Project Overview
Annual Reports
Commodities
- Agronomic: barley, canola, flax, millet, oats, potatoes, rye, safflower, soybeans, sunflower, wheat, grass (misc. perennial), hay
- Fruits: apples, berries (other), melons, berries (strawberries)
- Vegetables: broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, celery, cucurbits, garlic, lentils, onions, peas (culinary), peppers, sweet corn, tomatoes
- Additional Plants: herbs, native plants, ornamentals, trees
- Animals: bovine, poultry, goats, rabbits, sheep, fish, ratite
- Miscellaneous: mushrooms
Practices
- Animal Production: feed/forage, free-range, grazing - multispecies
- Crop Production: agroforestry
- Education and Training: demonstration, display, extension, farmer to farmer, networking
- Farm Business Management: whole farm planning
- Production Systems: transitioning to organic
Abstract:
[Note to online version: The report for this project includes appendices that could not be included here. The regional SARE office will mail a hard copy of the entire report at your request. Just contact North Central SARE at (402) 472-7081 or ncrsare@unl.edu.]
Marketplace is a compilation of entrepreneurial and value-added efforts in North Dakota. It combines booths and educational presentations. No other event provides the networking opportunities to rural residents interested in adding an enterprise to their farm or small town business. This event also fosters new creative ideas to be expanded or developed as rural development and financial institutions also participate. A co-op night focuses on new generation co-op development and attracts the participation of federal USDA officials. Marketplace throws off the blinders of traditional paradigms and stimulates creativity and imagination in developing new rural enterprises and strategies. The event has a huge sponsorship of state, federal, and private organizations. Extension agents from other North Central Region states experienced the event firsthand and took information accumulated back to their states. They also indicated using this event as a model for a similar effort in their states.
Project objectives:
1. To allow the vast information displayed at "Marketplace" be shared with other SARE North Central Region PDP programs.
2. To provide an opportunity for interaction with "Marketplace" exhibitors and workshop presenters.
3. To stimulate thought, discussion, and creativity among attendees with the expectation that this will provide impetus for profitable ventures in these states.