Jay Matteson's Rural America Jay M. Matteson

Podcast host, Jay Matteson, is joined by Joe Russo, Economic Developer for National Grid, and Seth Browe, Senior Representative for National Grids Energy Efficiency Program to discuss important grants and financial assistance programs for agriculture. There are many important programs offered by National Grid to assist farms and agribusinesses. Seth and Joe explain the programs and the important points of information you should know as you consider applying for these programs. Spending a few minutes listening to this podcast may save you thousands of $$.

Commissioner Richard Ball of the NYS Department of Agriculture and Markets joins Ron and Jay to discuss growing local food supplies across NYS through the Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure Program (RSFI). RSFI is a new grant program available to farmers and others to provide critical funding to support New York State's food supply chain. Grants will invest in projects to modernize agricultural facilities, improve training and facilitate the purchase of new equipment.

Host Jay Matteson interviews Dawn Cole, President and Chief Executive Officer of United Way of Northern New York about food insecurity in our rural communities and the role United Way plays in assisting people in need. Dawn discusses their food drive coming up on June 5 in Watertown from 8am to 2pm. Jay learns about a great program involving United Way and Jefferson - Lewis BOCES involving the BOCES Hospitality program. Students in the program prepare frozen meals that are given out to to local families in need. Once the family has the meal, they pop it in the microwave and have a healthy, tasy meal to eat!

Dr. Robert Lynch, DVM, the Dairy Herd Health and Management Specialist for PRO_DAIRY Animal Science at Cornell University, joins hosts Ron and Jay for an in depth discussion about Avian Influenza and how it is impacting the Dairy Industry. How signifcantly does it impact dairy cows? Does it pose a threat with our dairy product supply? We get answers to those questions and more, thanks to Dr. Lynch.

Jay interviews cohost, Ron Robbins while he's on the road returning from Florida. The two have a have broad discussion ranging from the results of the presentation by Dr. Dvid Kohl; the upcoming eclipse on April 8; and agricultural impacts of the bridge collapse in the Port of Baltimore. We finish ut the show with a discussion on Avian Flu and the impacts that will have on the dairy industry.

Dr. David Kohl, Professor Emeritus of Agricultural Finance and Small Business Management and Entrepreneurship at Virginia Tech joins Jay and Ron for a great conversation about sports and business. It's amazing when you think about the 4th quarter, last period, last inning of the game and how you try to overcome a deficit to win the game, and how that compares to running your farm or business successfully.
Our conversation unintentionally uses sports to build great insight into managaing your business and farm.
Dr. Kohl is speaking in Jefferson County and nhis alma mater, Jefferson Community College on Thursday March 28 starting at 6pm. It is a free program and you are encouraged to visit www.agricultureevents.com for more info and to register.