Eastern New York Commercial Horticulture Enrollment

Program Areas

  • Food Safety
  • Variety Evaluation
  • Market Development
  • Pest Management
  • Cultural Practices

Enrollment Benefits

  • Telephone / Email Consultations
  • Newsletter
  • Direct Mailings
  • Educational Meetings & Conferences
  • In-Field Educational Opportunities
  • On-Farm Research Trials

ENYCH Enrollment Form (PDF; 710KB)

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Online Enrollment Form

Not an Enrollee? Enroll Now!

Online Enrollment Form


How Profitable Will My New Orchard Investment Be? Zoom Series

The Zoom Series and Hands-on Skills Class is being instructed by Elizabeth Higgins, Extension Specialist, Ag Business Management and Production Economics with the CCE-Eastern NY Commercial Horticulture Program. Liz has over 15 years of expertise in these subject areas, working closely with the commercial fruit and vegetable industries in the eastern part of the state.

In the long run, it is only worthwhile to grow and sell a product if the price customers are willing to pay for the product exceeds all costs incurred to produce and sell it while earning a reasonable return on your invested capital (financial and human).

The purpose of each class is to give you some of the tools you need, as an orchard owner, to assess whether an investment or long-term change in your orchard business makes sense and to help you choose among potential options.  Although this class will used orchard businesses as the framework, most of the concepts I will cover are applicable to any business situation.

The focus on this series is decision making and by extension risk reduction.  I say risk reduction because a good decision does not necessarily mean a good outcome.  Bad luck or unanticipated issues can result in bad outcomes even when good decisions were made.  But the best protection you have against a bad outcome is a well-informed good decision. Our goal is to help you make good, informed decisions with the data you have available. 

All webinars are free.  They will each be around an hour long and cover a specific topic.  They will be recorded so that if you miss a program you can view it later.  You must register to attend the webinars. 

WEBINAR SCHEDULE

December 5 (12:30-1:30) Webinar 1 - Looking at the Big Financial Picture for Your Farm

Your farm's big-3 financial records (balance sheet, income statement and statement of cash flow) and how to use them to assess your overall financial situation. This information will help you assess what types of investments are likely to be viable for your farm business and whether or not you are likely to be able to use credit to finance that investment.  We will specifically cover Farm Profitability, Cash Flow, and Key Financial Ratios.  

December 6 (12:30-1:30) Webinar 2 - Business Strategy and the Farm Business Value Chain

How do you create value?  How do you differentiate yourself from your competitors?  In other words - what is your farm's business strategy?  Your investments should be in line with your strategy.  Different business strategies will result in investments in different parts of the Farm Business Value Chain.  Farm Business Value Chain - full range of activities needed to create a product or service.

December 7 (12:30-1:30) Webinar 3 - Using Your Farm's Financial Data to Make Management Decisions

Identifying the Enterprises in Your Value Chain.  Your Profit Centers and Cost Centers.  We will cover: Direct vs Indirect Costs and Cost Allocation and Variable vs Fixed Costs and Relevant Range (when does a fixed cost become a variable cost?)

December 8 (12:30-1:30) Webinar 4 - Operating Budgets and Strategic Planning

Operating budgets are the overall financial plan for the business.  You can use a budget based on your current situation as the base to model new scenarios.

December 12 (12:30-1:30) Webinar 5 - Enterprise Budgets

It is more time-consuming to develop detailed budgets for your enterprises, but it is worthwhile to do this for areas where you are considering making major investments.  We will demonstrate how to move from an operating budget to an enterprise budget to model specific scenarios within that enterprise. 

December 13 (12:30-1:30) Webinar 6 - 5 Step Decision-making Process for Capital Projects and Long-term Investments

Introduces a structured process for a manager to go through to decide among options for long-term investments, projects or changes to the farm business.

December 14 (12:30-1:30) Webinar 7 - Cost Volume Profit Analysis and Sensitivity Analysis. 

As you change your prices, volume of sales or costs of production how does your profit change?  What is your break-even point and what output level do you need to achieve a target income? We will also cover sensitivity analysis that will help you see how your results will vary over a range of likely scenarios from best case to worst case.  This will help you assess the riskiness of your plan.

