Please join us for the Eastern New York Spotted Lanternfly Workshop on February 4th and 5th at the scenic Benmarl Vineyard in Marlboro, NY. This two-day event will focus on addressing the challenges posed by the Spotted Lanternfly (SLF) through policy, research, outreach, and management strategies. Day One will focus on Municipal Management, Communication, Outreach/Extension and Research Updates.

Unit 2: Developing a Marketing Plan for Your Farm (Bonnie Nelsen)

• Session 5:  Revenue and Product Mix to Achieve Your Goals

Date: February 4th, 2025

Snow Date: February 5th, 2025

Time: 9:30 am - 3:30 pm

Place: The Henry A. Wallace Center at the FDR Presidential Library and Home

Address: 4079 Albany Post Road, Hyde Park, NY 12538

Join Cornell Cooperative Extension for a day-long intensive focused on leafy greens production! This intensive will focus on both summer and winter growing and will feature grower insights and research. Topics include: soil steaming, spinach variety trials, pest management, heat tolerant varieties and a moderated grower to grower conversation.

Cost: $30 pre-registration up until Feb 3rd at 5pm, $50 at the door. Lunch is included

Do you need a business plan for your farm?  Do you have an idea for a new venture, but aren't sure if it will work? This program is for you!

This course is designed for existing farm businesses or those planning to undertake a new farm business venture. Students will work with their farm's data, and the goal of the class is for participants to have a draft of a written business plan for a specific business venture.

During the course, you will learn to:

• Assess whether or not a business idea is a good fit for you.
• Develop a marketing strategy to make a profit
• Use financial tools to evaluate if your business has the potential to be profitable

This online course meets from January 7-March 4, 2025.  All course content is available online so you can work on it at your own pace.  There will be weekly webinars where you can meet other students and interact directly with the instructor on the content.  These webinars will be recorded. 

For the 2nd year in a row, we'll be having the Western NY Fruit Conference at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel in Rochester!  It will be another 1 1/2 day conference. Again, this replaces our traditional "LOF Fruit Schools" and our participation in the Empire Producers Expo in Syracuse. The program will run all day on Tuesday (Feb 4) and Wednesday morning (Feb 5). There will be two Pest Management sessions Tuesday morning, followed by Business and Soil Health afternoon sessions. Wednesday will have 2 morning sessions (Marketing/Fruit Quality and Precision Ag),  ending with lunch at noon.

Please join us for the Eastern New York Spotted Lanternfly Workshop on February 4th and 5th at the scenic Benmarl Vineyard in Marlboro, NY. This two-day event will focus on addressing the challenges posed by the Spotted Lanternfly (SLF) through policy, research, outreach, and management strategies. Day two will focus on Vineyard Management, Agricultural Management and Consumer Education.

Becker Forum will focus on key labor issues and trends.

This hands-on workshop is intended for Extension or County staff who either have an interest in learning more about pruning grapevines or have the potential to have someone come through the door asking about grapes. 

Unit 2: Developing a Marketing Plan for Your Farm (Bonnie Nelsen)

• Session 6: Marketing Plan and Evaluation of Marketing Efforts

Join Cornell Cooperative Extension of Orange and Oneida Counties, the Cornell Vegetable Program, Harvest NY, and the Eastern NY Horticulture Team on Feb. 12 for a remote Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) training. Good Agricultural Practices is a voluntary food safety audit program requiring minimum standards for the production, handling, packing, and storing of fresh fruits and vegetables, and is required by some buyers. Trainers will cover food safety best management practices related to worker training, preharvest assessments and wildlife management, water testing, postharvest handling, hygienic equipment design and efficient wash-pack setups, how to write a farm food safety plan, and more. The training will follow the USDA GAPs audit checklist so that farms will be prepared for an audit. A NYSDAM GAPs auditor will join us to discuss audit logistics and answer questions from participants. Following the course, we will offer a series of virtual office hours to follow up with course participants to assist them with writing their farm food safety plan, which is mandatory for the GAPs audit. Participants will receive a certificate of course completion after the training.

The training cost is $10 per farm and includes access to a virtual folder of recordkeeping templates, Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), audit checklists, course presentations, and more resources. 

This training will be held on Zoom

February 12, 2025 noon - 1:30pm(link is external) Brian Moyer, Penn State Extension will discuss 10 Common Marketing Mistakes. 

