Building Farm Resilience During COVID-19

Posted on May 19, 2020 by Taylor in Farming Resources, Funding, News, Small Farms // 0 Comments

Continuing to Build Farm Resilience During COVID-19 – From the Cornell Small Farms Program

The Cornell Small Farms Program continues to offer resources on building farm resilience during COVID-19. Their latest installment shares information on health and safety to take care of ourselves, our employees and our customers through this pandemic. CSF is regularly updating a COVID-19 resource page as information and resources become available. You can also find COVID-19 resource pages and lists from beginningfarmers.org by following the links at the bottom of the post.

Updated Guide Provides Marketing Info for Livestock and Poultry

Understanding how to legally classify, slaughter and sell your meat and poultry is crucial for running a successful operation and to building farm resilience during COVID-19. Laws that dictate food safety regulations change often and can be unclear. As such, our “Guide to Direct Marketing Livestock and Poultry” has undergone an extensive update to provide useful information on legally selling meat and poultry in NYS.

COVID-19 Update on EIDL Program and PPP Funding

Cornell Cooperative Extension educators have been compiling updates on the various emergency funding opportunities for agricultural businesses impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. In their recent update, they provide more information about the Economic Injury Disaster Loans program, which was reopened on May 4 for applications from farms only. Also, there are some new updates on the PPP, including availability of the program and changes to how monthly average wages are calculated for seasonal employers (to the benefit of NYS farms).

About the Cornell Small Farms Program

The Cornell Small Farms Program was established in 2001 as a program of Cornell University’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) to increase research and extension for small farms. In the years since, the Cornell Small Farms Program has engaged in research and extension projects focused on small farm viability by working collaboratively with a network of CALS faculty and staff, Cornell Cooperative Extension (CCE) educators, and other small farm advocates throughout New York.

These partnerships have helped our program offer an increasingly dynamic set of programming to engage farmers of all enterprises and experience levels. Thousands of farmers participate in our online courses, in-person trainings, and other programming each year.

We commit to ensuring, to the greatest extent possible, that our time, energy, and financial resources are committed equitably to all people. We will continue to be actively engaged and involved in relationship building, collaboration, and support of efforts to build diverse, equitable and just food systems. Read more about this commitment in our Equity and Justice Statement.