Resources for Growers

An extensive range of resources, programs and organizations exist that are focused on supporting food producers. Many of these are geared toward large scale producers . Yet small and medium scale producers are an important part of local and regional food systems, able to uniquely adapt and respond to the communities they serve. They also face unique challenges, sometimes requiring a more sophisticated or subtle approach to diversification, risk-management, outreach, marketing and value-added strategies. 

As the Land Grant University for New York State, Cornell has a variety of resources and programs serving the needs of agricultural and horticultural producers. Your local Cooperative Extension office is always a good source of expertise and information specific to your community.

The following links include resources for current or aspiring food producers looking for ways to integrate with local or regional food systems. Due to the multitude of local and regional programs that exist across the nation and world that would be too numerous to list here, many of these are focused on New York state. The Regional and Gardening pages list other grower resources as well.

Agricultural & Horticultural Resources at Cornell

Additional resources in the Cooperative Extension section of this guide.

Cornell Cooperative Extension Resources

Seed Saving

Across the globe a wide range of efforts are beginning once again to breed and save seed for plant varieties specifically adapted to the needs and conditions of particular communities and regions, an important component of healthy food systems. The reasons for this work are broad, encompassing a greater desire for more locally suited varieties and biodiversity supporting health and resilience, to issues of food sovereignty. The Seed Saving Section of our Breeding & Selection page provides an introduction to this vast and growing body of work. Cornell community members can refer to the research literature section of this guide for database tools that can be used to find more scholarly resources.

Other Agriculture Resources