December 15 (12:30-1:30) Webinar 8 - Capital Budgeting Tools - Net Present Value, Internal Rate of Return, and Payback Period

Capital budgeting is defined as the process used to determine whether capital assets are worth investing in. it's the process of asking: is an asset worth the resources it requires?  Capital assets are usually long-term investments like new equipment, facilities, and other infrastructure upgrades. By incorporating strategically planned capital budgeting into their financial processes, companies can more effectively determine and prioritize which projects, programs and other investment assets could be most financially beneficial in the long-term.






Event Details

Looking at the Big Financial Picture for Your Farm

Date

December 5, 2022

Time

12:30 - 1:30pm

Location

Online, Registration Required for this Free Webinar Series

Host

CCE-Eastern NY Commercial Horticulture Program
enych.cce.cornell.edu/


Event Registration


Looking at the Big Financial Picture for Your Farm



Your farm's big-3 financial records (balance sheet, income statement and statement of cash flow) and how to use them to assess your overall financial situation. This information will help you assess what types of investments are likely to be viable for your farm business and whether or not you are likely to be able to use credit to finance that investment.  We will specifically cover Farm Profitability, Cash Flow, and Key Financial Ratios.


December 5 (12:30-1:30) Webinar 1 - Looking at the Big Financial Picture for Your Farm    

December 6 (12:30-1:30) Webinar 2 - Business Strategy and the Farm Business Value Chain

December 7 (12:30-1:30) Webinar 3 - Using Your Farm's Financial Data to Make Management Decisions

December 8 (12:30-1:30) Webinar 4 - Operating Budgets and Strategic Planning

December 12 (12:30-1:30) Webinar 5 - Enterprise Budgets

December 13 (12:30-1:30) Webinar 6 - 5 Step Decision-making Process for Capital Projects and Long-term Investments

December 14 (12:30-1:30) Webinar 7 - Cost Volume Profit Analysis and Sensitivity Analysis. 

December 15 (12:30-1:30) Webinar 8 - Capital Budgeting Tools - Net Present Value, Internal Rate of Return, and Payback Period

Register for How Profitable Will My New Orchard Investment Be? 1-day, hands-on skills class





Event Details

Business Strategy and the Farm Business Value Chain

Date

December 6, 2022

Time

12:30 - 1:30pm

Location

Webinar

Host

CCE-Eastern NY Commercial Horticulture Program
enych.cce.cornell.edu/


Event Registration


Business Strategy and the Farm Business Value Chain



How do you create value?  How do you differentiate yourself from your competitors?  In other words - what is your farm's business strategy?  Your investments should be in line with your strategy.  Different business strategies will result in investments in different parts of the Farm Business Value Chain.  Farm Business Value Chain - full range of activities needed to create a product or service.


December 5 (12:30-1:30) Webinar 1 - Looking at the Big Financial Picture for Your Farm    

December 6 (12:30-1:30) Webinar 2 - Business Strategy and the Farm Business Value Chain

December 7 (12:30-1:30) Webinar 3 - Using Your Farm's Financial Data to Make Management Decisions

December 8 (12:30-1:30) Webinar 4 - Operating Budgets and Strategic Planning

December 12 (12:30-1:30) Webinar 5 - Enterprise Budgets

December 13 (12:30-1:30) Webinar 6 - 5 Step Decision-making Process for Capital Projects and Long-term Investments

December 14 (12:30-1:30) Webinar 7 - Cost Volume Profit Analysis and Sensitivity Analysis. 

December 15 (12:30-1:30) Webinar 8 - Capital Budgeting Tools - Net Present Value, Internal Rate of Return, and Payback Period

Register for How Profitable Will My New Orchard Investment Be? 1-day, hands-on skills class





Event Details

Using Your Farm's Financial Data to Make Management Decisions

Date

December 7, 2022

Time

12:30 - 1:30pm

Location

Webinar

Host

CCE-Eastern NY Commercial Horticulture Program
enych.cce.cornell.edu/


Event Registration


Using Your Farm's Financial Data to Make Management Decisions



Identifying the Enterprises in Your Value Chain.  Your Profit Centers and Cost Centers.  We will cover: Direct vs Indirect Costs and Cost Allocation and Variable vs Fixed Costs and Relevant Range (when does a fixed cost become a variable cost?)


December 5 (12:30-1:30) Webinar 1 - Looking at the Big Financial Picture for Your Farm    

December 6 (12:30-1:30) Webinar 2 - Business Strategy and the Farm Business Value Chain

December 7 (12:30-1:30) Webinar 3 - Using Your Farm's Financial Data to Make Management Decisions

December 8 (12:30-1:30) Webinar 4 - Operating Budgets and Strategic Planning

December 12 (12:30-1:30) Webinar 5 - Enterprise Budgets

December 13 (12:30-1:30) Webinar 6 - 5 Step Decision-making Process for Capital Projects and Long-term Investments

December 14 (12:30-1:30) Webinar 7 - Cost Volume Profit Analysis and Sensitivity Analysis. 

