Other Ag News: Grow Your Knowledge and Your Farm Business with Our Final Block of Online Courses

Our current season of online courses is well underway, and the fourth and final block of courses will start live instruction in one month. With courses on business, grazing management, soil health, growing fruit, and more, this is a great opportunity to learn before the growing season begins.

Our suite of online courses is offered on a user-friendly platform, which grants registrants permanent access to their course content. Also, courses have tiered pricing based on household size and income to make access to the courses more affordable and equitable for everyone.

Registration is open for all courses, with live content starting at the end of February for our third block of courses.

Taking Care of Business​

Mondays: February 24 – March 31

Are you trying to navigate the legalities of owning a farm? This course helps early-stage farmers assess and manage a variety of risks that they will face, including the business, tax, and regulatory implications of your farm.

​Writing a Business Plan​

Mondays: February 24 – March 31

Arm yourself with a business plan and you will have a guide to aid your farm decision-making and demonstrate to yourself and your family that your ideas are feasible. This course is designed to help you build your plan, including developing financial statements.

Grazing Management​

Tuesdays: February 25 – April 1

Grazing is more than simply turning livestock out onto a green pasture and hoping for the best. With sound grazing management, you can reduce workload, keep animals happier and healthier, and improve the overall productivity and profitability of your farm.

Growing Uncommon Fruit

Tuesdays: February 25 – April 1

From site selection and ecosystem expansion to marketing and profit potential, determine whether incorporating uncommon fruit into your operation is the right fit for your farm or forest.

​Season Extension with High Tunnels​

Wednesdays: February 26 – April 2

Adding weeks to your growing season can mean attaining a premium for having products available well before (or long after) other local growers. This course will introduce you to unheated plastic-covered “high tunnels,” covering cost, management and more.

Soil Health

Wednesdays: February 26 – April 2

The health and productivity of the soil forms the basis for any farm’s success, profitability, and ecological sustainability. Be a successful farmer by developing a holistic approach to preserving and building soil health and fertility through this course.

Tree Fruit Scouting

Wednesdays: February 26 – April 2

Effective pest management is essential for orchard health and production of a successful crop. Routine monitoring and scouting are required to identify pest activity and managing pests must be conducted efficiently to be economically viable.

Introduction to Tree Fruit Production

Thursdays: February 27 – April 3, with two additional Monday webinars on March 17 and March 24

Tree fruit are an important component of the agricultural and homeowner landscape. This course, which offers eight live webinars for its 2025 offering, trains beginning tree fruit growers in fundamental concepts in orchard planning and management.

Social Media & Online Marketing

Thursdays: February 27 – April 3

Which online tools and strategies will attract customers, broaden awareness of your business, and increase sales? This course provides real-life, practical ideas and explanations to help you build a successful online presence, grow your customer base, and sell more farm products.

Our program offers nearly three dozen online courses to help farmers improve their technical and business skills. These courses cover a range of topics any farmer needs to succeed.

Experienced farmers, extension educators, and agriculture service providers guide students through course content, including weekly live webinars, videos, and resources. We offer scholarships for eligible farmers in New York who face an entry barrier to farming, and for military veterans in New York.

In recent years we added “Growing Uncommon Fruit,” which will help you determine whether incorporating uncommon fruit into your operation is the right decision for you, and “Stress Reduction for Farmers,” which offers strategies for streamlining your farm. Other newer additions include “Cut Flower Production” on the business of flower farming; a course on “Beef Cattle Management;” a primer on “Social Media & Online Marketing” for your farm business; and a 4-week intensive in how “Reading the Land” can help you monitor its health.

In addition to new courses, we have expanded our Spanish-first online course offerings with our “BF 101: Cómo Iniciar su Negocio Agrícola” and “BF 102: Mercados y Rentabilidad.”

The bulk of the course happens on your own time, with discussions, readings, and assignments in Teachable, our online course platform. To add to the experience, webinars will be woven into the interface of the course for a dedicated time slot each year to allow you to meet on a weekly basis to learn from presenters and ask questions in real-time. If you miss one, they are always recorded and posted for later viewing.

You can browse all of our course offerings on our website. You can learn more about our courses, including answers to common questions, on our course FAQ.

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