New Self-Paced On-Farm Poultry Processing Course Available
Amy Barkley, Team Leader & Livestock Specialist
Southwest New York Dairy, Livestock and Field Crops Program
March 1, 2021/Erica Frenay
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.
This new self-paced course joins our program's offering of more than 20 online courses to help farmers improve their technical and business skills. These courses cover a range of topics any farmer needs to succeed, such as farm business, soil health, indoor mushroom production, grazing management, and so much more. You can browse all of our course offerings on our website.
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Upcoming Events
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November 6, 2025 : Animal Mortality Composting Demo
Brant, NY
Join experts from Cornell's Waste Management Institute, Local Soil and Water Conservation Districts, Pro-Dairy, CCE, and WNY Crop Management as we evaluate a newly constructed livestock compost pile at a local dairy farm. Attendees will be able to learn how to properly design a pad and pile, evaluate pile success, and understand common pitfalls to proper composting.
Optimizing the Economic Return of Pasture-Raised Slow-Growth and Conventional Broilers - Webinar
November 13, 2025 : Optimizing the Economic Return of Pasture-Raised Slow-Growth and Conventional Broilers - Webinar
Over the past three years, Cornell Cooperative Extension has worked with nearly 40 small farmers across NYS to gather information on the true costs of raising broilers (meat chickens) on pasture. This presentation is a summary of the findings of this research project.
NY Small Farms Summit 2025: Stronger Together
December 5, 2025
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We hope you will join us on December 5th for the 2025 New York Small Farms Summit! This is an opportunity to meet other farmers and ag supporters, learn about research and education projects, and set priorities for future efforts to grow small farm success.
At the Allegany County site, we will focus on giving trees a chance and how trees build resiliency on small farms. Whether attracted to fruit, nuts, vegetables, fodder or shade, trees can be an integral part of a successful farming system. Join us as we explore the opportunities for resiliency that come from adding tree crops or managing wooded areas of your farm for agroforestry or silvopasture systems.
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