December 15 (12:30-1:30) Webinar 8 - Capital Budgeting Tools - Net Present Value, Internal Rate of Return, and Payback Period

Register for How Profitable Will My New Orchard Investment Be? 1-day, hands-on skills class





Event Details

Operating Budgets and Strategic Planning

Date

December 8, 2022

Time

12:30 - 1:30pm

Location

Webinar

Host

CCE-Eastern NY Commercial Horticulture Program
enych.cce.cornell.edu/


Event Registration


Operating Budgets and Strategic Planning



Operating budgets are the overall financial plan for the business.  You can use a budget based on your current situation as the base to model new scenarios.


December 5 (12:30-1:30) Webinar 1 - Looking at the Big Financial Picture for Your Farm    

December 6 (12:30-1:30) Webinar 2 - Business Strategy and the Farm Business Value Chain

December 7 (12:30-1:30) Webinar 3 - Using Your Farm's Financial Data to Make Management Decisions

December 8 (12:30-1:30) Webinar 4 - Operating Budgets and Strategic Planning

December 12 (12:30-1:30) Webinar 5 - Enterprise Budgets

December 13 (12:30-1:30) Webinar 6 - 5 Step Decision-making Process for Capital Projects and Long-term Investments

December 14 (12:30-1:30) Webinar 7 - Cost Volume Profit Analysis and Sensitivity Analysis. 

December 15 (12:30-1:30) Webinar 8 - Capital Budgeting Tools - Net Present Value, Internal Rate of Return, and Payback Period

Register for How Profitable Will My New Orchard Investment Be? 1-day, hands-on skills class





Event Details

Enterprise Budgets

Date

December 12, 2022

Time

12:30 - 1:30pm

Location

Webinar

Host

CCE-Eastern NY Commercial Horticulture Program
enych.cce.cornell.edu/


Event Registration


Enterprise Budgets



It is more time-consuming to develop detailed budgets for your enterprises, but it is worthwhile to do this for areas where you are considering making major investments.  We will demonstrate how to move from an operating budget to an enterprise budget to model specific scenarios within that enterprise. 


December 5 (12:30-1:30) Webinar 1 - Looking at the Big Financial Picture for Your Farm    

December 6 (12:30-1:30) Webinar 2 - Business Strategy and the Farm Business Value Chain

December 7 (12:30-1:30) Webinar 3 - Using Your Farm's Financial Data to Make Management Decisions

December 8 (12:30-1:30) Webinar 4 - Operating Budgets and Strategic Planning

December 12 (12:30-1:30) Webinar 5 - Enterprise Budgets

December 13 (12:30-1:30) Webinar 6 - 5 Step Decision-making Process for Capital Projects and Long-term Investments

December 14 (12:30-1:30) Webinar 7 - Cost Volume Profit Analysis and Sensitivity Analysis. 

December 15 (12:30-1:30) Webinar 8 - Capital Budgeting Tools - Net Present Value, Internal Rate of Return, and Payback Period

Register for How Profitable Will My New Orchard Investment Be? 1-day, hands-on skills class





Event Details

5 Step Decision-making Process for Capital Projects and Long-term Investments

Date

December 13, 2022

Time

12:30 - 1:30pm

Location

Webinar

Host

CCE-Eastern NY Commercial Horticulture Program
enych.cce.cornell.edu/


Event Registration


5 Step Decision-making Process for Capital Projects and Long-term Investments



Introduces a structured process for a manager to go through to decide among options for long-term investments, projects or changes to the farm business.December 5 (12:30-1:30) Webinar 1 - Looking at the Big Financial Picture for Your Farm    


December 6 (12:30-1:30) Webinar 2 - Business Strategy and the Farm Business Value Chain

December 7 (12:30-1:30) Webinar 3 - Using Your Farm's Financial Data to Make Management Decisions

December 8 (12:30-1:30) Webinar 4 - Operating Budgets and Strategic Planning

December 12 (12:30-1:30) Webinar 5 - Enterprise Budgets

December 13 (12:30-1:30) Webinar 6 - 5 Step Decision-making Process for Capital Projects and Long-term Investments

December 14 (12:30-1:30) Webinar 7 - Cost Volume Profit Analysis and Sensitivity Analysis. 

