​By: Nathan Dewing, Agricultural Team Leader, Bradford County Conservation District
Farmers today face challenges.  Farmers of any day have.  So too will farmers of the future.  That is one reason a group like the Future Farmers of America (FFA) exists – to help get them ready.
Four Northeast Bradford High School students are now wearing blue and gold as they begin a series of leadership challenges that will shape them for life.  Joshua Keeney, Emma Neuber, Kale Winters, and Kaleb Keeney are obviously willing to grow as they don their first FFA jacket in January 2021.  Their jackets were awarded to them from the Pennsylvania FFA Alumni Association after each wrote an essay about what the FFA jacket means to them and about their plans in FFA and in agriculture.

​By: Nathan Dewing, Agricultural Team Leader, Bradford County Conservation District
Do you realize that regular, every-day, neighbors of ours are producing world-class, healthy, 100% all-natural sugar right here in our own back yard?  It’s one of those forgotten wonders.
While maple sugar harvest here pre-dates recorded history, today, Pennsylvania ranks 6th out of 25 US states in production while Bradford County is 5th among 56 Pennsylvania Counties.  Bradford County’s 53 sugar makers install an estimated 54,200 taps each year, producing 8,000 gallons of delectable, 100% all-natural maple syrup.  Many direct-market their product as maple syrup along with the other most common 100% natural-sugar forms of maple cream, maple candy, and dry maple sugar.  Maple flavored goodies beyond these are only limited by the imagination.

By: Tori Bristol, Dirt and Gravel Roads Specialist

Last week we talked about The Mighty Oak Tree, and this week we are focusing on how to collect and plant acorns to successfully grow them. “The best time to plant an oak tree was twenty years ago. The second best time is today.” 

​By: Kevin Brown, Agricultural Resource Specialist, Bradford County Conservation District
There was a joke in school back in my day that went like, “Do you know how to keep a person in suspense?  I will tell you later”.  Well, I told you I would help you pay for some of these conservation practices, most notably fencing out streams, in the next column and yet I didn’t.  I was keeping you in suspense.  Miranda had such a good article that I just had to let her go first.
I would like to remind you that even though we here at the District may be doing it for other reasons (clean water, and who wants that?), the real reason to do any of this is for the animals themselves.  The happier they are, the faster they grow (for production), and the more they will love us back.  

​By: Nathan Dewing, Agricultural Team Leader

​Bradford County farm fields are made for grass.  Our grass covered hill fields can develop highly productive soil while contributing virtually no sediment to waterways; two reasons it is the primary crop for our food producers.  Bradford county grass has been used to produce milk and meats for generations, and grazing can be one of the most efficient means of harvest.
Water supply in grazing systems can make or break production efficiency, so let’s examine some of the key factors involved.

By: Jonathan VanNoy, Natural Resource Specialist
     If I were to tell you to close your eyes and describe what comes to mind when you hear the word “wetland”, what would you describe?  A stagnant, slimy waterbody?  A grassy, soupy area with cattails?  Maybe that lower field that you can only make hay on every few years?  How about that special place that you love to hunt ducks, or trap muskrats?  You may have an archery stand on the edge of a swamp that comes to mind.  You might describe that spot in your woods that pools water each spring, and for one or two warm nights a year is just crawling with toads or salamanders as they congregate to lay masses of eggs.  (Go to a local vernal pool, pond, swamp or wetland on a warm, spring evening and pull up a chair and just listen and watch.  There is NOTHING that can compare to the sound you will hear if the frogs or toads have congregated!)

By: Miranda Neville, Agricultural Resource Specialist, BCCD
     As temperatures are getting warmer and summer is rapidly approaching, farmers are gearing up for hay season and farm kids are preparing for cow shows. Like a kid going off to summer camp with butterflies of excitement to meet up with friends, have new experiences and make hundreds of memories, so many farm kids (and adults) are getting those butterflies thinking about packing up the cattle trailers and heading out to the county fairs. In the farming world, the cow show circuit is not only a place for cattle breeders to show off their top genetic cows- it’s also a place where they can connect with each other and have an opportunity to educate the public, but most importantly to have fun!

By: Nathan Dewing, Agricultural Team Leader, Bradford County Conservation District
     Sustainable food production and distribution is getting people’s attention today.  Thankfully, we have had leaders among us who haven’t taken this for granted.  Let’s remember some.

By Tess Flynn-Belles, Natural Resource Specialist
     Imagine this; it’s an early spring morning, the sun is shining and most of the snow has melted. You decide to take a walk down to your pond and see if the ice has melted off. You’re enjoying your walk, the warm sun softening the crisp of the morning air. As you approach your pond, you take in the light sparkling off the water. YAY!! The ice is off, time to start casting a line out and see what you catch. You’re cruising the edge of your pond when you notice a dead sunfish…. A little more walking… a dead largemouth bass. You look up and notice that the shoreline of your pond is littered with dead fish!! It’s then that it hits you in the gut…… FISH KILL!!!