Matt Enright, Lancaster Farming Journalist Profile

Articles

Holstein Leasing Program Provides Cows to Youths Without Resources to Show

2 days ago | lancasterfarming.com | Matt Enright

Want to show a Holstein but don’t have the farm or capacity to raise them? Holstein Association USA can help you out. The dairy cattle organization that serves registered Holstein breeders and dairy farmers also provides a junior leasing program. The program allows youths to be involved in showing Holsteins at the organization’s seven national shows each year.
Weather Service Regroups to Get Severe Weather Alerts Out to Amish Community

2 weeks ago | lancasterfarming.com | Matt Enright

Severe weather alerts can save a lot of lives if the information reaches those who need it. Warning the Amish has been a challenge for the National Weather Service. That difficulty was magnified five years ago when a flood in Kentucky killed several children. Jonathan Guseman, a warning coordination meteorologist for NWS in State College, Pennsylvania, was working in Jackson when that Kentucky tragedy struck, prompting him to regroup.
‘Food as Medicine’ Movement Champions Small-Scale Farmers

2 weeks ago | lancasterfarming.com | Matt Enright

An Oklahoma program that promotes food as medicine has been beneficial for both consumers and farmers, organizers said recently. Fresh RX Oklahoma was featured in a Farm Foundation webinar May 13 titled “The Healing Plate: Food, Health and Agricultural Innovation.”Fresh RX founder Erin Martin said in the webinar that farmers are vital to the success of the program, which provides local produce to people with diabetes to help them manage the disease and, in some cases, reverse it.
USDA Plan Puts Small Farms First

2 weeks ago | lancasterfarming.com | Matt Enright

USDA has released policy proposals that will help small farms thrive, Ag Secretary Brooke Rollins said. The plans, announced Monday, include streamlining application processes and improving access to credit, farmland, markets and planning tools. “Today’s policy agenda is tailored specifically to support small-scale farms to thrive for generations to come,” Rollins said in a press release.
Diversification Key to Success for Virginia Angus Producer

3 weeks ago | lancasterfarming.com | Matt Enright

Whether it’s breeding cattle, operating a veterinary clinic or providing donor services, Dr. Brendan Martin lives and breathes Angus. At the farm he runs with his wife, Elaine, Martin raises Angus cattle for Blue Cedar Beef, their direct-to-consumer beef brand, and operates donor services to spread good genetics. “Everybody has something they love to do, and for us, that’s cattle,” Martin said. “We don’t go on a lot of vacations and we don’t do a lot of stuff.
Planned Penn State Mont Alto Campus Closure Raises Fears for Forestry Training

3 weeks ago | lancasterfarming.com | Matt Enright

The proposed closure of Penn State Mont Alto could limit options to train workers for Pennsylvania’s timber industry. The campus houses a long-running forestry program and is one of seven branch campuses recommended for closure in a report the university published May 13. The closures must be approved by Penn State’s board of trustees. Mont Alto was proposed for closure because of enrollment declines and limited prospects for growth.
Conservation Project Aims to Improve Water Quality in Lancaster County Streams

1 month ago | lancasterfarming.com | Matt Enright

WASHINGTON BORO, Pa. — A new conservation project will help farmers improve the water quality in a small, impaired Lancaster County watershed. The Columbia-Manor River Tributaries project will target improvements to 26 miles of streams that flow into the Conejohela Flats section of the Susquehanna River. The Chesapeake Bay Foundation promoted the forthcoming effort with a May 2 tour of sites in the watershed, including Rohrer Dairy Farms.
Mifflintown Case IH Tractor Fire Cause Unknown

1 month ago | lancasterfarming.com | Matt Enright

Triticale harvest at a Mifflintown dairy farm was briefly delayed by an April 30 tractor fire. Brett Reinford, who owns the Case IH 225, said the machine had been sitting in a field at Reinford Farms for 3 days, hooked up to a grain augur. “It looks like the flames started inside the cabin,” he said. “Obviously, it was a complete loss.”An official cause has not been confirmed but Reinford speculates magnification from the cab window may have started the blaze.
What to Know About Deer Fencing and How It Can Save Your Crops

1 month ago | lancasterfarming.com | Matt Enright

How do you prevent deer from eating your crops? One option is fencing off those crops from the animals, but there are some things farmers should know before going that route. Tim Stark of Eckerton Hill Farm in Berks County, Pennsylvania, installed fencing over a decade ago, which cost him somewhere between $50,000 and $60,000. “I had herds of 20 deer in there,” he said, “and they ate everything. I believe I made the cost back in a year.”He recommends one material in particular.
New York FFA Celebrates 100 Years at Syracuse Gathering

1 month ago | lancasterfarming.com | Matt Enright

To celebrate 100 years of FFA conventions in the Empire State, New York FFA has opened an Agricultural Education Hall of Fame and will induct the first honorees at its 100th state convention. FFA members will gather May 7-9 at the New York State Fairgrounds in Syracuse where the first members founded the organization — then called the Association of Young Farmers of New York — in 1926. In the beginning, there were about 60 members across three chapters.