sunlight into the plant by aiming the solar panel away. And so even if you have a high coverage of these panels over top of your apple orchard, you can actually allow most of the light, 90% of the light through, depending on what the farmer wants to do with the crop. And that's really interesting now because we might be able to do things like hail protection, where we close the panels called table the panels and maybe keep some of that hail from coming down onto the fruit. Another thing we can do is early season frost, where if we close the panels, we see that underneath that daytime temperature gets trapped overnight. We can actually increase the temperature under the panel by a few degrees. Last May, when we had that statewide freeze, this would have been huge as something that we could have done to save a lot of crop. But other things too that we might be able to do, you know, in terms of growing these things horticulturally, we know that apple trees under the hottest part of the day, in the hottest part of the season, especially these wharfed high density trees have very small rootstocks. They get pretty water stressed easily and require a lot of irrigation. They stop transpiring during the middle of the day, the hottest parts of the day. And we're not sure what that does to the fruit. It might be beneficial, it might not be, but what we're going to be able to do is actually manipulate that with the panels to see if we can provide some shade to these trees during the middle of the hottest part of the day to keep either the fruit growing or not. Depends on what you want to do. Nobody wants a honeycrisp this big, but you know, these are the kind of experiments that we're going to do on the experiment station with this. So we're looking at putting in about an acre of orchard with these panels over top. Now it's quite expensive, of course. It's more expensive when you put these things up this high and then we're going to try to run farm operations underneath them. But you know, in a place like the Hudson Valley, where we're kind of constrained land wise, there's a lot of demand for clean energy and, and local foods and demand. Land is in high demand Something like this stacked might make sense where we can sell the power. The growers could hopefully sell the power. And it changes the economics of an orchard, because when you plant, you don't have to wait 3, 4 years for your. For 5 years for your yield to come in. You can start selling power immediately as your trees are growing in. So some really interesting things that we're going to be able to do from here, and this is going to be part of a larger network within Cornell. We're looking at different crop types, so field crops, vegetables, berries. We're going to do specialty crops and apples here.

[Steve Ammerman]

Fascinating. You know, and it's interesting how it's more than just finding ways to. To get power. It's. It's literally there could be actual benefits to the trees as well that you may find out. So I think that's pretty cool.

[Jared Bono]

Yeah.

[Steve Ammerman]

So, I mean, we've touched on a lot. Anything else just in terms of the applied research that you're doing that, that you want to talk about or you think, you know what, this is really cool. People need to know about this?

[Jared Bono]

No, what I'd like to do is say if there are growers out there that want to see something, they've got an idea. You know, we're the. Get in touch with your extension agent. Get in touch with us. If there's an experiment to be done, we will try it, and we're interested to know what, what growers want to do. We've got a lot of innovators out there who are trying stuff, and that's the kind of stuff we want to support. We'll, We'll. We'll help you do that, and then we'll spread the word and whether it works or not. And, you know, hopefully we'll keep the fruit industry really strong for the next hundred years.

[Steve Ammerman]

Absolutely. Well, so, I mean, research in general, from New York Farm Bureau's perspective is always a priority to advocate for funding, whether at the state level or at the federal level. And, you know, so many people don't understand all that goes into farming, all. All the changes and why, you know, we'll always have to keep up with doing better, being better, and, and, you know, other countries are investing more in research now than the United States. And so if you had to tell someone why it's so important to invest in research, what does that sound like to you? How do you really want to convince someone that we need to keep up with supporting efforts like yours in the lab?

[Jared Bono]

Yeah, it's only 2% of the farm bill is Research, and we're trying to get that to 4%. It's not a whole lot when you talk about the grand scheme of things, but it's critically important. If you go to every year in February in Albany, all of the growers in eastern New York, fruits, vegetables, berries, grapes, they get together in Albany and they, they meet with the scientists who've been working all year and what they're planning for the next year. And it's amazing to see how science based this industry is and how it is critical to, to growing in the modern world. And it's just, it's, it's foundational to agriculture. I see research, it's just being a part of it. Come to the Eastern New York Fruit and Vegetable Conference in Albany in February and you will, you too will see it.

[Steve Ammerman]

I mean, if we're going to keep up with all the changes that are happening, we have to have the information, we have to know, we have to have the tools available to change as well. And that's what you're providing.

