Anu
RangarajanAnu Rangarajan has been the Director of the Cornell Small Farm Program since 2004. Since joining the Small Farm Program, Anu has expanded and deepened her appreciation of the innovation and vision of small scale farmers around NY. Her vision for the program is to help support new networks, expanded research and novel extension programs that target small farms in NY.
Anu grew up growing vegetables and flowers for her family. Her love of horticulture led to degrees from Michigan State (BS, PhD) and University of Wisconsin (MS), in floriculture and vegetable production. She has been at Cornell since 1996, as an associate professor and statewide specialist for fresh market vegetable production. Her research interests include tillage, compost use and soil quality in vegetables systems, season extending and stand establishment, and organic production systems. In 2005, she and her husband joined the ranks and started operating a small farm in Freeville NY.
Joanna
Green
Extension Associate
607-255-9227
jg16@cornell.edu
Joanna has been with the Small Farms Program since 2002, conducting outreach, professional development, and research efforts targeted to small farms and the professionals who work with them. She also serves as Managing Editor for Small Farm Quarterly. Before working with the Small Farms Program Joanna was Coordinator of the Farming Alternatives Program at Cornell for fourteen years. She is the author of numerous articles and Extension publications relating to alternative agriculture, agriculture development, and small farms, and is co-author of the book Growing Home: A Guide to Reconnecting Agriculture, Food and Communities. Joanna has been actively involved in sustainable agriculture issues at Cornell University and in the Northeast since the early 1980's. She received a Masters in Professional Studies in the Field of Development Sociology from Cornell University in 1998.
Fay
Benson
Extension Educator
607-753-5077
afb3@cornell.edu
Fay grew up on his family's dairy farm in Lansing, NY. After receiving an Associates Degree from Alfred State in ' 74, he worked in Ghana for two years in the Peace Corps. Upon returning, he spent 3 years trying out 8 different jobs, many of which took place on a year long trip across the states on a motorcycle. Fay returned to work on his family's dairy farm from 1980 - 1983. With his wife Linda, Fay purchased Benterra Farm in W. Groton in 1983. They enjoyed the 45-cow farm and tried many changes to make it sustainable: cropping extra acres, grazing, and finally transitioning to certified organic in 1997. The move to organic was a profitable one, and when their debts were paid off in 2003, Fay felt he was ready for a change. So he sold the cows and took a position coordinating the Graze NY program with CCE Cortland.
Fay feels one of the key points to finding success on the farm was fitting his farming style to himself. For many years he tried to fit himself to the way others farmed. In his work at Cornell he tries to work with farmers to step outside of what they think is the "normal way" to farm and fit their farming style to their own unique abilities. Fay is coordinating several of our Dairy Projects, including the NY Organic Dairy Initiative.
Erica
Frenay
Project Coordinator
607-255-9911
ejf5@cornell.edu
Erica began working for the Small Farms Program in January 2006. A former co-manager of Cornell's student-run farm, she graduated from Cornell in 1998 and moved to Oregon to serve in AmeriCorps. Erica spent 6 years in the Pacific Northwest, working as Project Coordinator for an agricultural land trust and then as Executive Director of an urban educational farm in Portland. In 2005 she completed a 2-year program in Holistic Management. During her long and indirect journey back to Ithaca, Erica and her husband lived on a permaculture farm and nursery in the San Juan Islands for a year, and spent another year working on farms and building with clay and straw in New Mexico, Wisconsin, and Australia. They returned to Ithaca to settle down in the summer of 2005, and now raise veggies, mushrooms, berries, turkeys, chickens, and ducks on their homestead.
Violet
Stone
Communications/Staff Support
607-255-9227
vws7@cornell.edu
Violet grew up on a 600 acre wildlife preserve in Susquehanna County, PA. Her most recent work with small farms was on California’s central coast where she facilitated weekly produce sales for Mariquita Farm, a 30 acre organic produce farm specializing in Italian heirloom varieties, to over 40 restaurants in the San Francisco Bay area. She’s also worked as a farmers market manager, local foods educator and farm direct-marketing consultant in the Hudson Valley, New York. She has a certificate in Ecological Horticulture from the UCSC Farm and Garden and a degree in Environmental Studies from Oberlin College.
Laura Harthan
lbh25@cornell.edu
Laura took over the post of student assistant in fall 2006. A sophomore animal science major, Laura was raised on a dairy goat farm in New Hampshire where she was an active 4-H member. In 2004 Laura was recognized by the Sullivan County, NH 4-H Program with the Ivan Head Outstanding 4-H’er award , which recognizes youth who have a strong combination of qualities including leadership, service to others, outstanding project accomplishments, active participation in community, county, and state 4-H events, and an enthusiasm for the 4-H youth development program. Laura has raised all sorts of livestock, and worked on a small dairy for two years before coming to Cornell, where she is an active member of the Small Farms Club, Block & Bridle and Alpha Zeta.
