Beginner Farmer

New Self-Paced On-Farm Poultry Processing Course Available

Has your insurance provider told you they won’t underwrite your on-farm processing of poultry unless you complete a training? Do you need to brush up on best practices for processing meat birds on-farm?

Our new self-paced online course offers detailed videos and lessons on food safety and humane techniques for dispatching and processing chickens and turkeys on-farm under the 1000-bird exemption.

The On-Farm Poultry Processing course will take 3-4 hours to complete, and includes quizzes in each section to test your knowledge. You’ll have 3 attempts to score 80% or better on each quiz before you can move onto the next topic, and if you pass all of the quizzes, a “Certificate of Completion” will be automatically issued to you.

This certificate may be accepted by your insurer to underwrite your poultry operation, but we cannot guarantee that it will result in coverage. Please confirm with your insurance agent before registering, if your sole intent in taking the course is to obtain farm insurance.

As with all of our online courses, pricing is tiered based on household income and this course ranges from $49 – $99. This On-Farm Poultry Processing course was authored by Cornell Cooperative Extension educator and farmer, Lynn Bliven, from Allegany County

Cornell University Cooperative Extension works with beginning farmers as well as established farm businesses. We reference many of the planning materials on the Cornell Small Farms Program website, which features planning tutorials, the Guide to Farming in New York, a guide to Livestock Processing Regulations, and videos full of practical farmer-to-farmer advice and production tutorials. The website also has the schedule for Cornell’s on-line beginning farmer classes.

Our team members are also available to consult one-on-one with prospective farmers, reviewing business plans, “vetting” ideas for soundness, and directing you to more in-depth resources as needed. We live and work in the southern tier of New York, so we have practical experience and advice to offer for both production and for marketing plans.

Last updated April 29, 2022