WelcometotheIssue!TableofContents Welcome to the Issue! Table of

Help Your Body

Page 18 Life Lessons

Learned Through 4-H Dairy Projects

Page 19 Mango Shake

Page 20 New Initiatives

Support Northeast Dairy Innovation

Page 22 Sullivan Fresh Dairy Farms

The Extension Connection (USPS-525-100) is published monthly for $25.00 enrollment by Cornell Cooperative Extension Sullivan County, located at 64 Ferndale-Loomis Road, Suite 1, Liberty, NY 12754-2903. Entered at Liberty, New York, as a periodical class matter. Acceptance for mailing at special rate of postage provided for in section 412, Act of February 24, 1925. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Extension Connection, 64 Ferndale-Loomis Road, Suite 1, Liberty, NY 12754-2903.

Office Hours

Hours: Mon - Fri | 8:30 am to 4:30 pm

Phone: 845-292-6180

E-mail: sullivan@cornell.edu

Website: www.sullivancce.org

Facebook.com/ccesullivanagfood

Instagram.com/ccesullivan

YouTube: bitly.com/ccesullivan

Board Of Directors

Dara Smith............................President

Denise Frangipane...............Secretary

Dawn Parsons.......................Treasurer

Nadia Rajsz.................Legislative Rep.

Adam Hughes..................Cornell Rep.

Alex Alorro

Freda Eisenberg

Lee Karasik

Amanda Langseder

Denise Luckman

Erika Malmgreen

Steve Marton

Gary Silver

Gary Silverman

Marcie Wild

Program Committee

Heather Brown

Roberta Chambers

Robert Kaplan, Chairperson

Eugene Thalmann

Deborah Worden

Extension Connection

Produced by: Cornell Cooperative Extension Sullivan County

Edited by: Erin Denman & Colleen Monaghan

Cornell Cooperative Extension Sullivan County is an employer and educator recognized for valuing AA/EEO, Protected Veterans, and Individuals with DisAbilities and provides equal program and employment opportunities.

NOTICE: Official endorsement of advertisers and their products is not intended by the acceptance of their sponsorships for the Extension Connection.

Staff Members

Colleen Monaghan..............................................................................Executive Director

Taylor Adam.............................................................Beginner Farmer Program Manager

Monica Ponce-Agrddano ...............................................................Ag. Program Assistant

Thomas Bosket....................................................................SALT/DFC Program Manager

SueAnn Boyd.........................................................Healthy Schools Program Coordinator

Fabio Campanati......................................................................Taste NY Market Manager

Lynn Colavito..............................................Community Cupboard Program Coordinator

Martin Colavito...........................................Community Cupboard Program Coordinator

Wanda V. Cruz...............................................Healthy Communities Program Coordinator

Erin Denman............................................................Association Operations Coordinator

Katie Gasior.................................................................Horticulture Program Coordinator

Christopher Jones..............................................................Taste NY Operations Manager

Joy Leon.................................................................Nutrition & Physical Activity Educator

Katie Rose Lugauer...................................................................4-H Program Coordinator

Erica Lynch..........................................................Catskills Kitchen Program Coordinator

John Mastrangelo............................................................................Assistant Ag Market Manager

Melinda Meddaugh.......................................................Ag & Food Systems Issue Leader

Vivian Monsanto...............................................................................Finance Coordinator

Barbara Moran................................................4-H Youth Development Program Manager

Bee Moser............................................................................................Senior Nutritionist

Vanessa Petrossian...........................Program Director: Operations and Community Vitality

Abyssinia Pla El...................................................................................Finance Coordinator

Michelle Proscia..............................................Agriculture Production Program Manager

Ann-Marie Sidtis............................................Drug Free Communities Program Assistant

Tara VanHorn.........................................................................................Finance Manager

Malinda Ware........................................................................................Program Director

Sean Welsh...................................................................Energy Senior Resource Educator

John Wilcox..........................................................................................Facilities Manager

Judy Arpadi, Vinny Bonizzi, Kayla Evans.................................................Ag Market Coordinators

Greetings Friends of Extension!

Ah! We’ve finally reached my absolute favorite month of the year! June is so full of life and greenery and fireflies! Whenever I get down or feel the blues in the winter months I look ahead to June. New York just can’t be beat in the early summer season, and I’m so happy to spend it with you and the CCE Sullivan staff! June is also DAIRY MONTH! This edition of the Extension Connection magazine shines a light on the benefits and uses of dairy products in our everyday lives. We hope you enjoy this issue alongside your favorite ice cream or a nice tall glass of chocolate milk!

