Courses & Trainings

Project Lead: Erica Frenay

Are you thinking about starting a small farm? Do you already have a farm that you're looking to expand? Invest in your professional development and you'll see the returns in your business.

In-Person Trainings and Workshops

Our projects offer numerous in-person educational opportunities throughout the state for farmers to learn more deeply on specific aspects of farm business and production. Visit our project pages to learn more about upcoming trainings.

There are also workshops, trainings and other events for farmers hosted by Cornell Cooperative Extension offices and other organizations. Visit our events page for a calendar of upcoming events.

Online Courses for Aspiring, New, & Experienced Farmers

The Cornell Small Farms Program offers a suite of more than 30 online courses, primarily taught by Cornell Cooperative Extension educators, to help farmers improve their technical and business skills.

  • Interactive 5 to 8-week courses connect you to the information and people you need to start a successful farm business or diversify your farm
  • Led by experienced educators and farmers
  • Most courses can be taken by people anywhere in the world (read the course description to check whether it is targeted to farming in the Northeastern U.S.)

“The expertise and resources presented and available in the course are awesome and arm me with the information needed to make better decisions" ~ Online course alum

Choosing A Course

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  • Sep-Oct
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A Gift of LEARNING!

Looking for a unique experiential gift? Give a certificate redeemable for one online course.    
Rows of crops at farm

BF 101: Cómo Iniciar su Negocio Agrícola

Consideraciones para agricultores aspirantes y principiantes Este curso es para aquellos que desean ganarse la vida en parte o en...
BF101

BF 101: Starting at Square One

Creating a Farm to Match Your Values, Goals, Skills, and Resources This course helps new and aspiring farmers take the...
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BF 102: Exploring Markets & Profits

Testing the Feasibility of Your Farming Ideas Have an idea for a farm enterprise but not sure if it’s feasible?...
Vegetables displayed at a market.

BF 102: Mercados y Rentabilidad

Este curso le ayudará a explorar los mercados potenciales y la rentabilidad de sus ideas, a partir de donde terminó BF 101:...
BF103

BF 103: Taking Care of Business

Understanding the Business, Tax, and Regulatory Implications of Your Farm This course helps aspiring and beginning farmers assess and manage a...
Growing financial capital for your farm business

BF 104: Access to Capital

Fund your farm plans! Do you want to start, expand, or diversify your farm business?
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BF 110: Soil Health

Build a farm from the ground up! The health and productivity of the soil is the basis for farm success...
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BF 112: Reading the Land

Monitoring for Change Pays Off There is only one guarantee in agriculture or other land-based businesses: “When we improve land...
BF120

BF 120: Vegetable Production I

From Planning to Planting This course helps new and aspiring vegetable producers answer basic questions about site selection, crop rotation,...
BF121

BF 121: Vegetable Production II

From Season-Long Care to Harvest This course continues where BF 120 ends and covers vegetable production from transplanting to harvest,...
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BF 122: Berry Production

Getting Started with Production and Marketing If you're exploring the idea of adding berries and bramble fruits to your farm...
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BF 123: Growing Uncommon Fruit

Expand your knowledge of and connection to underutilized fruit and consider incorporating them into your operation.
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BF 130: Poultry Production

Profiting from Layers, Broilers, Turkeys, and Ducks Many new farmers get started with poultry, because it’s a relatively low-investment enterprise...
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BF 138: Getting Started with Pastured Pigs

Developing a Successful Farm Business with Pigs This course is formatted to guide beginning farmers through the production and marketing...
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BF 149: Identifying and Partnering with Mushrooms in Farms, Gardens and Forests

Learn basics in mushroom identification, life cycle, and potential applications of mushrooms to solve community level challenges.  
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BF 150: Farm Woodlot Management

Assessing the economic potential of a managed forest Woodlots are a common feature of most farms in the eastern US,...
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BF 151: Outdoor Mushroom Cultivation

Growing Mushrooms on Logs, Stumps, and Woodchips Mushrooms are an emerging niche crop with many benefits, including improving farmer stewardship...
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BF 152: Introduction to Maple Syrup Production

Maple syrup production is rapidly growing around the Northeast and offers a sound financial opportunity to utilize woodlots. This course...
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BF 153: Indoor Specialty Mushroom Production