December 15 (12:30-1:30) Webinar 8 - Capital Budgeting Tools - Net Present Value, Internal Rate of Return, and Payback Period

Register for How Profitable Will My New Orchard Investment Be? 1-day, hands-on skills class





Event Details

Cost Volume Profit Analysis and Sensitivity Analysis

Date

December 14, 2022

Time

12:30 - 1:30pm

Location

Webinar

Host

CCE-Eastern NY Commercial Horticulture Program
enych.cce.cornell.edu/


Event Registration


Cost Volume Profit Analysis and Sensitivity Analysis



As you change your prices, volume of sales or costs of production how does your profit change?  What is your break-even point and what output level do you need to achieve a target income? We will also cover sensitivity analysis that will help you see how your results will vary over a range of likely scenarios from best case to worst case.  This will help you assess the riskiness of your plan.


December 5 (12:30-1:30) Webinar 1 - Looking at the Big Financial Picture for Your Farm    

December 6 (12:30-1:30) Webinar 2 - Business Strategy and the Farm Business Value Chain

December 7 (12:30-1:30) Webinar 3 - Using Your Farm's Financial Data to Make Management Decisions

December 8 (12:30-1:30) Webinar 4 - Operating Budgets and Strategic Planning

December 12 (12:30-1:30) Webinar 5 - Enterprise Budgets

December 13 (12:30-1:30) Webinar 6 - 5 Step Decision-making Process for Capital Projects and Long-term Investments

December 14 (12:30-1:30) Webinar 7 - Cost Volume Profit Analysis and Sensitivity Analysis. 

December 15 (12:30-1:30) Webinar 8 - Capital Budgeting Tools - Net Present Value, Internal Rate of Return, and Payback Period

Register for How Profitable Will My New Orchard Investment Be? 1-day, hands-on skills class





Event Details

Capital Budgeting Tools - Net Present Value, Internal Rate of Return, and Payback Period

Date

December 15, 2022

Time

12:30 - 1:30pm

Location

Webinar

Host

CCE-Eastern NY Commercial Horticulture Program
enych.cce.cornell.edu/


Event Registration


Capital Budgeting Tools - Net Present Value, Internal Rate of Return, and Payback Period



Capital budgeting is defined as the process used to determine whether capital assets are worth investing in. it's the process of asking: is an asset worth the resources it requires?  Capital assets are usually long-term investments like new equipment, facilities, and other infrastructure upgrades. By incorporating strategically planned capital budgeting into their financial processes, companies can more effectively determine and prioritize which projects, programs and other investment assets could be most financially beneficial in the long-term.


December 5 (12:30-1:30) Webinar 1 - Looking at the Big Financial Picture for Your Farm    

December 6 (12:30-1:30) Webinar 2 - Business Strategy and the Farm Business Value Chain

December 7 (12:30-1:30) Webinar 3 - Using Your Farm's Financial Data to Make Management Decisions

December 8 (12:30-1:30) Webinar 4 - Operating Budgets and Strategic Planning

December 12 (12:30-1:30) Webinar 5 - Enterprise Budgets

December 13 (12:30-1:30) Webinar 6 - 5 Step Decision-making Process for Capital Projects and Long-term Investments

December 14 (12:30-1:30) Webinar 7 - Cost Volume Profit Analysis and Sensitivity Analysis. 

December 15 (12:30-1:30) Webinar 8 - Capital Budgeting Tools - Net Present Value, Internal Rate of Return, and Payback Period

Register for How Profitable Will My New Orchard Investment Be? 1-day, hands-on skills class