[Jared Bono]

Yeah, and it's changing faster than, you know, maybe we could keep up with before, you know, growers could potentially keep up with something that changed over a few seasons. Now with our temperature swings, we're seeing cold hardiness in apple trees. Jason Londo is a professor at Agritech is looking at. A lot of our apple trees aren't surviving. When it gets warm in February like it has for the last few years, we get that warm spell in February, the trees start to wake up and then it goes, you know, super cold again. We're going to have a hard time potentially keeping these trees going. And that's the kind of research we need to be. That's, that's what investing in research will give us, is what's that next tree species, that next apple orchard that's going to be able to survive these changes.

[Steve Ammerman]

So you're looking ahead. What do you see as the future for agriculture in the Hudson Valley and obviously greater interest in food production and the diversity of farms that we have, not only in the Hudson Valley, but across the state. There are challenges, many challenges facing our farms, but also a lot of great opportunities out there. You know, where do you see the future of agriculture in your region?

[Jared Bono]

The future is bright, actually. The latest ag census showed an increase in a certain segment of farms. You know, the last, the 2017 Ag Census showed that, you know, for the first time in a generation, there was an increase in young farmers. You know, farming is cool again. People want to do it. And this was before the pandemic. And then during the pandemic, you know, a lot of the fruit growers here with cold storerooms were opening them up to feed New York City and our local communities. And people made those connections and realized, oh, we need farms for resilient food systems, resilient communities. We need these farms. So I see a lot of those connections being made now with the farm to school, work farm at the institution, things that are happening. We had a map during the pandemic that showed the general public where you could go, which farms you could actually go to. Folks who had farms who had never done retail before. But during that spring of the pandemic, they. They were selling what they had or were just open. And it was incredible the amount of traffic that went to it. This is what we had always wanted. Right now, literally 1% of the people in the US are growing the food for the rest of us, you know, to be able to have those connections feels like we've got that opportunity right now in the Hudson Valley. People, people from all over the, you know, New York and New Jersey and everywhere else come up to the Hudson Valley to just be on farms, try to drive through New Paltz on a fall day where they're directing traffic like out in the farm fields and up on the mountains, because there's just so many people who want to be, you know, connected to farms and pick those pumpkins. And so it's an exciting time.

[Steve Ammerman]

It is. And hopefully with the work that you're doing at the lab, it will continue to be exciting for many years. To Jared, thanks so much for chatting with us today. And again, if people want to find out more about your work, where should they go to learn that?

[Jared Bono]

Yep. Go to the Cornell agritech website.

[Steve Ammerman]

Very good.

[Jared Bono]

Cornell agritech. Yeah.

[Steve Ammerman]

Well, Jared, thanks so much. And we wish you the best of luck in the upcoming season as everything is starting to pop out soon. So best of luck and we're all counting on you. Don't let us down. Jared.

[Jared Bono]

Thanks. Thanks. I'm going to get up into the orchard now. I get some. Got some implements to put on some tractors. So come back and visit. Stop by anytime. Anybody's welcome. So we're right here in Highland, New York.

[Steve Ammerman]

Thanks so much. Appreciate it, Jared. Have a good day. It really is amazing, the research that's happening right here in New York State that's helping our farmers be better, do better, and really helping them put their best foots forward and making sure that they're ready to address the environmental, the. The economic challenges, all kinds of things that are going to be coming down the pike in the coming years. And we're fortunate to have a lot of great researchers doing a lot of great work right here in New York State. And we're going to be exploring more of this new technology and research and innovation in coming weeks here on newsbytes, as we visit agritech in Geneva and explore more about research means to New York farmers and why it really does matter to all of us to have a strong, sustainable and viable food system here in New York State. So, you know, it's not just New York Farm Bureau advocating for this. You know, we would encourage everybody who's listening to let your lawmakers know, both at the state and the federal levels, that we need more investment into research. And we need to make sure that our farmers have the tools that they need to be successful for whatever comes their way in the coming years. It's really important for all of us, us to invest in our food system and in our farmers, not only in the Hudson Valley, but across the state. Well, we appreciate you listening today. I'd like to thank Seth Moser Katz for editing today's podcast. And as always, make sure you thank a farmer for all that they do.