Project Overview
Annual Reports
Commodities
- Agronomic: corn, oats, potatoes, rye, spelt, soybeans
- Fruits: melons, apples, berries (other), grapes, plums, berries (strawberries)
- Nuts: walnuts
- Vegetables: sweet potatoes, asparagus, beans, beets, broccoli, cabbages, carrots, cucurbits, eggplant, garlic, greens (leafy), onions, peas (culinary), peppers, sweet corn, tomatoes, turnips
- Additional Plants: herbs, native plants, ornamentals
- Animals: bees, bovine, poultry, goats, rabbits, swine, sheep, fish
- Animal Products: dairy
- Miscellaneous: mushrooms
Practices
- Education and Training: farmer to farmer, mentoring, participatory research, technical assistance
- Farm Business Management: new enterprise development, budgets/cost and returns, cooperatives, marketing management, feasibility study, agricultural finance, market study, risk management, value added
- Sustainable Communities: new business opportunities, partnerships, urban agriculture, urban/rural integration, employment opportunities
Abstract:
The three year project was designed to guide interested farmers/farmers groups, recruited at farmers markets and elsewhere, through product development, testing , equipment and supplies training, production, business formation, marketing and other issues ancillary to running a small value added business.
The project was extended for a fourth year, which was used to assist agencies in clarifying and streamlining their service offerings and transitioning referrals from the project to state agencies.
Introduction:
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Project objectives:
1) 10 farmers/groups of farmers will understand all aspects of developing a value-added enterprise.
2) 30 farmers/groups of farmers will participate in portions of trainings and business classes offered.
3) All vendors in at least 5 farmers markets will have and understanding of value added enterprise development and regulations governing sales at farmers markets.
4) A core group of professionals will have "practiced" a holistic approach to assisting farmers in developing a successful value added enterprise based on sustainable, local food production.