Happenings May 2024

May 2024

Congratulations to the 2024 Putnam County Youth and Adult Service Award Winners!

What is a Pollinator Pathway?

Putting Fresh Food on the Map: CCE Putnam Enhances Food Access Tool

Cicadas on the March? Not so fast!

Ration Balancing for Beef Cattle

Why Should We Care About Food Waste?

CCE Putnam 4-H Welcomes Brandy Keenan!

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Congratulations to the 2024 Putnam County Youth and Adult Service Award Winners!

On Thursday evening, three special members of the Putnam 4-H Family were honored at the Youth Bureau’s Annual Youth Awards Dinner!

4-H Members Grace Fischer & Ella Kmiotek were nominated and selected to receive a 2024 Youth Award, along with 15 additional Putnam Youth, for their Volunteer Service in Putnam County! (Carmel Central Schools)

4-H Alumni Jon Meschino was nominated and selected to receive the James F. Reitz Adult Service Award! (Brewster)

Grace, a Senior at Carmel High School, has been a 4-H Member since the age of seven! She is an active member of the 4-H Teen Action Group and has contributed hundreds of service hours to the 4-H program. She volunteers at a variety of Cornell Cooperative Extension of Putnam County events and programs and has served as a 4-H Youth Leader at the 4-H Fair for six years. She also assists with the Putnam County Youth Forum as well as in the 4-H Office! In addition to her 4-H service, Grace is also involved with the CHS Mentor Program and the Science Research Program! Upon Graduation, Grace plans to study Marine Biology at Stony Brook!

Ella Kmiotek, a Junior at Carmel High School, has been involved with 4-H for the last six years. She is a current member of the 4-H Teen Action Group and the Trailblazers 4-H Shooting Sports Club! She also serves as a Statewide Youth Representative for the NYS 4-H Shooting Sports Advisory Council and serves as a 4-H Youth Leader at a variety of 4-H events throughout the year! In addition to her service with 4-H, Ella also serves on the Putnam County Youth Forum Planning Committee and is a Cadet the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office.

4-H Alum and current Volunteer Jon Meschino graduated from Brewster Central School District in 2006! He earned a B.S. in Video Game Design from RIT in 2010! After his graduation from College, Jon immediately began serving as a 4-H Volunteer! Jon has led a variety of local, regional and state 4-H Programs, helps run the 4-H Putnam County Fest and 4-H Youth Showcase, chaperones a variety of 4-H youth events and most recently began serving on the Cornell Cooperative Extension of Putnam County Board of Directors. Jon Meschino, who comes from a family of life-long volunteers, is the first person to ever receive both a Putnam County Youth Award (in 2004 while in high school AND a Putnam County Adult Service Adult! It should also be noted that His Dad, 4-H Volunteer Tony Meschino received the Putnam County Adult Service Award last year!

Barbara Reitz Morris, wife of the Honorable Judge James Reitz, was on-hand to present the award on behalf of her late-husband and the Youth Bureau!

It was truly a special evening to celebrate these remarkable members of the 4-H family and thank them for their commitment and service to Cornell Cooperative Extension’s 4-H Youth Development Program!

Special Congratulations to all of the 2024 Youth Award Recipients and Adult Community Volunteers!

Thank you Ella, Grace & Jon for all you do!!

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What is a Pollinator Pathway?  

by MaryAnn West, Master Gardener Volunteer

Pollinators form the foundation of our food chain by transferring pollen between plants, enabling fruit and seed production crucial for our ecosystem. Roughly one-third of our food comes from their efforts. Sadly, native pollinating insects face threats from shrinking plant habitats, improper pesticide use, diseases, and climate change. Pollinators urgently need our support!

A pollinator pathway is a wildlife corridor which provides habitat for pollinators, including bees, butterflies, birds, and more. Founded in 2007, the Pollinator Pathway is a global movement that encourages individuals and groups such as parks, schools, municipalities, commercial and retail entities, and golf courses to join together to establish a corridor of habitat for pollinators across the country. The Putnam Pollinator Pathway is a county-wide initiative of Cornell Cooperative Extension of Putnam, to further the mission of the Pollinator Pathway by connecting Putnam with other pathways in the Northeast.

Members of the Pollinator Pathway plant native trees, shrubs and flowers to provide pollinators with habitat in the growing season and shelter in the winter. They eliminate the use of pesticides, to create a haven for pollinating insects, birds and other wildlife. Creating a pesticide-free corridor of public and private properties forges links between our communities, planting native plants provides the diversity of plant species that nature needs, making our landscape healthy and beautiful.

More questions? Come and see us at the Putnam Pollinator Pathway table during the Master Gardener Plant Sale. We will have native pollinator perennials and shrubs for you to purchase to start your pollinator garden. The sale will also include garden favorites such as colorful annuals, perennials and herbs. Beautiful pre-planted container gardens, hanging baskets and gardening gifts will be available for that perfect Mother’s Day present. For adventurous gardeners, we will have inoculated shiitake mushroom logs for purchase. The proceeds from this charity event fund numerous CCE-Putnam programs.

