We have compiled a list of useful resources for growers, consultants and agri-business people, organized by category. We hope that these websites can provide you with additional information, photos, and guidance. 

FARM TO INSTITUTION

COVID-19 RESOURCES

Funding to Support Emergency Feeding During COVID-19 School Closures

Find the details and applications for various emergency feeding funding opportunities available.

https://harvestny.cce.cornell.edu/submission.php?id=94&crumb=local_foods|3

Food Production, Processing and Safety Questions

Find answers to questions around the risks associated with food production and to your employees to ensure that a safe and robust food supply is maintained for the public. You can find useful links to expert resources to help address your specific questions. Resources are updated frequently as the situation changes and new information becomes available.

https://instituteforfoodsafety.cornell.edu/coronavirus-covid-19/

Employment and Agricultural Workforce Questions

The Cornell Agricultural Workforce Development team has assembled many resources to help you protect your workforce, your business, and your markets during the COVID-19 pandemic. Find H2A updates and more!

http://agworkforce.cals.cornell.edu/novel-coronavirus-covid-19/

Using Online Marketing to Build Resilience

Cornell Small Farms offers guidance on how to sell online to help build your farm's resilience through this pandemic.

https://smallfarms.cornell.edu/2020/04/using-online-marketing-to-build-resilience/

Farmer's Guide to Direct Sales Software Platforms

Created by the National Young Farmers Coalition, this guide compares farm-specific software platforms that support direct-to-consumer sales, and highlights related educational resources.

https://www.youngfarmers.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Farmers-Guide-to-Direct-Sales-Software-Platforms.pdf

Farmer's Market Safety Protocols

New York State Agriculture and Market guidance provided for farmers' market operators and vendors in response to the COVID-19 public health emergency.

https://agriculture.ny.gov/system/files/documents/2020/04/interimguidancefarmersmarkets.pdf

Best Management Practices for U-Pick Farms

Providing recommendations for best management practices and communication strategies for U-Pick operations for the 2020 season.

https://smallfarms.cornell.edu/resources/farm-resilience/best-management-practices-for-u-pick-farms-during-the-covid-19-pandemic/

Coronavirus NYC Neighborhood Food Resource Guides

Hunter College NYC Food Policy Center developed Coronavirus NYC Food Resource Guides for each NYC neighborhood to help connect community members in need with food resources during this challenging time. Each resource guide includes information related to food access within the community, such as meals for students and seniors during this time, delivery services for people with disabilities, and resources for immigrants.

https://www.nycfoodpolicy.org/coronavirus-nyc-food-reports/

Cornell Small Farms Resiliency Resources

Ideas on how to take care of yourself, your farm, and your local community. These resources offer support on the various aspects of farming during a crisis, with a focus on the current COVID-19 pandemic. The content was curated in partnership with educators, researchers and others. It is consistently updated as new information and resources are available.

https://smallfarms.cornell.edu/resources/farm-resilience/

General Questions and Updates: NY Extension Disaster Education Network (EDEN)

Find the latest updates on coronavirus impacts in New York. This website is a one-stop source for links to resources for ag, workforce, food industry, food safety, dairy industry, horticulture, H-2A, family, animal care, business relief, and social distancing.

https://eden.cce.cornell.edu/

GENERAL

Cornell Cooperative Extension (CCE)

The Cornell Cooperative Extension website provides an overview of CCE programs across New York State.

http://cce.cornell.edu

Cornell Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs)

Information about the National GAPs Program and upcoming GAPs events.

http://www.gaps.cornell.edu

NYS Department of Agriculture & Markets

http://www.agriculture.ny.gov/

DAIRY

Cornell Dairy Foods Extension Website

This website lists the dates of different dairy food workshops that Cornell University offers to the public.

http://dairyextension.foodscience.cornell.edu

NYS Regulations for Processing Milk

This site lists regulations that must be adhered to when manufacturing milk in New York State

http://www.agriculture.ny.gov/DI/DIBusiness.html

Pasteurized Milk Ordinance

This document lists out Grade A regulations for manufacturing milk and dairy products in the United States

http://www.fda.gov/downloads/Food/GuidanceRegulation/UCM291757.pdf

FOOD HUBS

USDA Agricultural Marketing Service Regional Food

Food hub impacts on regional food systems, and the resources available to support their growth and development

http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/getfile?dDocName=STELPRDC5097957

National Good Food Network

The National Good Food Network is bringing together people from all parts of the rapidly emerging good food system, to include producers, buyers, distributors, advocates, investors and funders, to create a community dedicated to scaling up good food sourcing and access.  Click on the link to access a vast database of food hub resources, to include hundreds of archived webinars. 

http://www.ngfn.org/

GREENHOUSE & TUNNELS

Cornell University High Tunnel

This site provides growers with more information from Cornell's high tunnel team: types of structures, business and marketing resources, and crops that grow particularly well in the tunnel environment.

http://www.hort.cornell.edu/hightunnel/index.html

SARE Season Extension Topic Room

A section of the Sustainable Agriculture Research & Education (SARE) website, the season extension topic room provides nationwide research in the areas of variety trials, fertility management, pest management, water management, energy, and marketing and economics.

