Growers Credit NY Berry Project for Successful Start-Up

by Kara Lynn Dunn If you’re thinking about starting a farm enterprise focused on growing berries, Elaine and Karl Guppy will tell you to go to back to school at Cornell University first. “We have taken almost every production and business management workshop offered by the Cornell University New York Berry Project,” Elaine says. “The … Read More

Internships are Rewarding for Students and Farms

by Nancy Glazier SUNY Cobleskill student Jessica Pfiel wanted to learn about calving on a beef operation, she got that and more on her recent internship. SUNY Cobleskill student Jessica Pfiel wanted to learn about calving on a beef operation. She has a few cattle at home, but wanted more hands-on experience with that part … Read More

Who’s Eating all the Chickens?

by Joan Kark-Wren We left the house early on a beautiful spring morning. Allie, our black lab, excited to be going for a ride, jumped in the car with us. Ling the cat stretched out in the sunlight, knowing he’d have the house to himself. Outside, the 12 chicks — now 8 weeks old — … Read More

Salutations Anyone?

By Troy Bishopp I took a journalism training course for farmer writers at Cornell University recently. For me, there is always some mystique about visiting the “Big Red” campus and walking down a similar path as my grandfather did back in the 1930s. It would have been fun to see the parking arrangement back then … Read More

Telling Better Stories: Journalism Training for Small Farm Educators and Farmer Writers

April 11, 2013, 10:00 – 3:00pm. Mann Library, Room 100 and 102, Cornell University Campus, Ithaca NY Registration for the following training is full.  Contact Violet at vws7@cornell.edu to be added to a waitlist.   Are you an agriculture educator or service provider who tells stories of the farmers you work with to the public?  … Read More

Reconnecting Refugee Farmers to Their Agricultural Roots

Cultivating Community helps immigrant farmers in Maine overcome obstacles to access new markets. It’s a crisp Saturday in mid-February at the largest indoor farmers’ market in the whitest state in America, housed in a grand old textile mill on the banks of the Androscoggin River in Brunswick, Maine. A rainbow of root vegetables and cultivated … Read More

February Monthly Update

The Small Farms Update includes small farm announcements, events, job and internship opportunities, grant and loan opportunities,  other small farm resources. It is intended for farmers and agricultural service providers in New York and the Northeast. If have an item to be included in the update, please contact Violet Stone at vws7@cornell.edu. Announcements New! Guide … Read More

“Post it, Like it, Tweet it” Sign up now!

How to successfully create an online community around your farm business: With Will Heeman of Heeman Greenhouses & Strawberry Farm Reaching today’s consumer is harder than ever, with your audience becoming less responsive to traditional media than ever. Your customers are engaging on social media and this presents a unique opportunity to build an online community … Read More

Dilmun Hill Student Farm Annual Wrap-up

Dilmun Hill Cornell Student Organic Farm invites you to share the experiences of the 2012 season and collaborate on plans for the future at their Annual Wrap-up Event, with project presentations, snacks and discussion of future plans with the Dilmun Hill community of students, faculty, staff and volunteers! Where: Mann Library, Room 102, Cornell University … Read More

Agencies to Contact for Additional Information

Back to Table of Contents USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS). The FSIS, a public health regulatory agency, protects consumers by ensuring that meat and poultry products are safe, wholesome, and accurately labeled. http://www.fsis.usda.gov/ FSIS Policy Development Division http://www.fsis.usda.gov/Contact_Us/index.asp  State Officials – Cooperative Meat and Poultry Inspections Programs Lists the State Agriculture Commissioners and … Read More

More »