At Extension, we’ve seen more and more folks come out for workshops in the last couple months and to use the Extension Education Center for community meetings and activities. It just adds so much energy to the season and is breaking us out of the post-covid shell!

Now, 4-Hers are working on their projects in preparation for the Sullivan County Youth Fair, hosted annually at the Grahamsville Little World’s Fair in partnership with the Neversink Agricultural Society. Please mark your calendars and come support Sullivan County’s amazing young people on August 18-20.

In addition, next month marks the 5th year of the Sullivan Fresh Farmers’ Markets, making an appearance on a weekly schedule in Fallsburg, Harris, Loch Sheldrake, Liberty, Monticello, Woodridge, and Wurtsboro. Check out www. homegrownwithheart.com for these, and 11 other farmers’ markets happening all across the County through the harvest season.

It’s so refreshing to be seeing you all in person again and I can’t thank all our program participants, supporters, and volunteers enough for sticking by CCE Sullivan over the last, long three years. Thank you thank you thank you for staying in the trenches with us, for your compassionate understanding when we make mistakes, and for coming back out to our programs now that a new season is upon us.

Can’t wait to see you out and about this summer! In the meantime, you can visit sullivancce.org/events anytime for a listing of programs and a jumping point to the wealth of resources and information that can be found around the website in general.

See you soon! See you soon!

Colleen Monaghan Executive Director, cm638@cornell.edu

HEIFER MASTITIS: PREVENTION IS THE KEY!

Written by Amber Yutzy

Submitted by Taylor Adam, Beginner Farmer Program Manager

The ultimate goal for any heifer management program is to develop a healthy adult cow that produces highquality milk. This success depends on how heifers are managed from birth to first calving. Mastitis is considered one of dairy cows’ most significant and costly diseases, resulting in decreased production and profitability.

Mastitis in heifers is rarely detected before calving, but few farms actively look for an infection before the animal calves. Subclinical mastitis can be challenging to detect because the milk appears normal, but a high somatic cell count is present. It is recommended that all producers use the California Mastitis Test (CMT) on fresh cows to detect mastitis in each quarter. The CMT provides an inexpensive option for detecting mastitis early and provides the most accurate results 5 days post-fresh. Producers also have other options available to them to detect mastitis.

Microbiological examination of milk samples may be obtained from suspect quarters to determine the type of bacteria with which each quarter is infected. This exam can be more timeconsuming than CMT but provides a more in-depth evaluation. With increased technologies, culturing on farms has become more prevalent in Pennsylvania, and costs have significantly decreased.

The highest risk factor for developing heifer mastitis can be exposure to mastitiscausing organisms. The environment in which heifers are housed year-round can play a significant role in the exposure. Heifers should be housed in a clean, dry environment with sufficient amounts of bedding. Animals with manure cover on the legs and udder area will experience increased mastitis at freshening. All heifers should be treated to the same clean environment as the milking herd. These animals are the farm’s future and will soon be relied upon to provide high production levels to keep dairy farms profitable.

A second risk factor contributing to heifer mastitis is feeding waste milk to calves. This practice should be discouraged unless milk can be pasteurized before feeding.

The exact mechanism that the organism is transferred to the udder is unknown. Still, it is likely related to the colonization of the teat skin and inner thighs with mastitis-causing organisms. Studies have shown that milking herds with a high incidence of mastitis also have an increased incidence of heifer mastitis.

Prevention of mastitis is based upon reducing exposure to mastitis pathogens and enhancing the ability of the heifers’ immune system to respond. Prevention of mastitis in heifers includes the following strategies:

1. Controlling mastitis in the existing adult herd; contagious mastitis is more likely to spread if there is a high incidence of mastitis on the farm.

2. Use of individual hutches for pre-weaned calves to prevent suckling.

3. Feed milk replacers or pasteurized milk rather than waste milk.

4. Control flies; this is especially important in the upcoming months.

5. Milk fresh heifers first using clean milking equipment.

6. House heifers in well- bedded areas that are clean and dry.

7. Consider implementing a heifer mastitis vaccination program. Remember, heifers are the future of your dairy farm. Introducing healthy, viable heifers into the milking herd will help increase productivity and profitability.

Adapted from:

Yutzy, Amber.” Heifer mastitis: Prevention is the key!” Penn State Extension. January 23, 2023. https://extension.psu.edu/ heifer-mastitis-prevention-is-the-key.