http://www.sare.org/Learning-Center/Topic-Rooms/Season-Extension-Topic-Room

HEALTHY FOOD INCENTIVES

Fair Food Network

Read the SNAP Healthy Food Incentives Cluster Analysis report to see how these programs are addressing issues of food access, growing the economy and supporting local farmers. 

http://www.fairfoodnetwork.org/resources

NEW YORK STATE PRODUCE AUCTIONS

How to Purchase at the NYS Produce Auctions

http://harvestny.cce.cornell.edu/uploads/doc_47.pdf

Produce Auctions in NYS (map)

http://harvestny.cce.cornell.edu/uploads/doc_46.pdf

CCE REGIONAL AGRICULTURE TEAMS

Central NY Dairy & Field Crops Program

http://cnydfc.cce.cornell.edu

Cornell Vegetable Program

http://cvp.cce.cornell.edu

Eastern NY Commercial Horticulture Program

http://enych.cce.cornell.edu

Finger Lakes Grape Program

http://flgp.cce.cornell.edu

Lake Erie Regional Grape Program

http://lergp.cce.cornell.edu

Lake Ontario Fruit Program

http://lof.cce.cornell.edu

NWNY Dairy, Livestock, and Field Crops Program

http://nwnyteam.cce.cornell.edu

South Central NY Dairy & Field Crops Program

http://scnydfc.cce.cornell.edu

BUSINESS

Cornell Small Farms Program

http://www.smallfarms.cornell.edu

NE Beginning Farmer Program

http://nebeginningfarmers.org/

GUIDELINES

Cornell Guidelines

The Cornell Guidelines offer the latest information on topics such as pest management and crop production. Each title in the series is updated by Cornell University researchers and Extension specialists and is designed as a practical guide for agricultural and horticultural crop producers, turf and landscape managers, crop consultants and industry advisers.

http://store.cornell.edu/c-875-pmep-guidelines.aspx

Organic Production Guides

Organic Production Guides for 8 vegetable groups, tree and small fruit, and dairy.

http://nysipm.cornell.edu/organic_guide/

No upcoming events at this time.

New Ag Climate Factsheet Released

The intersection of agricultural production and greenhouse gases is gathering increasing attention. This is an opportune time to consider how vegetable production interacts with carbon sequestration and greenhouse gas emissions, and how using cover crops may alter this picture.

The factsheet, Greenhouse Gases and Soil Organic Carbon in Vegetable Production and the Role of Cover Crops, written by Zach Spangler, Ag Climate Resiliency Specialist with CCE Harvest NY, and Elizabeth Buck, Fresh Market Vegetable Specialist, CCE Cornell Vegetable Program, discusses:

• Sequestration of atmospheric carbon in agricultural soils as soil organic carbon (SOC). Is vegetable production impacting SOC?
• Net greenhouse gas emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2), nitrous oxide (N2O), and methane (CH4) from the soil.
• Impact of cover crops on soil organic carbon, nitrous oxide emissions, and other GHG emissions.

The NY Food Hub Collaborative Takes Root!

Cornell Cooperative Extension has received a USDA Regional Food Systems Partnership Planning and Development grant for the NY Food Hub Collaborative. This is a 2-year project.

The NY Food Hub Collaborative brings together 29 local food system stakeholders representing 21 organizations to realize the long-term goal of improving the economic viability of mid-tier value chain partners targeting local markets by improving efficiencies, maximizing profits, and increasing demand for NY food products. Three objectives guide the project tea toward that goal:

1. Establish a Collaborative of interdependent food hubs designed to work collaboratively to efficiently, affordably, and effectively market NY food products to institutional markets.

2. Identify the potential for small, mid-size, and socially disadvantaged producers to be competitive in state agency and institutional contracts.

3. Develop strategic business relationships between mid-tier value chain partners including food hubs, producers, processors, distributors, and markets that emphasize organizational interdependence, trust, and transparency and equitably distribute responsibilities and rewards.

Objectives will be met through strategic planning amongst Collaborative partners, virtual field trips to learn best practices from national partners, business-to-business development opportunities, producer and market partner training, and a series of outputs. Outputs include an interactive local food system asset map, a procurement guide on selling NY food products to various institutional markets, an analysis of existing procurement policies across institutions and recommendations for improvement, market analyses of key institutional market partners, a NY Collaborative product guide, and an implementation plan that provides a framework to operationalize the NY Food Hub Collaborative.

Project Partners:

• Cornell Cooperative Extension Harvest NY
• Cornell Cooperative Extension Broome, Oneida, Essex, and Saratoga Counties
• Farm Fare
• Syracuse University
• Upstate Growers & Packers
• Eden Valley Growers
• Capital Roots
• Farm Fresh First
• 607CSA
• Hub on the Hill
• Headwater Food Hub
• Syracuse Onondaga Food Systems Alliance
• Hudson Valley Agribusiness Development Corp.
• Center for Agriculture Development and Entrepreneurship
• NYS Department of Agriculture and Markets
• Buffalo City School District
• Syracuse City School District
• NYC Citywide Administrative Services

Additional project partners will be identified as the project takes root. If you're interested in learning more or getting involved, please reach out to Project Director, Cheryl Bilinski, cbt32@cornell.edu.