February 19, 2025 noon - 1:30pm(link is external) Dr. Maria Gannett, UMass Extension Fruit and Vegetable Weed Specialist will discuss Basic Orchard Weed ID and Management.

February 26, 2025 noon - 1:30pm(link is external) Dr. Anna Wallis, Senior Extension Associate, NYS Integrated Pest Management and Dr. Kerik Cox, Associate Professor, School of Integrative Plant Science, Plant Pathology and Plant-Microbe Biology Section, Cornell AgriTech will dig into Why Did My Scab Program Fail in 2024?. 

March 5, 2025 noon - 1:30pm(link is external) Dr. Srdjan Acimovic Assistant Professor, Tree Fruit and Specialty Crop Pathologist at Virginia Tech University. This presentation will cover the biology and environmental conditions that favor bitter rot on apples; the management options and new areas of research this apple disease. 

March 12, 2025 noon - 1:30pm(link is external) Dr. Jason Londo, Associate Professor, School of Integrative Plant Science, Horticulture Section, Cornell AgriTech and Dr. Renae Moran, Tree Fruit Specialist Professor of Pomology, University of Maine will discuss Understanding Cold Hardiness Risks in Fruit Crops. 

GRANT MONEY FOR YOUR FARM? IT'S POSSIBLE! THIS WORKSHOP WILL SHOW YOU HOW!

Speakers: Liz Higgins (CCE ENYCHP), Josh Morgenthau (Fish Kill Farms), Jim Bittner (Bittner-Singer Orchard, and Kevin Clark (Rose Hill Farm)

Week 1: Digging Into Pruning and Soil Health

Week 2: Cider Apples - Mechanized Harvesting and Patulin Food Safety

Week 3: The Value of "Eco-Friendly" Marketing - OMRI, Red Tomato, EcoApple, NYS Grown and Certified

Week 4: Biopesticides and Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) for Berries

Week 5: St. Peachtrick's Day - Stone Fruit Insect and Disease Management

REMOTE Produce Safety Alliance Grower Training Course

Monday, Feb. 17 and Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2025

8 am - 12:30 PM

Held remotely via Zoom (online)

Registration: $10 per person, open to NY state participants only

Includes printed course manual ($60 value), certificate of course completion ($35 value) and online food safety resources.

All produce growers are encouraged to attend this course to learn more about food safety practices recommended for all farms. This course contains NEW information contained in the finalized Subpart E rule on agricultural water. The PSA Grower Training Course is one way to satisfy the FSMA Produce Safety Rule requirement outlined in § 112.22(c) that requires 'At least one supervisor or responsible party for your farm must have successfully completed food safety training at least equivalent to that received under standardized curriculum recognized as adequate by the Food and Drug Administration.' If you've already earned your PSA certificate, retaking this course is a great way to refresh your memory and learn about the new water requirements!

After attending the entire course, participants will be eligible to receive a certificate from the Association of Food and Drug Officials (AFDO) that verifies they have completed the training course. 

Unit 3: Developing a Financial Plan for Your Farm Business (Steve Hadcock)

• Session 7: The Basics of Financial Statements

Join us for our Annual Eastern NY Fruit and Vegetable Conference with two days filled with informative sessions on Tree Fruit, Vegetables, Small Fruit, Grapes, Bedding Plants and other related topics and visit with more than 50 vendors!

GRANT MONEY FOR YOUR FARM? IT'S POSSIBLE! THIS WORKSHOP WILL SHOW YOU HOW!

Unit 3: Developing a Financial Plan for Your Farm Business (Steve Hadcock)

• Session 8: Enhancing Confidence in Your Numbers

Please join us for our advisory meeting, join the team as they share their current and future projects and programming. Please pre-register by noon on February 24th.

GRANT MONEY FOR YOUR FARM? IT'S POSSIBLE! THIS WORKSHOP WILL SHOW YOU HOW!

Speaker(s): McKenzie Schessl (Cornell AgriTech) and Samantha Willden (Cornell AgriTech)

Unit 3: Developing a Financial Plan for Your Farm Business (Steve Hadcock)

• Session 9: Using Financial Statements and Financial Information to Plan and Evaluate an Enterprise

Cost: $20 per person (half day) or $30 per person (whole day)

Includes lunch for both half and full day registration. Registration options are: Half Day Morning (9:30am - 1:30pm), Half Day Afternoon (12:00pm - 4:00pm) or Full Day

Join us for a two-part workshop for vegetable growers focusing on garlic and brassica crops with additional general vegetable roundtable at the Whallonsburg Grange. Our morning session will include tips for growing great garlic from seed to postharvest, advice for managing the invasive leek moth, and discussion with a panel of experienced garlic growers. Brassica (cole) crops is the topic of our afternoon session, when pest and disease management, crop rotation, varieties, and planting dates will be discussed.

