Farm Business Training Program

Cornell Cooperative Extension Sullivan County (CCESC) offers a specialized farm business training series each year. Participants will work with consultants, business owners, and Extension Educators to develop and write a Business Plan. Participants starting a new business or building on existing knowledge can benefit from this opportunity.

Workshops are held from 5:30 to 7:30 pm at the Extension Education Center on 64 Ferndale-Loomis Road in Liberty and virtually through live sessions via Zoom and parallel participation through Teachable. Each series is only $25 per person for all four sessions, upon acceptance. These series are tailored to separate business audiences within the Farm System Industry. 

Training Dates

2025 DATES TO BE ANNOUNCED

Wednesday Evenings – 5:30-7:30 P.M.

SESSION 1: Planning Your Farm & Production Practices

SESSION 2: Business Plan Development

SESSION 3: Financial Statements & Funding 

SESSION 4: Marketing

ABOUT THE PROGRAM

The workshop series is part of CCE Sullivan’s Farm Business Training Program. The program offers a step-by-step, hands-on approach to developing business and marketing plans for your farm business, along with providing technical assistance on licensing, permitting, value-added production, and more. In addition, the Farm Business Training Program offers participants pathways to funding and other support services to help new farm businesses get off the ground, and existing farm businesses to improve and expand their operations. Participants of the workshop series will be eligible for low-interest loans through the Sullivan County Division of Planning and Community Development. New or existing farm businesses that participate in our business and marketing workshops also receive access to one on one assistance from professional consultants. These consultants can help to review your business and/or marketing plan for FREE!

Rose Wilson Consulting LLC - Supporting Farm and Food Producer Viability for more than 420 farms and food producers with the business launch, expansion, and exit; enterprise analysis; and market development. Rose's clients range from national NGOs such as Healthcare Without Harm, to state agencies and organizations including the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources and Maine Farmland Trust, to established companies such as CROPP/Organic Valley, emerging brands such as Kingdom Creamery of Vermont, and small, mid and large-scale farms of all varieties. Rose brings a broad set of technical and people skills to each client and project and puts her clients first. In addition to serving individual clients, Rose immerses herself in improving the agricultural economy through regional research on the feasibility of new crops, services, and sales channels.

Erik Hassert is a business strategy and marketing consultant with over twenty years of experience helping farms, locally-focused food businesses, and non-profits stay in business and thrive. Prior to consulting, he served as the Director of Sales and Operations for Sun Fed Beef and Pork Farm, a diversified livestock farm in Madison County, NY, increasing its revenue by diversifying its marketing outlets and expanding its product offerings. Erik also co-owned and managed a successful whole animal retail butcher shop in NYC that sourced from producers in the Northeast. With an interest in working directly with a larger and more diverse community of small-scale producers and beginning farmers, Erik joined the GrowNYC’s Farmer Assistance team in 2007 as the Strategic Marketing Manager to provide business and marketing technical assistance to a variety of farmers in the NYC Greenmarkets such as specialty crop and farmers, bakers, value-added producers, and food hubs. Erik’s background and practice encompass a broad range of experience including branding, market channel, and customer behavior analysis, retail market display optimization, e-commerce, and website design, supply chain strategy, new product development, enterprise costing as well as wholesale readiness. 

Duane Stanton - Originally from the heavily industrialized suburbs of Philadelphia, Duane Stanton grew up far removed from where his food was produced. Still, he was able to cultivate a love for food and the planet through shared experiences with family members in the kitchen.

In 2021, Duane traveled across the country exploring over 20 national parks. While on this journey, he was introduced to a range of agricultural production methods, which catalyzed his obsession with sustainable agriculture. After returning to the northeast, he began to research sustainable methods of food production and community distribution, an interest which soon brought him to HVADC as Business Services Coordinator.

At HVADC, Duane focuses on the Incubator Without Walls program, providing business technical assistance to the farms and agribusinesses that support Hudson Valley communities. He is a graduate of the Silbermann College of Business at Fairleigh Dickinson University.

Kendra Payne is the owner and operator of The Herbal Scoop. She has worked in the wellness industry for over 12 years as an herbalist, yoga teacher, health coach, juice cleanse concierge, and a meditation teacher. Through her own experience, Kendra created The Herbal Scoop to offer the opportunity for people to heal on their own terms. Her farm business produces a wide range of products from herbal tea blend, bulk herbs, elixirs, extracts, and skin care products. Kendra sells her products through her website and her store at the Callicoon Marketplace in Narrowsburg, NY.

https://www.theherbalscoop.com/

Jack Whettam is a British native, who initially made the move to the US with his wife Melissa and was working in sales in marketing. Around 2016, Melissa and Jack decided to pursue farming. They both apprenticed on Kern Family Farm, becoming part of their management team. This experience inspired them to start their own farm, Hidden Acre Farm. Their farm is 15 acres located in Bloomingburg, NY and specializes in the production of vegetables and flowers. Their farm is Certified Organic, and they grow with the goal of promoting the health of the soil and conserving the native ecosystem on their land.

https://www.hiddenacre.farm/

Co-Sponsored by HVADC with support from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture award #2022-06508, through the American Rescue Plan Technical Assistance Investment Program.

Last updated May 8, 2025