Making good use of farm buildings and indoor spaces for mushroom production Mushrooms are an emerging niche crop with many...
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BF 160: Introduction to Beekeeping

Getting your hive operation off the ground. Whether you are currently keeping honey bees, or are considering adding them to...
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BF 170: Cut Flower Production

Introduction to the Business of Flower Farming Fields of flowers are dreamy and bursting with joyful color, but unless you...
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BF 202: Writing a Business Plan

Planning for Long-term Success Whether you intend to borrow money or not, heading into a farm venture without a business...
BF203

BF 203: Holistic Financial Planning

Building Farm Profit Into the Picture If you’ve been struggling to make your farm operation profitable without driving yourself into...
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BF 204: QuickBooks for Farmers

This course is an introduction to QuickBooks, designed to provide an overview of the QuickBooks Pro software application. It will...
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BF 205: Social Media & Online Marketing

Attract More Customers with a Strategic Farm Presence Online Are webpages still useful? Does Facebook drive sales in real life?...
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BF 210: Farm Strategies for Farmer Well-Being

Implement Holistic Management techniques to level up your farm operations and prevent burnout! Create more time for off-farm interests and...
BF220

BF 220: Season Extension with High Tunnels

Know Before You Grow Adding weeks to either end of your growing season can mean attaining a premium for having...
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BF 223: Introduction to Tree Fruit Production

Planning and managing orchards for hobby and business: Tree fruit is an important component of the agricultural and homeowner landscape....
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BF 224: Tree Fruit Scouting

Implement IPM Scouting for Healthy and Economically Viable Orchards. Effective pest management is essential for orchard health and production of...
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BF 231: Grazing Management

Improve Your Triple Bottom Line Through Better Grazing Grazing is more than simply turning livestock out onto a green “warehouse”...
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BF 232: Sheep Production

Managing Your Flock for Success Have sheep or thinking about getting a flock? Producers of all experience levels will find...
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BF 233: Beef Cattle Management

Learn to Raise Beef Profitably Having a successful cattle business is about much more than just buying a few head...
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BF 234: Goat Production

Dairy, Meat, and Fiber for Profit This course is formatted to guide beginning farmers through the production and marketing of...
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On-Farm Poultry Processing

Safe and Sanitary Slaughtering and Butchering from Set-up to Packaging This self-paced course is designed to help farmers safely and...
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Plan Your Farm

Free Tutorials to Get Started Planning a Small Farm Business This free self-paced course guides you through videos, readings, and...
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Planifique su Negocio Agrícola

Tutoriales Gratuitos para comenzar a Planificar un Pequeño Negocio Agrícola

Project Partners

Small Farms Course Instructors

Adam Wild

Cornell Maple Program

Aleah Butler-Jones

Cornell CALS Horticulture

Allyson Angelini

Full Heart Farm

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Amanda Heidel

Community Mushroom Educator

Amy Ivy

CCE Clinton County, retired 2019

Anna Wallis

NYS Integrated Pest Management Program

Anya Osatuke

WNY Small Fruit Extension Specialist

Aysha Venjara

Community Mushroom Educator

Betsy Hicks

SCNY Dairy & Field Crops Team

Betsy Hodge

CCE St. Lawrence County

Betsy Lamb

NYS Integrated Pest Management Program

Cecilia De La Fuente

Community Mushroom Educator

 

Connie Walker

Community Mushroom Educator

Erica Frenay

Cornell Small Farms Program

Hannah Tolz

NYS Integrated Pest Management Program

Hannah Volpi

Foxi Floral Farm

 

Janet Van Zoeren

CCE Lake Ontario Fruit Program

Jenn Bassman

Heritage Haus Farm

 

Kacey Deamer

Cornell Small Farms Program

 

Laura McDermott

CCE ENY Small Fruit Extension Specialist

Leigh Ollman

Community Mushroom Educator

Lynn Bliven

CCE Allegany County

Marina Delgado

Community Mushroom Educator

Michael Basedow

CCE Regional Apple Specialist

Michelle Proscia

CCE Sullivan County

Mildred Alvarado

Cornell Small Farms Program

 

Myron Thurston

CCE Madison County

Natasha Field

CCE ENY Commercial Horticulture Program

Ñawi K. Flores

Community Mushroom Educator

Nicole Tommell

CCE CNY Dairy, Livestock and Field Crops

 

Phil Metzger

Holistic Management Educator/Former NRCS

Rachel Moody

CCE Capital Area

 

Rich Taber

CCE Chenango County

 

Sneha Ganguly

Community Mushroom Educator

 

Steve Hadcock

CCE Capital Area Ag and Hort Program

Online Courses FAQ

Any question is a good question. If you don’t see your answer to one of these common questions, contact us any time.