The sale takes place on Saturday May 11, 2024 from 8:30 am to 12:30 pm at Putnam County Veteran’s Memorial Park, 201 Gipsy Trail Road, Carmel, NY.

Photo C. Serreau

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Putting Fresh Food on the Map: CCE Putnam Enhances Food Access Tool

CCE Putnam is pleased to announce the release of an updated local food access map designed to make finding nutritious and affordable food easier for residents of Putnam County. This initiative, supported by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), aims to enhance food accessibility by highlighting food pantries, farms, and grocery stores that accept Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) cards.

The updated map serves as a valuable resource for individuals and families seeking to make informed food choices that align with their budgets, interests, and schedules. By centralizing information on food pantries and their operating hours, as well as local farms and grocery stores accepting EBT cards, the map streamlines the process of locating nearby food resources.

In Westchester and Putnam counties, 4-out-of-10 households are living paycheck-to-paycheck or in poverty. (ALICE United Way of Westchester and Putnam County 2021) "We recognize the importance of ensuring that all residents of Putnam County have access to fresh, culturally relevant, and affordable food options," said Ruby Koch-Fienberg, Agriculture and Food Systems Coordinator at CCE Putnam.

The user-friendly interface of the map allows for easy navigation and access to essential information. Whether individuals are in need of immediate assistance from a food pantry or are interested in purchasing locally-sourced produce from nearby farms using SNAP benefits, the map provides comprehensive guidance to meet their needs.

Stefanie Hubert, Executive Director of CCE Putnam added, "This updated map is a step forward in our ongoing efforts to promote food security and improve access to fresh, local, and affordable foods for all members of our community."

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Cicadas on the March? Not so fast!

By Jennifer Lerner

People are getting excited, even worked up, about the periodical cicada emergence reported in national news. A plague of “locusts” makes a better headline than an “expected, regular emergence of a North American native insects.”

What makes this year special—super special if you are an insect geek like me—is that, where they are emerging, all seven species of the periodical locust are going to crawl up out of the earth during the same weeks long event. While this sounds exciting or even frightening to some, they are not going to emerge anywhere near us here in New York State or the Northeast. Disappointed? I am. Alas, like the full solar eclipse, you may have to travel west or south to experience this marvel (which will not occur again until 2037). See map here.

Even though we may know these insects as 17-year or 13-year locusts, these are not actually a locust (a kind of grasshopper), rather they are cicadas of which there are ten North American species. And one of the most memorable parts of their emergences is the noise they make. It’s loud! After many years underground feeding in the silent dark, they emerge into the sunlight to find mates. Each species has a unique sonication, which they use to communicate with others of their species, and to attract a mate.

You may wonder if they do much damage? The adults do suck juices from woody plants to stay alive until they mate. But what seems to do the most damage is the egg laying of the female, who deposits her eggs into the young, outer branches of trees. This damage, sometimes done by a multitude of insects, can cause the outer portion of the branch to die. This is relatively temporary as the tree can grow new branches next year. But if the tree is already stressed and doing poorly, this insult can hasten its demise. Once the eggs hatch, the nearly microscopic nymphs will drop back down into the soil and disappear to feed in darkness for years.

Periodical cicadas are only native to North America. That is something special. So, treat this insect emergence as a marvel, rather than a horror show!

Photo: Daniel Herms - Ohio State

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Ration Balancing for Beef Cattle

Amy Barkley, Livestock Specialist
Southwest New York Dairy, Livestock and Field Crops Program, March 6, 2020

Beef nutrition is more than just providing the cattle with feedstuffs. While beef animals can do well, even thrive, on diets that are as simple as baled forage and/or pasture and mineral supplements, feeding in a precise manner can help improve rates of gain, body condition, finishing quality, and result in an animal that is more ideally suited for market. Feeding this way may also offer an added benefit of cost savings, since balanced rations allow a producer to feed to the animals' needs, rather than potentially over or under providing different nutrients. Balanced rations are diverse, tailored to each operation, and can be as simple as forage and quality mineral supplement, or more complex with the addition of concentrates such as corn or soybeans.

Prior to building any beef ration, knowing the quality of the dietary components you have available is important. First, assess that the components are free of any molds, rots, or unwanted inclusions (such as metal in baled forage or toxic weeds in a pasture). The next step is to have the feed components tested for their nutritional composition. Because forage is a large part of many producers' diets, and if testing only one component is realistic, forage should be the priority. Forage is highly variable in its nutrient composition, since it can be easily impacted by factors including plant species, plant age, weather, and harvest technique. Taking samples of baled forage or pasture and sending them to a reputable lab for nutritional testing will provide you with information needed to balance your ration, including values of TDN (total digestible nutrients) and CP (crude protein).

Rations for beef cattle will differ based on factors including breed, age, sex, herd composition, and time of year. Nutritional requirements for each age and stage have been compiled in the publication, "Nutrient Requirements of Beef Cattle", which is updated regularly and published by the National Research Council (NRC). These numbers provide the basis for many of the recommendations given by beef nutritionists and research scientists.

