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The Cornell Small Farms Program is happy to share the news that Brian Caldwell has been appointed to the USDA National Organic Standards Board, beginning a five-year term in 2021. Brian was a major contributor to the Reduced Tillage project for five years before retiring from Cornell in the spring of 2019. Brian brought decades…
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One farmer shared with us in early summer: “If we didn’t have a tarp down before our mixed greens this spring, we would have been in big trouble with our CSA. In our untarped plantings, we lost the crop to weeds. We’re not going to do that again.” Tarps are becoming a versatile tool to…
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As farm and food system educators or change makers working alongside rural and urban farm communities, we face enormous challenges to our efforts to support improved livelihoods of those we serve. Among these are climate instability, rapidly shifting markets, exorbitant land/lot prices, lack of resources, race/gender/class inequities, and labor shortages. While we may design focused…
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Two Perspectives on the Benefit of Agricultural Labor and Farm Business Consulting The Cornell Small Farms Program has nearly 20 years of experience supporting New York State farmers in their agricultural business pursuits from small-scale startup to long-term farming success. Throughout the years, our team has become increasingly aware of the importance of on-farm leadership,…
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Through the COVID-19 pandemic, farming hasn’t stopped and neither has the work of our Farm Ops project. Due to current restrictions to in-person workshops, Farm Ops is offering virtual workshops through February 2021. These workshops have been adapted from our typical hands-on trainings, providing learning and engagement opportunities while participants complete the workshops remotely. Participants…
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Offering strategies to manage stress and anxiety to help build your resilience through this pandemic. While our efforts to shelter in place help protect us and our communities from COVID-19, this sequestering can be challenging. All of us have felt anxiety and worry as this disease has traveled while we sit still. Whether you are…
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We are excited to announce the release of a new Harvest to Market Guide for producers interested in growing specialty mushrooms. This resource is the product of a cooperative effort conducted by the Cornell Small Farms Program, Cornell Cooperative Extension, consultant growers, and other supporting organizations. This guidebook is meant to serve as a companion…
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Reduced tillage practices and weed suppression management are common goals of small-scale organic farmers. A lesser-known method is deep-composting, which was presented by the Reduced Tillage Project and a team of Cornell University researchers at the Northeast Organic Farming Association (NOFA) Winter Conference as a solution to weed suppression in a reduced tillage system. …
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With a recent expansion of the Canandaigua VA Medical Center’s “VA Farms” project, the Bath, NY VA Medical Center, will now be a second location for the project’s offerings. Our veterans project associate, Dean Koyanagi, was interviewed by WETM18 and provided insight on farmer-veteran programs. The Canandaigua VA contracted our Farm Ops project to deliver…
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We are pleased to announce that our Farm Ops project will be continuing its series of training workshops for veterans interested in agriculture throughout 2020. Opportunities include twelve single-day focused trainings, as well as connecting participating veterans to additional regional training opportunities, print material, and online resources tailored to each individual’s interests. These events are…
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