Farmer Events

Whether you intend to borrow money or not, heading into a farm venture without a business plan is like setting out on a long-distance journey without a map. Arm yourself with a business plan and you will have a guide to aid your farm decision-making and demonstrate to yourself and your family that your ideas are feasible. This steady-paced course is designed to help you build your plan, including developing financial statements.

An A to Z plan starting with understanding the difference between a drone, queen and nurse bee, siting your apiary, a plan for Varroa mites, and effective winterizing techniques will help ensure your hive(s) make it through the winter so you can harvest honey the following season.

This course, taught by experienced beekeepers and the NYS Honey Bee Extension Associate will give you real-world experiences paired with academic concepts.

In this follow up webinar, Lindsay will be joined by Jeff Stoltzfus, Food Safety Educator with Penn State Cooperative Extension. They will look at two contrasting farming scenarios and discuss the steps they are taking to comply with customer and FDA requirements and will take questions on GAP Food Safety and FSMA.

Want to get paid to manage your hayfields for bobolinks and other grassland birds? If you own or manage a hayfield that is 10 acres or more and is habitat for breeding bobolinks, you may be eligible to participate in a workshop organized by University of Connecticut researchers.

Many people do not realize that all apple varieties are reproduced by grafting - they are not grown from seed. For horticultural enthusiasts, one of the most satisfying techniques to master is grafting. Wes Autio will present a hands-on workshop on ‘bench grafting’ and ‘cleft grafting’ of apple trees. Other grafting techniques will also be discussed. Proper tools and sharpening will be included. All participants in the workshop will graft several of their own apples trees to take home.

Author of The Farmer’s Office, Julia Shanks, leads a practical, hands-on QuickBooks workshop. Learn how to set up a suitable chart of accounts, enter transactions, track enterprise-specific data, and generate and interpret farm financial statements.

USDA has continued funding through May 2017 to assist direct marketing farmers and farmers markets join the SNAP program by providing free equipment to qualified farmers and farmers markets. The National Association of Farmers Market Nutrition Programs (NAFMNP) has created MarketLink, an online solution to an expedited application process, nationally negotiated rates for SNAP, debit […]