Cornell Vegetable Program Specialist Darcy Telenko is a member of the Climate Smart Farming Extension Team and helps NY farms increase resiliency to extreme weather and climate variability through adoption of best management practices for climate change adaptation. Online climate smart farming tools combine weather and climate data at any location and are updated daily to give users short-term projections to respond to extreme weather events.

A collaboration between Cornell Vegetable Program, the Cornell Student Organic Farm and NOFA-NY resulted in a $10,000 award from the Cornell Towards Sustainability Foundation. The project team worked closely with 10 high tunnel operators across Central and Western NYS, educated farmers and students, and provided technical assistance in managing soil health in high tunnels for long term productivity.  

New York sweet corn and cucurbit production have a combined value of over $104 million. Wildlife, particularly birds and deer, can create significant damage. In 2014 a survey of vegetable growers found that 84% of them had an estimated 16% loss from birds alone. The damage is more than just economic; wildlife contamination of fresh market vegetables is a food safety issue and potential liability for growers. Dr. Darcy Telenko with the Cornell Cooperative Extension, Cornell Vegetable Program (CVP), along with Robert Hadad (CVP) and Marion Zuefle (NYS Integrated Pest Management Program), has received a New York Farm Viability Institute (NYFVI) grant to implement her research plan to test physical and chemical deterrents and provide specific recommendations about timing, placement and use of the tools.