Men and women pose in a field with masks during pandemic.

Extension Highlights 2020

Outreach during COVID-19

Despite not being able to offer in person extension, Cornell AgriTech faculty and staff quickly adapted to offer virtual outreach and resources to help New York’s food and agricultural audiences not only overcome COVID-19-related challenges, but also plan for success beyond the pandemic.

80K+

total contact hours

18K+

participants attended AgriTech virtual events

25

countries and states reached

Report highlights

Cornell Craft Beverage Institute (CCBI)

CCBI provides critical education, research and analysis to New York's burgeoning craft beverage industry.

  • 2,338 members of the craft beverage industry attended virtual events hosted by the CCBI in 2020.
  • 471 attendees from across 12 states and Canada attended CCBI’s virtual B.E.V. NY event. The virtual event allowed for featuring world-renowned experts such as Jancis Robinson, the world’s most influential wine critic and Hans Reiner Schultz, president of the Hochschule Geisenheim University, one of the top wine schools in the world.
  • In 2020, CCBI offered laboratory services to 252 craft beverage clients.
  • Provided analysis services on 2,067 craft beverage products.
Learn more about CCBI
A pair of hands dispenses a beverage from a tap into a glass

Cornell Food Venture Center (CFVC)

The CFVC helps food businesses large and small introduce new food products into the marketplace.

  • Provided direct technical assistance to 558 companies, farmers and entrepreneurs in 2020.
  • Issued 1,583 scheduled processes and regulatory letters for new or improved food products to meet regulatory compliance.
  • Analyzed 1,715 food products for safety and stability.
  • The CFVC pilot plant assisted 26 clients for research and development, scale-up trials and product start-up.
Learn more about the CFVC
Chrome pipes inside of a building.
Entrepreneur food ideas are brought to life at the CFVC pilot plant. Photo credit: Justin Muir.

The Institute for Food Safety at Cornell University

IFS@CU provides training and research to help the food industry reduce foodborne illness risks.

  • 40 hour-long virtual office hours were offered March 23 - December 15 with 2,749 participants.
  • 425+ questions were addressed by faculty during virtual office hours.
  • 474 participants attended specific COVID-19 related webinars.
  • 585 attendees enrolled in IFS@CU’s Good Manufacturing Practices Part 117 Online Course.
Learn more about the IFS@CU
A screenshot of the Institute for Food Safety website.
Virtual office hours hosted by the IFS@CU helped food producers and processors overcome issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Photo credit: provided

The Produce Safety Alliance (PSA)

  • Plays a critical role in helping growers comply with the Food Safety Modernization Act.
  • Hosted a total of 237 virtual events with 10,994 attendees in 2020.
  • Offered 31 train-the-trainer courses with 449 participants in attendance.
Learn more about the PSA
Betsy Bihn in the field

B.E.V. NY Virtual Conference

Meeting COVID-19 requirements was a sobering task for New York state wineries and grape growers, but some found that changes such as requiring reservations and offering a la carte menus boosted business, according to a survey presented at the recent virtual B.E.V. (Business. Enology. Viticulture.) NY conference, held March 3-5.

Hemp Field Day

Virtual extension during the COVID-19 pandemic is expanding the reach that researchers at Cornell’s College of Agriculture and Life Science (Cornell CALS) have to new audiences, as evidenced by a virtual hemp field day this month.

Food Safety Virtual Office Hours

Food industry professionals can learn how the novel coronavirus might affect their workers and their consumers, thanks to a series of virtual office hours held by staff at the Institute for Food Safety at Cornell University.

Students support industries remotely

Each year, the capstone course Food Science 4000 gives upperclassmen the opportunity to test their skills in a real world setting by challenging them to solve critical problems faced by food processing companies.

Cornell helps distillers make hand sanitizer

In the battle to keep front-line health care workers, first responders and essential employees safe during the COVID-19 pandemic, nearly 40 craft distilleries in New York state have stopped producing their signature spirits.

Speakers at the B.E.V. NY event lead a discussion via zoom.
Hemp plant in field
A desktop computer screenshot of virtual office hours
Screen shot of a virtual class discussion
A man in a red shirt examines a copper distiller