About Program
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The Cornell Vegetable Program is one of the premier regional agricultural teams in NYS: a Cornell Cooperative Extension partnership between Cornell University and the CCE Associations in a large multi-county region in the western and central parts of the state. The team's Vegetable Specialists work together with Cornell faculty and Extension Educators statewide to address the issues that impact the commercial vegetable industry. The Cornell Vegetable Program provides educational programs and information to growers, processors and agri-business professionals, arming them with the knowledge to profitably produce and market safe and healthful vegetable crops, contributing to the viability of farms and the economic wellbeing of New York State. Specifically, our program focuses on food safety, variety evaluation, market development, pest management, and cultural practices. Watch a video to learn more about the Cornell Vegetable Program.
Growers and agri-business professionals must enroll in our program to benefit from many of our educational offerings including our newsletter, direct mailings, and pest alerts.
The Cornell Vegetable Program is supported, in part, by fourteen
county Cornell Cooperative Extensions of Western New York:
Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Erie, Genesee, Monroe, Niagara,
Ontario, Orleans, Oswego, Seneca, Steuben, Wayne and Yates Counties.
To visit one of these Cornell Cooperative Extension's web sites,
simply click on a county within the map.
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Upcoming Events
Food Safety Lunch and Learn Webinar Series
February 11, 2025 : Part One: What's Going on with Food Safety?
NYS Department of Agriculture and Markets FSMA inspectors are expected to step up farm visits this season. Why are they showing up on the farm asking about FSMA? Aren't we exempt? This noontime hour we will discuss the purpose of the farm visits and what produce farmers need to know.
February 18, 2025 : Part Two: What Counts as Food Processing?
In this session, we will discuss what counts as processing and what doesn't. Stories of inspectors coming to farmers markets and auctions telling some growers certain products can't be sold usually without much explanation. We will try to make some sense of things and clear up some misunderstandings so hopefully the upcoming season goes smoothly.
February 25, 2025 : Part Three: Traceability - Benefits for Food Safety and Beyond
Can having a traceback process for your produce (and other farm products) make good business sense regardless of FSMA regulations? We will (try to) make the case for farms to have some sort of traceability mechanism in place.
Allium Pests!
February 26, 2025
Presented by Christy Hoepting (CCE Cornell Vegetable Program) and Ann Hazelrigg (Univ. of VT), this webinar will focus on organic management of pests and diseases of onions, garlic, leeks. The webinar is part of a series supported by the Transition to Organic Partnership Program.
Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) Training
March 4 - March 5, 2025
Syracuse, NY
This two-day workshop will train fruit and vegetable growers and others interested in produce safety, the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), the Produce Safety Rule, Good Agricultural Practices (GAPSs), and co-management of natural resources and food safety. (A remote attendance option is available.)