Welcoming Kate, our Farm Business Management Specialist
Kate McDonald Polakiewicz, Farm Business Management
Southwest New York Dairy, Livestock and Field Crops Program
Kate McDonald Polakiewicz has joined our team as Farm Business Management Specialist and will be offering programming in financial management, production economics, business planning, and market analysis.
Kate is a production and extension systems specialist with 15 years of experience working in federal government, private sector, academic, and international settings. She comes to CCE from the US Agency for International Development (USAID) where she managed the Farmer-to-Farmer program, a longstanding agricultural extension program that provided short-term technical assistance from US-based farmers to other farmer communities abroad. She also managed large-scale agricultural research awards in horticulture, agronomy, aquaculture, and in scaling new technologies for practical farm use. Before USAID, Kate worked on agriculture programs with farmers while living in Ghana, Ethiopia, and Uganda. Her work in research and extension also brought her to lead education on soil fertility and plant pathology in Honduras, Guatemala, and Mexico. Kate holds a master's degree from the University of California, Davis, and lives with her young family in Amherst, NY.
Kate is interested to apply her knowledge of agriculture to be of service to producers in Southwest New York production systems. She'll spend her first few months with CCE becoming familiar with local farm operations, meeting and learning from farmers, and building her network. Reach out to say hello at kem348@cornell.edu or 716-640-0522.
Field Crops
Dairy
Business
Livestock
Grains
Upcoming Events
Crops, Cows & Critters - Southwest New York Dairy, Livestock & Field Crops Newsletter Sponsorship
December 19, 2025
Our two forms of publications feature research-based and timely information from our four specialists, listed to the right, along with local event notifications and Cornell University outreach. This information is provided to participants who range from dairy, livestock, and field crops producers to agricultural suppliers and consultants.
Weekly Email Update: Shared with 625+ households who have signed up with our program.
Monthly Paper Mailer: To reach our stakeholders and farmers who lack internet access, we send out a monthly mailer where your company's logo and contact information would be featured with a mailing list of 330+ households.
If you sponsor our weekly and monthly publications you reach approximately 955 households.
Visit our website to view our newsletters!
2025 Cornell Food Beverage & Animal Feed Manufacturer Survey
December 19, 2025
Industry and Educational Advocates for New York State's Food, Beverage, and Animal Feed Manufacturing industries:
As you know, NYS has a diverse food and beverage manufacturing industry, in both the types of industries that exist and the wide distribution of firms by scale. Many manufacturing firms have strong backward linkages to agricultural production sectors in the state that support both farm-level and downstream food industry firms and consumers. In collaboration with the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets, a team from Cornell University's Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management has recently rolled out the 2025 New York State Food, Beverage, and Animal Feed Manufacturer Survey. The industry will benefit from an updated assessment of the industry that informs private and public investments and opportunities to support firm growth and improved profitability.
Cornell Organic Field Crops & Dairy Conference
March 6, 2026
Waterloo, NY
Farmers, researchers, educators, and agricultural service providers from across the Northeast are invited to the 2026 Cornell Organic Field Crops & Dairy Conference, held Friday, March 6, 2026, from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Lux Hotel & Conference Center in Waterloo, N.Y.
Co-hosted by New York Soil Health and Cornell CALS, the annual conference brings together leaders in organic grain, dairy, and livestock systems to share practical tools, new research, and farmer-tested strategies to support resilient and profitable organic production.
Announcements
No announcements at this time.