Company News
It has been a while since we have updated our company news and that's because we have been a bit too busy to work on the website. 2020 was about as interesting/weird as it gets outside of farming, but for us, it was heads down and working on getting annual reports and recommendations completed. We were out seeing clients throughout 2020, summer visits, fall sampling etc, and that lead us into a very busy 2021 growing season.
The 2021 grow season kicked off with a stint of terrific weather here in the Midwest, which allowed folks to get manure applied and get crops planted with out to many weather hassles. For the rest of this summer, weather posed specific regional challenges, with everyone still working through what has been a wet Fall for most of us.
A few of our biggest 2021 highlights involve some of the new folks that have joined the FCS team this year - we are very excited to be adding staff to provide enhanced support to all of our current clients. We also conintue to work with our partenrs at ColdWater Consulting as we migrate many of their clients into the FCS system of planning and agronomic record keeping.
New FCS team members:
Amanda Marcelynas joined FCS in spring, 2021. Amanda brings a wealth of data analytics experience to FCS. She has a background in soil chemistry and bio-sciences, and has her own garden she tends to with her family. Amanda has been working with Matt Kittredge in on our Vermont & New York clients, providing technial and date management support. She will continue to be the primary record keeping/intake support contact for all of our Vermont clients moving forward, aiding Matt with all aspects of our Vermont planning.
Andrew Schuyler joined FCS in Septemer, 2021, as our new New York based field technician. Andrew will work along Paul Murphy, Matt and Dave to provide additional services to all of our existing New York clients. Andrew comes to FCS as a certifed FAA Part 107 Remote Pilot Licensee with a strong background in geological and bio sciences. Andrew will be leading FCS's project of updating all of our farm facility maps with current, drone imagery. In addition, Andrew will work to enhance services to our clients interested in seeing some of the interesting data we can now capture with the use of the drone technology. Below is a short note from Andrew:
Hello! My name is Andrew Schuyler and I am the newest employee here at FCS. I am a lifelong resident of New York’s Finger Lakes region, and I am very excited to bring my abilities and knowledge to the company and all the clients that we work with. Although not a farmer myself, I have lived in an agriculture-dominated area my whole life and am happy to call several farmers close friends of mine. I have a bachelor’s degree from SUNY Geneseo in Geology, with a minor in Geography/GIS. Since graduating, I have become quite familiar with UAS (Unmanned Aircraft Systems, commonly called drones) and their commercial applications in several fields, with agriculture now being my focus. I am an FAA-licensed remote pilot and would be happy to discuss how this new and growing technology can be used to improve your farm and business. Look forward to meeting and working with all of our NY clients.
In addition to adding Andrew and Amanda, beginning in 2021, FCS has partnered with Dan Shrader and Empire Ag Advisers to provide all of our annual soil sampling needs. Dan has been living and farming in central New York his entire life and he runs his own soil sampling services. Dan will be completeing all of our New York client soil sampling needs this fall.
***If we have not been in touch with you about 2021 fall soil sampling and you have not found an alternative - please call us ASAP - as time is running on the fall soil sampling window and we want to get your sampling scheduled today!
Vermont - Matt Kittredge (VT CAP-NMP planner) has been keeping up with discussions regarding the CAFO permiting in the state of Vermont. Matt continues to work & listen to the Vermont Agency of Agriculture (VAAFM) and Vermont Agency of Natural Resources (ANR) about all changes regarding the VT 590 standard, VAAFM CAFO permits, and ANR MFO NPDES CAFO permits. We encourage all of our Vermont clients to be involved in this wide ranging discussions involving the state agencies.
In Michigan - The proposed 2020 CAFO permit continues to be under litigation - the Farm Bureau lawsuit against the proposed changes to the existing permit is still moving through the legal process. There have been limited official or unoffical updates on the status of the court case. The new 2020 reiussed CAFO permit proposed significant changes to the permit, and these changes, if implemented, will impact ALL of our CAFO clients in the state. If we have not contacted you already, please give us a call to touch base about these changes.
At this time, all CAFO's in Michigan not under an individual permit, should be following the existing CAFO permit that the farms COC references.
NOTE for next year’s planning season: If your spring CNMP/NMP highlighted the need to soil sample fields for your 2022 growing season, please make sure soil sampling is scheduled as we head fall. Get in touch with us if you need FCS to help with soil sampling or need a reminder about what fields need a new sample.