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Why Should We Care About Food Waste? 

Dr. Jean Buzby, USDA Food Loss and Waste Liaison, jean.buzby@usda.gov

Food loss and waste has far-reaching impacts on food security and the environment. Reducing it could benefit us all.

In the United States, food waste is estimated at between 30-40 percent of the food supply. This is based on USDA estimates of 31 percent food loss at the retail and consumer levels. This added up to approximately 133 billion pounds and $161 billion worth of food in 2010.

Most people don’t realize how often they waste food and the negative impacts it can have for food security, the environment, and climate change. Reducing food loss and waste could benefit them, their families, and the world, now and in the future.

Wholesome food that is currently wasted could help feed families in need

• Safe and wholesome food that is currently thrown away could help feed hungry people and reduce food insecurity today. Each year, Feeding America and its network of food banks rescues around 3.6 billion pounds of food. This represents only a small percentage of food that could have been donated but ended up in a landfill.

Reducing food waste can save or make money

• The Business Case for Reducing Food Loss and Waste found that most businesses achieve positive returns from reducing food loss and waste.
• For farmers, businesses, and organizations, the financial incentives to reduce waste can also include tax incentives for donating wholesome, unsold food.
• In some areas, trash pickup is less expensive if volume is reduced by keeping wasted food out of the garbage. In addition, some haulers lower fees if wasted food is separated from the trash and sent to a compost facility instead of the landfill.
• On average, households could save about $370 per person annually. Imagine what a family of four could do with an extra $1,500 each year.

Resources could be conserved for more productive uses

• When food is wasted, so too is the land, water, labor, energy, and other inputs that are used in producing, processing, transporting, preparing, storing, and disposing of the discarded food.

Greenhouse gases generated from food rotting in landfills could be reduced to help mitigate climate change

• According the U.S Environmental Protection Agency, in the United States, food is the single largest category of material placed in municipal landfills, where it emits methane, a powerful greenhouse gas. Municipal solid waste landfills are the third-largest source of human-related methane emissions in the United States, accounting for approximately 14.1 percent of these emissions in 2017.
• In 2021, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency released, From Farm to Kitchen: The Environmental Impacts of U.S. Food Waste to inform domestic policymakers, researchers, and the public about the environmental footprint of food loss and waste in the U.S. and the environmental benefits that can be achieved by reducing U.S. food loss and waste.

Additional information on the impacts of food loss and waste and ways to reduce it can be found at Further with Food: Center for Food Loss and Waste Solutions.

Photo credit: istockphoto

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CCE Putnam 4-H Welcomes Brandy Keenan!

Cornell Welcomes a New Addition to the 4-H Family!

CCEPC is excited to introduce Brandy Keenan as the new 4-H educator, who will be joining our team on May 1. Brandy will be taking over the role from Dena Altavilla, who has dedicated 24 years of service to our organization and will be retiring. With over a decade of experience in 4-H programs, Brandy is well-equipped to bring fresh ideas and enthusiasm to our team. We are looking forward to Brandy's contributions and invite you to learn more about her by clicking the link below.

Bio:

I am originally from Miami, FL where it's pretty normal to have parrots outside your door and neighbors sometimes get alligators in their pools after a storm. After graduating from High school I went to Vassar College, met my husband, and settled into New York where now it's pretty normal to have neighbors with chickens or goats - although hopefully not in their pools. For the past 15 years I have lived in North Salem. I have 4 children: a Sophomore and 4H alumni studying Sustainable Agriculture at Delaware Valley University, a Senior in High School (and soon to be 4H alumni) who plans to major in Environmental Science at Skidmore College, a 7th grader who loves Math and Baseball, and a 9 year old who is just happy to be here. I chair a Farm2School PTO committee at my children's elementary school through which I have set up a hydroponic grow tower, an edible/medical garden, and a chicken coop with two full time chicken residents (Clucky and Larry). I am also a member of my town's Climate Smart Committee and Vice President of the School Board of North Salem Central School District. In my spare time... I stare at my garden and try to keep my chickens from feeling neglected.

For the past 10 years I have led a livestock centered 4H Club out of Muscoot Farm in Katonah, NY teaching youth from 11 to 18 years old basic animal husbandry skills like hoof trimming, handling, nutrition, and grooming. During that time I served as the President of the Friends of Muscoot and spearheaded the funding and development of educational installations, learning spaces, signage, and programming. I stepped down from that leadership to take on a position as a Farm Educator at Muscoot and for two years I created and ran the Pre-K programming at Muscoot promoting Social Emotional Skills and hands-on learning with the garden and animals at the farm. As I close the book on that part of my life I am beyond excited to turn my attention, focus, and energy into supporting the 4H programming of Putnam County. I am grateful that my passion for education and learning opportunities for our youth can be channeled into a program I dedicated a good portion of my life to. I look forward to getting to know all the clubs and learning how to best support them.

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Last updated May 6, 2024