2023 Broiler Field Days Scheduled

SOUTHWEST, NEW YORK (August 1, 2023) Poultry is a low-cost farm enterprise with a short turn-around that holds potential to be a profitable business venture. Many beginning farmers are choosing to start with meat chickens, but may have questions including: what it takes to raise them; if they should process themselves or send them out to a certified processor; how to add value to a whole chicken; and is raising chickens something that can be profitable?

This series of 5 workshops (four in-person and one virtual) will arm participants with tools to answer these questions. The in-person workshops are being hosted by broiler farmers across the state, providing the opportunity to tour other farms and see how they raise their poultry. Each farm has been selected to showcase their unique ways of raising and/or processing broiler chickens.

The series schedule is:

Wednesday, August 9, 2023, 1pm – 4pm at HLW Acres in Attica, NY

Hermann and Laura Weber run a 5A Small Enterprise poultry processing facility in addition to raising their own broilers. Register here: https://tinyurl.com/BroilerHLW

Thursday, August 24, 2023, 4pm – 7pm at Sunny Cove Farm in Alfred, NY

Meghan Snyder raises small batches of organic broilers, processing them on-farm under the 1,000 bird exemption. Register here: https://tinyurl.com/BroilerSunnyCove

Monday, August 28, 2023, 2pm – 5pm at Laughing Earth Farm in Cropseyville, NY

Annie and her team run a 5A processing facility and 20C kitchen for their own farm's use, which allows them to process over 1,000 broilers a year and gives them the capacity to make value-added products like sausages and stock. Register here: https://tinyurl.com/BroilerLaughingEarth

Tuesday, August 29, 12pm – 3pm at Majestic Farm in Mountaindale, NY

Brett raises slow-growth broilers and takes them to outside processors prior to sale as whole birds, pieces, and chicken sausage. Register here: https://tinyurl.com/BroilerMajestic

Wednesday, September 20, 2023, 6:30pm – 8pm Virtual workshop over Zoom

Learn the ins and outs of setting up your processing equipment, processing chickens, adding value through cuts, and pricing your chicken to make a profit! Register here: https://tinyurl.com/BroilerVirtual

The same information will be shared at each of the in-person workshops, while showcasing the specialty of each host farm. We will not be processing broilers at these workshops, though we will have the opportunity to tour each farm’s rearing and processing set-ups, get hands-on experience cutting up a whole chicken into retail cuts, and critically evaluating costs of raising broilers on pasture in New York State. The virtual webinar will review processing equipment, chicken processing, adding value through cuts, and pricing chicken to earn a profit. Video demonstrations will accompany the lecture portions of the virtual field day.

All who are interested in raising or are currently raising poultry for meat are welcome to register for these free events. Feel free to register for more than one event, though you will need to register for each event separately. Pre-registrations are required and can be made by visiting the links that follow each program description above or by contacting Kelly at 585-268-7644 ext 10 or klb288@cornell.edu. The webinar will be recorded and sent to all registrants for future viewing.

Please bring your questions. We’re looking forward to seeing you there!

These programs are provided free of charge thanks to work supported by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture, through the Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program under subaward number LNE22-435.

SWNYDLFC is a partnership between Cornell University and the CCE Associations of Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Erie, and Steuben counties. Their team includes Katelyn Walley-Stoll, Farm Business Management (716-640-0522); Camila Lage, Dairy Management (607-422-6788); Katelyn Miller, Field Crops and Forage Management (716-640-2047); and Amy Barkley, Livestock Management (716-640-0844). CCE is an employer and educator recognized for valuing AA/EEO, Protected Veterans, and Individuals with Disabilities and provides equal program and employment opportunities.

For more information about Cornell Cooperative Extension, contact your county’s Association Executive Director. Allegany County – Laura Hunsberger, lkh47@cornell.edu or 585-268-7644. Cattaraugus County – Jocelyn Sikorski (Interim), jas884@cornell.edu or 716-699-2377. Chautauqua County – Emily Reynolds, eck47@cornell.edu or 716-664-9502. Erie County – Diane Held, dbh24@cornell.edu or 716-652-5400. Steuben County – Tess McKinley, tsm223@cornell.edu, or 607-664-2301. 

Last updated August 4, 2023