New Platform for Our Online Courses — Register Now!

August 20, 2019/Nina Sannes

The Cornell Small Farms Program is excited to announce that our suite of online courses has moved to a new, more user-friendly platform. Now registrants have permanent, year-round access to their course content. Also, courses have tiered pricing from $199 – $299, based on household size and income to make access to the courses more affordable and equitable for everyone.

Registration is now open for all courses, with live webinar content starting at the end of September for our first block of courses.

  • BF 101: Starting at Square One
    • So you’re thinking about starting a farm, but feeling overwhelmed by all the decisions? This course was designed to assist new and aspiring farmers in taking the first steps in thinking through farm start-up (whether you already have land access or not).
  • BF 150: Farm Woodlot Management
    • Whether monetizing the effects of silvopasture, learning the logistics of cutting for firewood, tapping for maple syrup, or venturing into mushroom production, this online course will give you the tools necessary to tap into the potential profit of your woodlot.
  • BF 204: Quickbooks for Farmers
    • Are you a beginning farmer? Or are you a current farmer with the desire to switch to an online accounting system? Then our quick guide to Quickbooks is for you. Learn the software’s basic features, such as sales tax, inventory, invoicing, adjustments, and year-end procedures.

Our program offers more than 20 online courses to help farmers improve their technical and business skills. These courses cover a range of technical and business topics any farmer needs to succeed. You can learn about beekeeping, holistic financial planning, soil health, vegetable farming, and so much more. Experienced farmers and extension educators guide students through about six-week-long courses that include weekly live webinars, videos, and resources.

The bulk of the course happens on your own time, with discussions, readings, and assignments in Teachable, our online course platform. To add to the experience, webinars will be woven into the interface of the course for 6 weeks each year to allow you to meet on a weekly basis to learn from presenters and ask questions in real time. If you miss one, they are always recorded and posted for later viewing.

You can browse all of our course offerings on our website.

Nina Sannes

Nina worked as a student intern for the Small Farms Program in 2019. She is a 5th year undergraduate student pursuing an independent major in agroecology in an effort to gain a nuanced view of the social and scientific sides of agriculture. She hopes to work to aid small farmers in adopting agroecological growing practices.
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