PEOPLE PROFILE: Nathan Herendeen, crop specialist, retires after 38 years
By April Amadon Lockport Union-Sun & Journal
Growing up on a farm in Ontario County, Nathan Herendeen was fascinated by the soil.“As a kid, I always wondered why the soils on our farm were so variable,” he said. “In one place, they were gravely and stony, and in another place, they were dense — what we call clay soils, with no rocks.”
Herendeen’s interest in soil led him to Cornell University and then to a career with the Cornell Cooperative Extension, where he worked with local farmers as a crop and soil specialist. Herendeen, 65, retired March 27 after 38 years at the cooperative extension. In that time, the landscape of agriculture in Western New York has changed immensely.“I wish I was young again to start over,” Herendeen said.
When Herendeen started with the Cooperative Extension, he was dealing with everything from crops to dairy and livestock, including beef, sheep, swine and even chickens.“(I was) the guy that’s supposed to know everything about everything, which is not practical,” he said. At that time, he was part of a team that covered four counties. These days, the team covers nine counties in Western New York, and a lot has changed in the meantime. The number of dairy farms in Niagara County has gone from about 250 to less than 40 in that time, “but we’re still producing just as much, if not more, milk, (due to) increases in technology, more milk per cow, more cows per farm.” On the crop side, the average corn crop in the 1970s yielded about 87 bushels per acre. These days, the average yield is 128 bushels per acre.
Aside from his work at the extension, Herendeen often speaks to groups about the soils and geology of Western New York.“It sounds boring, but it can be a very interesting topic,” he said. “(It’s important) to have an appreciation of soils and how soils and crops interact to produce food.” He said people often take it for granted where their food comes from.“(They think) it’ll always be there, it’ll always be good. They’re always going to have a diversity of selection,” he said. “I like to think over the years we’ve made improvement in soil health, soil quality.”
He will speak to the Rotary Club of Lockport on April 8 about the future of the ethanol industry, which has been a hot topic lately in the news. He said the industry is dealing with fallout from shortages in the grain commodity crops from last year; the shortages were due to dry weather in the southern hemisphere. The demand for corn, soybeans and especially wheat has gone up, while at the same time, the inventories of wheat from the previous crop year are at the smallest they’ve been since the 1970s, he said. Also, the increasing buying power of China and India, coupled with the decline of the U.S. dollar, have led to higher prices for U.S. consumers. The rapid increase in the cost of fuel has also affected prices by pushing up costs for farmers. He said he expects the market to turn as production increases.“Farmers are notorious for producing themselves out of high prices,” he said. “I expect that we’ll see, if we have good weather, we’ll have tremendous production in 2008. Farmers are gearing up to have the biggest production year they’ve had in a long, long time. ... The free market works.”
Herendeen said people might blame the higher prices on corn being used for ethanol, but he said that has little effect on the market.“That is a minor part of the whole equation, but certainly that has increased the demand for corn,” he said. The process of producing corn and making it into ethanol results in several other byproducts, including corn meal and feed, carbon dioxide and corn oil. “Usually when you see the articles in the popular press and the media, they talk about the fact that we’re using corn to make ethanol. They never mention the fact that most of the junk matter ends up going out as byproduct feed,” he said. “You do end up with by-products. It doesn’t get 100 percent converted.” The corn that’s used is not sweet corn that would be found in a grocery store, but hard dent corn, which is used to feed cows and is high in starch.
Herendeen, who lives in Gasport with his wife, Burneice, said now that he’s retired, he will continue working with agriculture on a part-time basis, though he doesn’t have any specific plans. “I still feel healthy and want to be part of the farming community in Western New York,” he said. “This Western New York area and the Finger Lakes area are really the bread basket of New York. There’s the largest concentration of good soils, good farms and good agricultures between here and Syracuse.”
There will be a retirement party for Herendeen on April 19, from 6 to 10 p.m. at the Batavia Party House in Batavia. For information, call Karen Krysa at 433-8839.
