Join vegetable specialists Elisabeth Hodgdon (ENYCHP) and Judson Reid (Cornell Vegetable Program) for a webinar on winter vegetable production in high tunnels.

Have farm employees that need recertification credits? We will be covering the basics of integrated pest management, including how to monitor traps, evaluate insect thresholds, and use prediction models to better manage common orchard pests of Northern New York.

We will also discuss IPM tactics for managing apple scab, fire blight, obliquebanded leafroller, apple maggot, and some common weeds in the orchard.

Crop load management begins well ahead of petal fall!

Join Mike Basedow as he reviews preliminary results from the 2019 Champlain Valley precision pruning trials and offers some suggestions on how commercial orchards can incorporate these principles into their own pruning program heading into the 2020 growing season.

2-day, hands-on workshop to explore best practices in supervising farm employees in Millbrook, NY

March 5 - Adding Poultry to Your Small Farm - Jason Detzel, CCE Ulster Co. and Ashley Pierce, CCE CAAHP.  Jason and Ashley lead livestock and poultry educational programs in the Capital District and Hudson Valley regions of the state.  Poultry production is relatively low-investment with a quick turnaround time but farmers need specific skills to produce a product that is safe and profitable. This course will provide basic information to build a successful poultry enterprise.

Join experts from Cornell Cooperative Extension, Cornell University, and the University of Georgia for a day full of updates on best practices for muck onion production in New York. Researchers will share the results from trials studying herbicide efficacy, pink root management in transplanted onions, Stemphylium leaf blight fungicide programs, timing of copper applications for reducing bacterial bulb rots, adjuvant selection and use, and more! 

The New York Center for Agricultural Medicine and Health (NYCAMH) is pleased to provide an Agricultural Respirator Fit Testing Clinic for NYS DEC Region 3 which services the following counties: Dutchess, Orange, Putnam, Rockland, Sullivan, Ulster, and Westchester. Clinic appointments will be held March 11 to 12, 2020 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Cornell Cooperative Extension of Ulster County (CCEUC), 232 Plaza Road (Hannaford Plaza) in Kingston. 

Appointments are 1-hour long and are scheduled on a first-come, first-served basis, only during the date range below. Groups of 8 workers can be seen at a time. Medical evaluations, fit tests, and trainings are available in both English and Spanish.

March 12 - Basics of Tree Fruit Production - Mike Basedow, CCE ENYCHP. Planting and managing apples, pears, and stone fruit is a rewarding hobby and business, but it's not as simple as planting and picking. There's a lot that goes into successful orcharding! Mike will provide some of the bare essentials to help you determine if growing tree fruit is right for you. 

Join us the morning of March 16 via webinar to review current best management practices for some of our most challenging insect, disease, and weed pests of New York stone fruit orchards.  Speakers include Dr. Art Agnello, Dr. Kerik Cox, and Dr. Lynn Sosnoskie.

This one-day educational program is co-sponsored by UConn Extension, USDA Risk Management Agency and the CT Agricultural Experiment Station.

Funding for this program is provided by a grant from UConn Extension and a cooperative effort of UConn Extension and the USDA Risk Management Agency.

Five pesticide recertification credits have been approved for this event for attendees from all New England States. 

*This event is postponed until further notice.*

Have farm employees that need recertification credits? At this meeting, we will cover the basics of integrated pest management, including how to monitor traps, evaluate insect thresholds, and use prediction models to better manage common orchard pests of Northern New York.   In the second portion of the meeting we will discuss as a group IPM tactics for managing apple scab, phytophthora root and crown rot, plum curculio, tarnished plant bug, and some common weeds in the orchard.  We will also review sprayer safety.  

We will be offering 2 DEC recertification credits in categories 1a, 10, and 22.  

Join us for a morning of hands-on pruning discussion and demonstration with Dr. Terence Robinson.  Terence will walk us through the key steps of pruning the tall spindle orchard, and will also review pruning techniques for other orchard systems commonly grown across the Champlain Valley.

The point of a pollinator habitat is to attract pollinators and other beneficial insects. 

We look at the insects we found in our plots and discuss whether they are 'good' or 'bad' and what benefits this may have for your environment.

March 19 - Food Safety for Small Farms - Elisabeth Hodgdon, CCE ENYCHP. Elisabeth is a regional vegetable specialist and farm food safety lead for the ENYCHP. She is actively involved in high tunnel research, invasive pest management, and pesticide and food safety education. In the final segment of our series, Elisabeth will guide the audience through a thoughtful approach to designing diversified farming systems with food safety in mind.   

Join us via webinar to learn about bloom thinning with the pollen tube growth model.  We will hear from Dr. Greg Peck, Assistant Professor of Horticulture at Cornell University in Ithaca.  

Got commercial vegetable questions? Get LIVE answers every Thursday night from 7:00-8:00pm! This event is hosted on Zoom or you can call in for farmer-driven production conversations, dynamic troubleshooting with CCE Specialists, and photo diagnostics of crop issues and pests. Learn how to identify the pests affecting your crops.

Due to Covid-19 restrictions on public meetings, a series of three, short, weekly Zoom Webinar on-line thinning meetings will be held instead.