When can I register for courses?

You may register at any time for any course, though the instructors are only active and offering the real-time webinars during one 4-8-week period each year. Read the course description for each course carefully to learn more. If you enroll once the live offering has concluded for the year, you will immediately have access to all course materials. If you enroll in the months preceding a course's live offering, your access to the materials will be limited, as a new batch of resources is made available each week of the live offering. Once the course finishes, you will retain access to all course materials.

What type of hardware and internet connection do I need? Does the course require any special software?

OPERATING SYSTEM: The following operating systems are supported by our webinar platform, Zoom:

  • macOS X with macOS X (10.10) or later
  • Windows 11 (version 5.9.0 or higher)
  • Windows 10 (Home, Pro, or Enterprise only. S Mode is not supported.)
  • Windows 8 or 8.1
  • Windows 7
  • Ubuntu 12.04 or higher
  • Mint 17.1 or higher
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.4 or higher
  • Oracle Linux 6.4 or higher
  • CentOS 6.4 or higher
  • Fedora 21 or higher
  • OpenSUSE 13.2 or higher
  • ArchLinux (64-bit only)
  • iOS, Android, Blackberry, and Surface PRO 2 (running Windows 8.1 or higher) mobile devices

If you are using an unsupported operating system you will not be able to join the live webinar sessions that make up some of the best content of the course, so please do not register for courses unless you will be upgrading your operating system before the course begins.

INTERNET: We recommend that you use a computer with a DSL or Cable modem connection, or a mobile device with a fast connection. Satellite connection is usually too unpredictable for participating in webinars.

SOFTWARE: You do not need any special software for the course, beyond an up to date internet browser (Firefox, Safari, Chrome, Edge, etc.) and a small free download you will be automatically prompted to complete in order to access webinars on Zoom. It is helpful, but not strictly necessary, to have Microsoft Office (for Word and Excel documents) but your instructor can get around this if you don't have it.

HARDWARE: You DO need to have functioning speakers for the webinars. While it’s helpful to have a working mic, it is not necessary.

A more detailed list of system requirements can be found on the Zoom website.

How much do courses cost?

Our 6-week courses are priced from $199-299, based on your household income. Shorter and longer courses are pro rated accordingly. We also offer a payment plan that lets you split the middle tier price into 2 payments.

Why are the courses so expensive? Do you offer any financial aid or scholarships?

These courses are a rare example of a farmer training program running solely on registration revenue, with no ongoing grant support. We operate the courses on the slimmest possible margin so that we can keep the fees as low as possible. Course alumni have reported that the value they received from the course was more than worth the price. In many cases, the course material has paid for itself in terms of mistakes avoided or innovations learned.

We do realize that not everyone is able to afford the price of our courses, so we offer a small number of scholarships each year. To apply, please read all the requirements and complete the application here.

I live (and plan to farm) outside NYS. Are your courses appropriate for me?

Most of our courses are appropriate for a wide geographic range of participants. Please read each course description carefully. If the course is relevant only to participants in a particular state or region, it will be listed there.

What are the live online courses like? What can I expect?

Our courses are typically 6 weeks long and include real-time weekly live webinars (using Zoom) in combination with an online "course headquarters" (using Teachable) for discussions, resource-sharing, and homework between webinars.

Each week, the instructor will make a new lesson--with readings, resources, discussion forums, and assignments--available to view. You can complete the work anytime during the week. If a live webinar is scheduled for that week, you'll be given a link to click at a particular date and time. If you cannot make it, a recording of the webinar will be posted in Teachable for you to watch later. The webinars are the only part of the course that take place at a particular time and date; otherwise, you can work on the course whenever it's convenient for your schedule. Typically, our online courses require a high degree of self-motivation and ability to work on your own.

