Small Farmers Grant Program from Cornell

From Grazing to Goat Marketing: Grant Program Generates New Resources for Farmers The Cornell Small Farms Program is pleased to announce a variety of excellent new resources generated from project recipients of the 2012 “Small Farm Grants Program.” This program offers up to $5000 per year to organizations in New York that present compelling projects to serve and support small farms. This year, four projects were funded. An additional project to support a small dairy field day series during Summer, 2012 was also funded. Detailed reports reflecting on project successes and lessons learned, as well as additional educational materials for any of the initiatives below, are available at https://smallfarms.cornell.edu/projects/grants/ New ‘How-To’ Grazing Video Series This new series of 12 “How-to-Graze” Videos was produced by Ken Smith and staff at Chenango County Cooperative Extension. If you’re a livestock farmer or educator looking to improve your understanding of grazing 'best management' practices, the series covers everything from setting up electric fence, water systems and laneways, to how to address weeds or periods of drought. The videos can all be found on the Cornell Small Farms Program You Tube Channel. Visit https://www.youtube.com/user/cornellsmallfarms and scroll down to “Featured Playlists”. Thanks to CCE Chenango, Chenango County Grazing Farmers, Conservation Grazing Lands Initiative Educator Karen Hoffman, NRCS Educators Robert Declue and Lauren Johnson, among others for their collaboration on this series! Farmer Experiences and Models for Building Successful Farmer-Distributor Relationships Selling wholesale to the right distributor can save on the costs of direct marketing and move a larger quantity of product in an efficient manner. But is selling to a distributor right for your farm? Monica Roth of CCE Tompkins County and Becca Jablonski a PhD. Candidate in City & Regional Planning led this two-part research study. Phase I of the project consisted of interviews with NYS distributors to gage their interest in and requirements for selling to smaller producers. Part II of the project sought the farmer perspective. This second phase consisted of surveying small – mid-sized farmers to assess their experiences selling to distributors. The study indicates that there is increasing demand from local food retailers, restaurants and distributors for local foods and as a result, farmers are selling more produce to these buyers. For the medium sized farmers in the study, wholesale sales are now approaching half of their sales volume. Read interviews with distributors (Phase I) in 2012 issues of Small Farm Quarterly Magazine at https://smallfarms.cornell.edu/quarterly/ Learn more about the farmer surveys and findings (Phase II) at https://smallfarms.cornell.edu/projects/grants/ For more information, please contact Monika Roth, mr55@cornell.edu or 607.272.2292

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Promoting Workplace CSA in the Southern Adirondacks
Do regional businesses make good CSA distribution sites? That was the question asked by a team of southern Adirondack region educators: Teresa Whalen, southern region coordinator for Adirondack Harvest, Laura McDermott, regional vegetable specialist with Cornell Cooperative Extension (CCE) Capital District Vegetable and Small Fruit Program (CDVSFP), and Stephen Hadcock, CCE Columbia County. This project conducted trainings for interested businesses in Warren, Washington and Saratoga Counties to explore the benefits of becoming CSA distribution sites. Trainings also targeted farmers interested in distributing their CSA shares at business work sites. All educational materials produced by the project can be found at https://smallfarms.cornell.edu/projects/grants/. As a result of this project, 21 prospective workplaces attended trainings, 38 potential farms attended trainings, and 3 businesses hosted Worksite CSA’s. Because of the success of this project CCE Clinton County educator and executive director, Amy Ivy, is applying for a NESARE Community Development grant to further explore, educate and foster Worksite CSA’s in the northeastern corridor of NYS. For further information please contact either Laura McDermott at 746-2562 or lgm4@cornell.edu or Teresa Whalen at 466-5497 or taawhalen@yahoo.com.

New & Improved! Sheep & Goat Marketing Website Back Online
Looking for help marketing your sheep and goat products? This popular website, www.sheepgoatmarketing.info, has been renovated and brought up-to-date. The site includes a Marketing Directory to assist farmers to network with sheep and goat buyers, processors, auction barns, and livestock haulers in the Northeast US. It also includes a Producer Directory where sheep and goat farmers can promote their products (dairy, fiber, and meat) and animals (breeding stock and market animals). The Classified Ad section is currently limited to advertising market animals for sale or market orders that buyers need to fill. The Calendar section provides dates and marketing information for holidays when lamb and/or goat is traditionally consumed. The Education section has a wide range of articles to help farmers to evaluate their animals and educate themselves more about marketing and processing. It also includes information on livestock management and processing requirements for Halal and Kosher marketing and information about previous marketing projects. For more information contact Dr. tatiana Stanton, Cornell Small Ruminant Extension Specialist at 607-254-6024 or tls7@cornell.edu or our webmaster, Linda Poppleton at LJP2@cornell.edu