Farmers can make intelligent decisions about how to effectively manage their watershed farms if their knowledge base includes the latest science. The Farmer Education Program offers a full calendar of “off-the-farm” workshops and conferences offered through a partnership with Cornell Cooperative Extension.

Besides the technical material offered at these sessions, farmers have the opportunity to exchange ideas with their neighbors about which practices and techniques work best for their operation. This effort complements the “bricks and mortar” best management practices built on farms through the Watershed Agricultural Program by providing information in three main subject areas: Nutrient Management, Feed and Forage Systems Management, and Youngstock Pathogen Management. In addition, WAC’s quarterly newsletter includes seasonal articles on operation and maintenance tasks and the Whole Farm Planning team visits farms yearly to review practices, address operational problems and answer the farmer’s questions and concerns.