By April Amadon Lockport Union-Sun & Journal
Growing up on a farm in Ontario County, Nathan Herendeen was fascinated by the soil.“As a kid, I always wondered why the soils on our farm were so variable,” he said. “In one place, they were gravely and stony, and in another place, they were dense — what we call clay soils, with no rocks.”
Herendeen’s interest in soil led him to Cornell University and then to a career with the Cornell Cooperative Extension, where he worked with local farmers as a crop and soil specialist. Herendeen, 65, retired March 27 after 38 years at the cooperative extension. In that time, the landscape of agriculture in Western New York has changed immensely.“I wish I was young again to start over,” Herendeen said.
When Herendeen started with the Cooperative Extension, he was dealing with everything from crops to dairy and livestock, including beef, sheep, swine and even chickens.“(I was) the guy that’s supposed to know everything about everything, which is not practical,” he said. At that time, he was part of a team that covered four counties. These days, the team covers nine counties in Western New York, and a lot has changed in the meantime. The number of dairy farms in Niagara County has gone from about 250 to less than 40 in that time, “but we’re still producing just as much, if not more, milk, (due to) increases in technology, more milk per cow, more cows per farm.” On the crop side, the average corn crop in the 1970s yielded about 87 bushels per acre. These days, the average yield is 128 bushels per acre.
Aside from his work at the extension, Herendeen often speaks to groups about the soils and geology of Western New York.“It sounds boring, but it can be a very interesting topic,” he said. “(It’s important) to have an appreciation of soils and how soils and crops interact to produce food.” He said people often take it for granted where their food comes from.“(They think) it’ll always be there, it’ll always be good. They’re always going to have a diversity of selection,” he said. “I like to think over the years we’ve made improvement in soil health, soil quality.”
He will speak to the Rotary Club of Lockport on April 8 about the future of the ethanol industry, which has been a hot topic lately in the news. He said the industry is dealing with fallout from shortages in the grain commodity crops from last year; the shortages were due to dry weather in the southern hemisphere. The demand for corn, soybeans and especially wheat has gone up, while at the same time, the inventories of wheat from the previous crop year are at the smallest they’ve been since the 1970s, he said. Also, the increasing buying power of China and India, coupled with the decline of the U.S. dollar, have led to higher prices for U.S. consumers. The rapid increase in the cost of fuel has also affected prices by pushing up costs for farmers. He said he expects the market to turn as production increases.“Farmers are notorious for producing themselves out of high prices,” he said. “I expect that we’ll see, if we have good weather, we’ll have tremendous production in 2008. Farmers are gearing up to have the biggest production year they’ve had in a long, long time. ... The free market works.”
Herendeen said people might blame the higher prices on corn being used for ethanol, but he said that has little effect on the market.“That is a minor part of the whole equation, but certainly that has increased the demand for corn,” he said. The process of producing corn and making it into ethanol results in several other byproducts, including corn meal and feed, carbon dioxide and corn oil. “Usually when you see the articles in the popular press and the media, they talk about the fact that we’re using corn to make ethanol. They never mention the fact that most of the junk matter ends up going out as byproduct feed,” he said. “You do end up with by-products. It doesn’t get 100 percent converted.” The corn that’s used is not sweet corn that would be found in a grocery store, but hard dent corn, which is used to feed cows and is high in starch.
Herendeen, who lives in Gasport with his wife, Burneice, said now that he’s retired, he will continue working with agriculture on a part-time basis, though he doesn’t have any specific plans. “I still feel healthy and want to be part of the farming community in Western New York,” he said. “This Western New York area and the Finger Lakes area are really the bread basket of New York. There’s the largest concentration of good soils, good farms and good agricultures between here and Syracuse.”
There will be a retirement party for Herendeen on April 19, from 6 to 10 p.m. at the Batavia Party House in Batavia. For information, call Karen Krysa at 433-8839.