2 DEC pesticide recertification credits offered in categories 1A, 10, and 23. Must attend the whole day to receive credits. 

Do you need a business plan for your farm?  Do you have an idea for a new venture, but aren't sure if it will work? This program is for you!

This course is designed for existing farm businesses or those planning to undertake a new farm business venture. Students will work with their farm's data, and the goal of the class is for participants to have a draft of a written business plan for a specific business venture.

During the course, you will learn to:

• Assess whether or not a business idea is a good fit for you.
• Develop a marketing strategy to make a profit
• Use financial tools to evaluate if your business has the potential to be profitable

This online course meets from January 7-March 4, 2025.  All course content is available online so you can work on it at your own pace.  There will be weekly webinars where you can meet other students and interact directly with the instructor on the content.  These webinars will be recorded. 

February 12, 2025 noon - 1:30pm(link is external) Brian Moyer, Penn State Extension will discuss 10 Common Marketing Mistakes. 

February 19, 2025 noon - 1:30pm(link is external) Dr. Maria Gannett, UMass Extension Fruit and Vegetable Weed Specialist will discuss Basic Orchard Weed ID and Management.

February 26, 2025 noon - 1:30pm(link is external) Dr. Anna Wallis, Senior Extension Associate, NYS Integrated Pest Management and Dr. Kerik Cox, Associate Professor, School of Integrative Plant Science, Plant Pathology and Plant-Microbe Biology Section, Cornell AgriTech will dig into Why Did My Scab Program Fail in 2024?. 

March 5, 2025 noon - 1:30pm(link is external) Dr. Srdjan Acimovic Assistant Professor, Tree Fruit and Specialty Crop Pathologist at Virginia Tech University. This presentation will cover the biology and environmental conditions that favor bitter rot on apples; the management options and new areas of research this apple disease. 

March 12, 2025 noon - 1:30pm(link is external) Dr. Jason Londo, Associate Professor, School of Integrative Plant Science, Horticulture Section, Cornell AgriTech and Dr. Renae Moran, Tree Fruit Specialist Professor of Pomology, University of Maine will discuss Understanding Cold Hardiness Risks in Fruit Crops. 

GRANT MONEY FOR YOUR FARM? IT'S POSSIBLE! THIS WORKSHOP WILL SHOW YOU HOW!

This training is only for those with experience and does not qualify for the 30-hour official DEC training - you are exempt from the 30 hour training (and eligible for this coaching session) if you have pesticide application experience, either through working on your own farm or through employment on another farm.

Speakers: Dr. George Sundin (Michigan State University) and Brett Blaauw (University of Georgia)

Week 1: Digging Into Pruning and Soil Health

Week 2: Cider Apples - Mechanized Harvesting and Patulin Food Safety

Week 3: The Value of "Eco-Friendly" Marketing - OMRI, Red Tomato, EcoApple, NYS Grown and Certified

Week 4: Biopesticides and Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) for Berries

Week 5: St. Peachtrick's Day - Stone Fruit Insect and Disease Management

This training is only for those with experience and does not qualify for the 30-hour official DEC training - you are exempt from the 30 hour training (and eligible for this coaching session) if you have pesticide application experience, either through working on your own farm or through employment on another farm.

Join us for this in depth review of the most successful cultural practices for growing challenging high value apple cultivars.

Wednesday, March 26, 2025

10 am - noon

 Irona Berry Haven

1897 Alder Bend Rd, Altona, NY 12910

$10 per farm

1 DEC credit requested in categories 1A, 10, and 22

Join us at Jeffrey Guerin's berry farm for a morning of pruning demonstrations, pest and disease identification, and more. Bring your own pruners so that you can learn by doing! Dress warmly for our workshop, which will be held outdoors. In the case of severe weather on the 26th, the workshop will be held at the same time on the 27th. Light refreshments will be provided.

Join us in Chazy on March 27th for some pest management updates, and to receive some additional pesticide recertification credits for your farm's certified applicators! We will be offering 2.25 DEC recertification credits in categories 22, 10, and 1A. Light refreshments will be provided.

$5 per employee