more crops
Apples

Apples

Apricots

Apricots

Asparagus

Asparagus

Beets

Beets

Blueberries

Blueberries

Broccoli

Broccoli

Brussels Sprouts

Brussels Sprouts

Cabbage

Cabbage

Carrots

Carrots

Cauliflower

Cauliflower

Cherries

Cherries

Cucumbers

Cucumbers

Dry Beans

Dry Beans

Eggplant

Eggplant

Ethnic Vegetables

Ethnic Vegetables

Garlic

Garlic

Grapes

Grapes

Horseradish

Horseradish

Kohlrabi

Kohlrabi

Leeks

Leeks

Lettuce / Leafy Greens

Lettuce / Leafy Greens

Melons

Melons

Nectarines

Nectarines

Onions

Onions

Parsnips

Parsnips

Peaches

Peaches

Pears

Pears

Peas

Peas

Peppers

Peppers

Plums

Plums

Potatoes

Potatoes

Pumpkins / Gourds

Pumpkins / Gourds

Radishes

Radishes

Raspberries / Blackberries

Raspberries / Blackberries

Rhubarb

Rhubarb

Rutabaga

Rutabaga

Snap Beans

Snap Beans

Squash - Summer

Squash - Summer

Squash- Winter

Squash- Winter

Strawberries

Strawberries

Sweet Corn

Sweet Corn

Sweet Potatoes

Sweet Potatoes

Tomatoes

Tomatoes

Turnips

Turnips

more crops

Upcoming Events

Wine Sensory Evaluation Workshop

April 26, 2024 : Wine Sensory Evaluation Workshop
Staatsburg, NY

In collaboration with Jeremy Schuster, Viticulture Specialist at the ENYCHP, Dr. Anna Katharine Mansfield and Chris Gerling, Enology Extension Specialists with the Cornell Craft Beverage Institute, will be presenting a wine production-focused, interactive workshop on sensory evaluation. 

Announcements

2023 Spotted Wing Drosophila Monitoring/Management

All berry farmers are watching for monitoring reports that indicate Spotted Wing Drosophila (SWD) adults are in their region. Mid-season berry crops should be sprayed as soon as berries begin to ripen unless you've elected to use insect exclusion netting.

- For general information about SWD, and to enroll for free monitoring reports, visit the Cornell SWD blog https://blogs.cornell.edu/swd1/.
- Click here for the 2023 Quick Guide for Pesticide Management. 
- For some great instructional videos and fact sheets on insect exclusion netting, visit the University of Vermont's Ag Engineering blog.


Resources from CCE ENYCHP!

We are developing new ways to connect with the CCE ENYCHP team this year! We have a Youtube page located at this link. Check out videos on Table Grape Production, Pest Updates and the 20 Minute Ag Manager - in 4 Minutes series

We have a Facebook Page here as well as an Instagram page. We keep these places updated with current projects, events, and other interesting articles and deadlines.

There are also text alerts available. Fruit and vegetable farmers in 17 Eastern NY counties can now receive real time alerts on high risk disease and pest outbreaks texted directly to their cell phone. The Eastern NY Commercial Horticulture program, which is supported by local Cornell Cooperative Extension associations, will now offer text alerts to those that enroll in our program in 2019. 

The text alerts will be reserved for important crop alerts that could impact management decisions immediately. For instance, if there were an outbreak of Late Blight in the area, this would be transmitted to vegetable growers.

Farmers can choose the crop for which they wish to receive updates. Additionally they can request that Ag Business Alerts be sent to them. These alerts might include due dates for crop insurance deadlines, market opportunities etc.

If you have questions, please contact enychp@cornell.edu


Podcasts

Winter Greens Grower Interviews in Northern New York

October 22, 2022
In this episode, vegetable specialist Elisabeth Hodgdon interviews Lindsey Pashow, ag business development and marketing specialist with the Cornell Cooperative Extension Harvest New York team. They discuss findings from a series of interviews with winter greens producers in northern New York. Lindsey shares production and marketing challenges associated with growing winter greens in this cold and rural part of the state, success stories and advice from growers, and tips for those interested in adding new crop enterprises to their operation.

Funding for this project was provided by the Northern New York Agricultural Development Program. The episode was edited by Miles Todaro of the ENYCHP team.

Resources:
• Crop enterprise budget resources available from Penn State Extension (field and tunnel vegetables: https://extension.psu.edu/small-scale-field-grown-and-season-extension-budgets), UMass Extension (winter spinach budgets: https://ag.umass.edu/vegetable/outreach-project/improving-production-yield-of-winter-greens-in-northeast and field vegetables: https://ag.umass.edu/vegetable/fact-sheets/crop-production-budgets), and Cornell Cooperative Extension (high tunnel vegetables: https://blogs.cornell.edu/hightunnels/economics/sample-budgets-spreadsheets/). Use these budgets as templates when developing your own crop enterprise budget.
• The Organic Farmer’s Business Handbook, by Richard Wiswall
• The Winter Harvest Handbook, by Eliot Coleman

For questions about the winter greens project discussed in this podcast, reach out to Lindsey Pashow (lep67@cornell.edu) or Elisabeth Hodgdon(eh528@cornell.edu).

listen now