New York Farm Viability Institute Website Press Releases
PRESS RELEASE: February 1, 2007
Re: Cornell vegetable specialist recognized for cabbage pest management
Contact: Rebecca Schuelke, NYFVI public relations specialist
(315) 453-3823 ext. 103, (315) 427-2714, rschuelke@nyfarmviability.org
Dr. Julie Kikkert, CCE vegetable specialist
(585) 394-3977 ext. 34, jrk2@cornell.edu
NY Farm Viability recognizes innovation at annual luncheon
By Rebecca Schuelke
NYFVI Public Relations Specialist
A desire to explore methods to reduce insect and weed damage to cabbage crops – and a willingness to share those findings with others – has sprouted a few accolades for a Cornell University vegetable specialist.
Dr. Julie R. Kikkert was named 2006 Project Leader of the Year by the New York Farm Viability Institute at the nonprofit group’s annual recognition luncheon on Feb. 1 in Syracuse.
(Photo by Kara Lynn Dunn: Cornell Cooperative Extension Vegetable Specialist
Julie R. Kikkert and grower Ed Hansen Jr inspect his cabbage field in Stanley,
New York.)
Also honored were Lyle Merle of Merle Maple in Attica, who was named Producer of the Year, and New York Sen. Catharine M. Young (R – Olean), named New York Farm Viability Institute Friend of the Year.
“As I look around the room at the many project teams funded by the Institute, I realize how prestigious this award is and I am honored to be recognized for work that I hope will make a difference for New York’s producers,” Kikkert said at the luncheon.
She was selected by the New York Farm Viability Institute’s farmer-producer board of directors from more than 40 leaders of projects funded by the Farm Viability Institute, which directs and gives grants to research projects that result in farm-level profits. Project leaders include farmers, university researchers, Cooperative Extension educators and others in the agriculture support industry that are working to develop value-added products, improve soil quality, reduce pesticide use, provide production and economic benchmarking data, create business plans, manage manure and more.
Approximately 430 New Yorkers grow cabbage and other crucifer crops on more than 15,000 acres, according to data collected by the USDA in the 2002 Census of Agriculture. Cabbage production value in the state has fluctuated from $40 million to $80 million in the past five years.
(Photo by Kara Lynn Dunn: Yellowcress, a cruciferous weed, infests cabbage
field.)
New York ranks second in cabbage production value.
Kikkert is mid-way through a two-year effort to explore methods of controlling weeds and insects that are cost effective and environmentally-friendly, as well as develop trainings for farmers, Cooperative Extension educators and scouts in identifying pests and pest control measures.
She is working with eight farms in Wayne, Ontario, Erie, Niagara and Monroe counties. The operations range in size from two acres to 300 acres and grow cabbage and other cruciferous crops, such as cauliflower, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, kale, collards, turnips and mustard greens.
“The project leaders who receive rave reviews from the farmers they work with are, of course, knowledgeable in their chosen field. The farmers also credit the good project leaders with sharp listening skills and with designing projects that meet the producers’ expressed needs and interests,’’ said John Lincoln, board chair of New York Farm Viability Institute. ``Communicating the necessary protocols and capturing farmer buy-in to the needed production practices are also valuable skills for project leaders.”
Lincoln added, ``weeds and the diseases they harbor can cause thousands of dollars worth of damage to a cabbage crop. The need to hand weed can cost a farmer $50 to $300 per acre.’’
Kikkert’s efforts include collecting and analyzing economic data from cabbage farms for the previous five years, as well as conducting field trials at 22 on-farm plots.
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