By Blake Jackson
On July 24, 2025, nearly 200 farmers, educators, industry professionals, faculty, staff, and students gathered at Cornell’s Musgrave Research Farm in Aurora, New York, for the annual Aurora Farm Field Day.
The event, hosted by Cornell University, focused on advancements in grain and forage cropping systems, offering participants walking tours and hay wagon rides to see firsthand the latest agricultural research and technology.
This year’s field day covered a wide array of research topics designed to improve farm sustainability and productivity. Among the standout demonstrations was the work from Cornell’s Center for Research on Programmable Plant Systems.
The team is developing plant sensors capable of detecting water and nutrient stress, offering real-time data to improve crop management.
Other key presentations included:
- Pollinator support through the use of field margin strips, which researchers believe can attract beneficial insects without encouraging excessive weed growth.
- Precision nitrogen management using imaging tools and crop modeling to boost nitrogen efficiency while minimizing environmental impact.
- Solar farm impacts on soil and water, with studies examining how solar installations affect soil health.
- Integrated weed management strategies that combine different control methods to combat herbicide resistance.
- Living mulches and strip tillage approaches using legume cover crops to enhance soil conservation in corn systems.
Additional stops on the tour highlighted the New York On-Farm Research Partnership, the Farmers Datalab initiative, and a Department of Entomology project aimed at managing early corn pests without neonicotinoids, which will be phased out in New York by 2029.
The event was organized by the School of Integrative Plant Science’s Soil and Crop Sciences Section and the Field Crops Program Work Team.
The Musgrave Research Farm, operated by Cornell AES, is part of a broader network of research farms and facilities across the state.
Photo Credit: cornell-university
Categories: New York, Education, General