The Small Farms Program is involved in a diverse array of projects intended to build the capacity of small-scale farmers across New York State. Projects listed to the left are in addition to the Small Farm Quarterly magazine that we publish in cooperation with Country Folks. Since 2000, Cornell's Small Farms Task Group has distributed small grants to Cornell Cooperative Extension Educators through the Extension Innovation program, to help educators better serve their local small-scale farmers. In addition, the Small Farms Program regularly offers professional development training on a variety of topics to agricultural service professionals. Check our Events page for upcoming offerings, and look for resources on facilitating farmer-to-farmer learning, on-farm research, and working with farm families in our Professional Development section.
Our activity level has reached new heights this year with the addition of multiple exciting projects. In new Dairy Projects, Fay Benson of Cortland County Cooperative Extension is helping dairy farms improve their viability through organic certification and facilitating farmer-to-farmer learning on dairy management practices. A grant from the Risk Management Agency and Department of Ag. and Markets has allowed us to launch our Risk Management Communications Project, through which we will publish 12-16 articles on strategies for managing risk in our Small Farm Quarterly magazine, and a Beginning Farmers Project, which will improve Extension educators' work with new farmers. We are also collaborating with The Northeast Regional Center for Rural Development and with universities in six Northeastern states to examine the notion of supporting "Small Farm Clusters" (the agricultural equivalent of "Industry Clusters") for improved profitability, productivity, and innovation in each operation.
And that's not all - please use the links to the left to explore our other projects too!