During the real-time offering, you will have the ability to interact with your instructor, guest presenters, and fellow students via a chat feature during webinars and via discussion forums in Teachable. You can expect to network with like-minded fellow learners, hear from farmers and other farming experts in live web sessions, learn about useful resources, and depending on the course, get direct feedback on your farming plans.

What if I want to complete a course on my own schedule? What can I expect if I enroll when the course is not being offered live?

Our courses are offered in a virtual "campus" called Teachable, an online learning platform. Each course typically offers 6 weeks' worth of lessons--with webinar recordings, readings, resources, and assignments--available to complete whenever it's convenient for your schedule.

Even though you will not be participating when an instructor is active, all course content (including webinar recordings) will be available for you to independently complete at your own pace. Typically, our online courses require a high degree of self-motivation and ability to work on your own.

Once you have enrolled in a course, you will retain access to all materials indefinitely. You are also welcome to return to participate in future live webinar offerings of the course, if you wish.

Can I get college credit for completing your online courses?

No, we are unable to offer academic credit for our courses.

Can I take more than one online course at a time?

It is possible to take more than one course at a time. If they have webinars on the same night, you can alternate which one you attend live, and later watch the webinar recording for the other course. Otherwise, coursework is conducted on your own time, so you would just have to be especially conscious to budget enough time in your week to do the readings, participate in discussions and complete homework assignments for multiple courses each week.

How many hours a week do I need to spend to keep up with the course?

Students report spending 2-6 hrs. a week on a course, with the average being about 3. If you are less experienced with online learning, and/or less experienced with farming, expect to spend 6 or more hours per week to participate fully. Planning courses, especially BF 202: Planning to Stay in Business and BF 203: Holistic Financial Planning, require at least 6 hours each week if you are serious about completing the work, because you will be writing your own business plan or financial plan and these courses keep an intense pace. As with any learning experience, the more you are able to put into reading, thinking, and applying this material to your own farm plans, the more you will get out of the course!

If I miss a webinar can I watch it at a later date?

Webinars will be recorded and a link will be posted in Teachable, your online "campus", each week. Simply click the link and you will be able to watch it. All other course materials and discussion forums from prior weeks will be available at all times throughout the course, so anytime you want to go back and review something you will be able to.

Will there be opportunities to hear from successful farmers?

We usually invite at least two farmers to present about their farm operations and start-up experience during the webinars, so students are exposed to two different farmer perspectives and can directly ask them lots of questions. Where possible, we also incorporate videos of farmers into the course. A few of our instructors are also farmers - check out the instructor bio section of each course description page to learn more about their expertise.

What is the course cancellation policy?

If there are fewer than 10 people registered for a course 7 days before the first webinar, we will notify all registrants by email and offer the option to transfer registration to a different course OR receive a full refund.

What is the refund policy if I need to cancel my registration?

We offer a 7-day money-back guarantee, which means if you need to cancel or are unhappy with your course anytime in the first week after you start your course, we will give you a full refund.

Do you offer scholarships or reduced registrations?

We offer tiered pricing based on household income on all our online courses. To find the pricing tiers, click on the course icon and scroll to the bottom of the page.

U.S. active military and U.S. military veterans qualify for half off the Tier 2 price of any course. This discount may only be applied to two courses per veteran. To request the military discount, email smallfarmcourses@cornell.edu with the subject of the email “Requesting a Military Discount.”

New York State veterans may be reimbursed for an online course through our Farm Ops project supporting veterans in agriculture. Reimbursement is contingent upon funding availability. Learn more on the Farm Ops project’s scholarship page.

If none of the options above makes the courses accessible to you, we do offer 25 scholarships each course season based on financial need. To read the details and apply, please visit our Scholarships page.

I would like to pay for your courses with my AmeriCorps Education Award money, or with GI Bill funds. Is this possible?

Because our courses are not accredited college-level courses, they are not eligible for payment with GI Bill funds. However, you may be able to use AmeriCorps funding or small grants to pay for our courses. Contact smallfarmcourses@cornell.edu to start the process.