Following much consideration, the New York State Vegetable Growers Association and Cornell Cooperative Extension announced the annual Becker Forum and Empire State Producers Expo will be a virtual conference scheduled for January 11-15, 2021.

Farmers and anyone interested in learning more about precision agriculture and how it can be implemented on the farm is invited to attend a 3-part virtual series. The series will feature Dr. Ali Nafchi, Precision Agriculture Specialist with CCE's NWNY Dairy, Livestock and Field Crops Team and the Cornell Vegetable Program. Topics will begin with an introduction to precision agriculture and why any producer of an agricultural product should be interested in precision agriculture. 

Join Cornell Cooperative Extension on January 27th for a remote GAPs training. Instructors will walk growers through how to conduct a risk assessment on their farm utilizing the seven areas of farm food safety. Participants will gain hands-on experience in creating a traceability system for their farm, as well as learn about packing house design with food safety principles guiding placement of equipment and suggested materials. Students will also learn about how to train their employees related to food safety and understand what they will need to implement on their farm in order to pass a third-party food safety audit, such as GAPs. 

On January 28th growers can join us for a day focused on writing their farm food safety plan. Trainers will be joined by NYS Department of Agriculture & Markets Farm Products inspectors to give guidance and input for farms in creating their farm food safety plans to meet the needs for a potential audit. At the conclusion of day two growers will have all components of their farm food safety plans outlined with the most critical pieces.

To meet the year-round demand for locally produced food, vegetable farmers have embraced protected agriculture to extend their growing season, improve yields, and enhance crop quality. However, a statewide survey found that after several growing seasons, farmers struggle to maintain productivity due to challenges in long term soil health and fertility management. Cornell Cooperative Extension is exploring practices that high tunnel growers can adopt to better manage soil fertility and improve soil health.

Grab your lunch and join us for a virtual conversation on Friday, March 5, 2021 from 12:00pm - 1:30pm to hear our project updates and research results.

This training will provide an overview of possible sources of contamination related to soil amendments, wildlife, water, post-harvest handling, transportation and more. This training will emphasize specific risks that leafy greens growers may experience, identify tangible corrective actions that can be taken, and provide participants the opportunity to work through example scenarios as a group.

Join the us for the annual Dry Bean Meeting! There will be presentations covering the latest research in NY dry beans. Topic areas include market updates, white mold management, Western bean cutworm and soybean cyst nematode management, herbicide resistance management, dry bean variety testing, and incorporating NY dry beans into schools. This meeting is sponsored by Genesee Valley Bean Company, and Bayer CropScience.

This program will be focusing on putting farm food safety into daily production practices. Besides some classroom presentations, there will be demos and hands-on activities with produce wash equipment. Participants will learn the why and how behind designing, cleaning, sanitizing, and drying produce handling equipment and buildings. And much more!