The format is designed to be brief and focused, with an opportunity for grower interaction with the presenters.

The three-meeting format will be repeated separately for the Capital District and the Champlain Valley.

You will be able to submit questions during the meeting. If you'd prefer to submit your question(s) prior, email to Dan Donahue djd13@cornell.edu.

There is no cost to attend, but pre-registration is required. Pre-registration is simple, just your name, business name, and email address, and can be done up to a few moments before the Zoom webinar.

CFAP, authorized in the CARES Act will provide $16 billion in direct support to agricultural producers impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. Direct support for farmers and ranchers available via CFAP will include direct support based on actual losses for agricultural producers where prices and market supply chains have been impacted and will assist producers with additional adjustment and marketing costs resulting from lost demand and short-term oversupply for the 2020 marketing year caused by COVID-19. For example if you had to dispose of produce because you lost sales, you may be eligible for a payment.

Topic: Renovating June-bearing strawberries - this can help control SWD population growth and also help keep perennial berry patches healthy, but there are challenges to the approach.

Join us as Dr. Srdjan Acimovic of the Hudson Valley Research Lab discusses the basic biology and his recommended management approaches for multiple summer diseases.

Join us the afternoon of July 20th to learn what's new in orchard precision spraying technology. We'll be joined by Dr. Jason Deveau, Dr. Heping Zhu, and Steve Booher. 

After their presentations, we will open up the meeting for all three presenters to field questions and comments. 

Since we can't gather on the Cornell campus this year, we're taking your favorite IPM workshop virtual!

July 28 from 1:00 to 3:30 p.m. via Zoom.

Medical guidance for producers, service providers, farmworkers, and community members.

 The Cornell Farmworker Program and Finger Lakes Community Health (the clinic) present a free English presentation with Dr. Jose Canario, M.D. In this one hour webinar, Dr. Canario will give an update on COVID-19 research, discuss safe ways to go out under "reopening", and appropriate behavior during social settings. Attendees are required to register and are encouraged to submit questions in advance or raise them during the call. The English webinar will provide important information for producers, service providers, and community members. All welcome.

Please join us for a virtual twilight meeting on how to manage humidity and condensation in coolers to increase shelf life and prevent food-borne illness.

NYFB is pleased to partner once again with the law firm Bond, Schoeneck & King to present a complimentary webinar to members on the farm labor regulations that went into effect January 1, 2020.

In a webinar late last year, these attorneys informed our members about overtime pay, the mandatory day of rest, the right to organize and negotiate a Collective Bargaining Agreement, and other topics. Join us on Thursday, July 30 at 12 p.m. to learn about guidance on these regulations just issued by New York including which employees are excluded from the day of rest provision, who is covered by the over-60 hour overtime provision, the definition of immediate family, and more. Check future FB Alerts for more information.

This hour long webinar will provide a brief overview of the Best Management Practices necessary for following NYS Guidance. 

Q&A from Cornell faculty and farmers will follow the presentation. 

This 12-session virtual, live series will  utilize experts and researchers in the area of agronomy, plant breeding, entomology, plant pathology and  business management.  Production topics will be tailored for Northeast/Atlantic area for indoor & field growers with special attention to NY market and legal conditions.

Calling All tree fruit, grape, and berry growers:  We want your feedback!

You are invited to ENYCHP's Fruit Advisory Committee Meeting on November 10, 2020. In this meeting, we will discuss your priorities for research and extension programming so we can better serve your needs. Your input is VERY important to us and helps guide our efforts through long term research projects and more immediate program questions for this winter and coming 2021 production season workshops.

This webinar series will provide an introduction to biochar and review some current advances in biochar science.

 The first two webinars in this series, on November 10 & 12, will be especially helpful to those who might be interested in producing their own biochar.

Best Practices for Onboarding Seasonal Workers is a 1.5-hour, on-line program that reviews best practices for bringing on (aka onboarding) a group of seasonal workers.  This program will go over the onboarding planning guide for seasonal farm employees and discuss the key things you should have in place in 2021 when your seasonal employees arrive.  

When you enroll in this program you will also receive a hard copy of the planning guide by mail, have access to additional resources and information and an on-line community of other farms that are also working on their 2021 onboarding plans. 

Best Practices for Onboarding Seasonal Workers is a 1.5-hour, on-line program that reviews best practices for bringing on (aka onboarding) a group of seasonal workers.  This program will go over the onboarding planning guide for seasonal farm employees and discuss the key things you should have in place in 2021 when your seasonal employees arrive.  

When you enroll in this program you will also receive a hard copy of the planning guide by mail, have access to additional resources and information and an on-line community of other farms that are also working on their 2021 onboarding plans. 

Best Practices for Onboarding Seasonal Workers is a 1.5-hour, on-line program that reviews best practices for bringing on (aka onboarding) a group of seasonal workers.  This program will go over the onboarding planning guide for seasonal farm employees and discuss the key things you should have in place in 2021 when your seasonal employees arrive.  

When you enroll in this program you will also receive a hard copy of the planning guide by mail, have access to additional resources and information and an on-line community of other farms that are also working on their 2021 onboarding plans.