Remarks/Welcome to Massachusetts

Speakers: Bob Pellegrino, Connecticut Department of Agriculture, Hartford, CT and President of Harvest New England; Commissioner, Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources, Boston, MA.

Marketing With More Creativity Than Cash

Speaker: Jane Eckert, Eckert AgriMarketing, St.Louis, Missouri

Today’s family farmers have to know much more than how to achieve success in planting and cultivating crops.With the problems they face  in commodity pricing and even with co-op sales, the successful farmers realize they must market their products directly to consumers. Whether you’re a novice or advanced farm marketer, it is critical to develop a plan to grow your customer base and increase sales.Jane Eckert helped increase revenues at her family farm by more than 300%, and developed a special plan designed just for farmers, The Eckert Farm Marketing Plan.

Jane’s innovative “Farm Marketing Pie” divides strategies into slices that use more creativity than dollars for a high return in revenue.  Learn Jane’s winning approach to brochures, websites, e-newsletters, promotions and media relations that focus on the customer, all designed to make sales increase. You’ll leave the workshop knowing how to set the right marketing priorities and immediate steps to take for positive results.

Marketing with More Creativity Than Cash, continued

Jane Eckert, Eckert AgriMarketing

New England Apple Association Annual Meeting

Agritourism

J’eet? Culinary Adventures in Agriculture

Moderator: Ilene Bezahler, Editor, Edible Boston, Brookline, MA

Speakers: Katrina White, Travel Trade Manager, Rhode Island Tourism Division, Providence, RI; Kevin Carey, Verrill Farm, Concord; David Gilson, The Herb Lyceum, Groton, MA.

Culinary tourism is in! Food and wine travel programs are selling like, well, hotcakes. Local food, wine, and brews are favorites of “foodies” and help to convey the culture of an area and share the heritage of the people. The session will identify what Culinary Tourism is, and what it isn’t. We’ll explore how to create food experiences on farms, look at opportunities to be a part of a culinary experience as a supplier to local chefs, discuss potential challenges, and celebrate the success stories in our own backyard.

Business Planning/Partnerships

Consumer Connections

Community Supported Agriculture – Innovative CSA Programs to Engage Consumers in Agriculture

Moderator: Kelly Coleman, Program Coordinator, Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture (CISA), South Deerfield, MA.

Speakers: Kelly Coleman, Program Coordinator, Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture (CISA), South Deerfield, MA; Paula Lukats, CSA in NYC Program Manager, Just Food, New York, NY; Ben Perrault, Mountain View Farm, Easthampton, MA.

In this workshop, we will learn from farmers and organizations who run off-farm CSA programs, such as workplace CSAs and urban CSA distributions. What are successful models for engaging consumers who pick up off the farm? What makes for successful off-farm CSA programs?

Market Opportunities

Growing Your Business with Ethnic Markets

Moderator: Maria Moreira, Manny’s Dairy Farm, Lancaster, MA.

Speakers: Bill Barrington, General Manager/Marketing Director, Pioneer Valley Growers Association, South Deerfield, MA; Frank Mangan, Associate Professor, University of Massachusetts Extension, Amherst, MA; Maria Moreira, Manny’s Dairy Farm, Lancaster, MA; Alfonso Orbegoso, Import/Export Coordinator, Tropical Banana, Chelsea, MA.

This workshop will highlight opportunities for farmers to market locally-grown agricultural products to the large and growing ethnic communities in the region.

Value Added/Food Safety

Food Safety and Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) as Marketing Strategies for Small Farmers

Moderator: Jaime Lizee Smith, Connecticut Department of Agriculture, Hartford, CT.

Speaker: Diane Wright Hirsch, MPH, RD, University of Connecticut Cooperative Extension System, North Haven, CT.  

Fresh produce has gained importance in the American diet. Federal health initiatives stress the need to eat more fruits and vegetables consumers are responding and demanding more organic and locally grown produce: Schools, institutions, and restaurants are also attempting to meet the needs of their students and customers who want to see more locally grown fruits and vegetables on the menu. This has been good for New England farmers. However, with increased consumption there has been an increase in food borne disease outbreaks attributed to domestically grown and/or minimally processed produce—especially lettuce, tomatoes and more recently spinach. Outbreaks may result from unsafe food handling during harvest, packing, distribution, or preparation by the consumer or restaurant. Since most people eat fresh produce raw, emphasis has to be placed on preventing contamination all along the route from farm to table.

How can the small farmer adapt to this trend and fit into a culture that demands more proof of safe food handling? This workshop will provide the following information:

• The food safety culture: outbreaks, regulations, guidelines, inspections
• Good Agricultural Practices: think of yourself as a food processor, and this is your “food code”
• Building trust and marketing your product
• Educating your customer

Market Managers Workshop: New Marketing Opportunities and Building Alliances

Join Farmers’ Market Managers from across New England for this special half day workshop. Learn how to “Discover New Marketing Opportunities for your Farmers' Market” as Jeff Cole, Executive Director, Federation of Massachusetts Farmers’ Markets, helps you get up to speed on how Rapid Market Assessment’s three low cost tools can help you freshen up your market’s image and marketing methods to attract more shoppers.

Jennifer McTiernan of City Seed, New Haven, CT and Shannon Haines of Waterville Maine Street, Waterville, ME will lead a discussion on “Building Alliances That WORK For Farmers Markets.” Local businesses, government, hospitals, schools, non-profit organizations and others can make valuable contributions to the success of a farmers market in dozens of different ways. Learn how to assess and communicate the impact of your market on the local economy and community to broaden the base of support for your market. Includes a discussion of the Sticky Economy Evaluation Device (SEED), a free new tool for figuring and tracking the economic impact of farmers’ markets.

Need some advice or just want to share? Time will also be allotted for an open discussion where you can ask questions, of the panelists and other market managers or just share some great ideas.

The Market Managers Workshop is included with either a full or one-day conference registration. Space is limited so please indicate your attendance on the registration form.

Agritourism

Telling Your Story: Weaving your farm's personality, history and good practices into your marketing message

Moderator: Diane Baedeker Petit, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service

Speakers: Sue Futrell, Red Tomato, Canton, MA; Ilene Bezahler, Editor, Edible Boston, Brookline, MA; additional speaker to be announced.

This session will feature a panel of speakers who have expertise in successfully using distinctive aspects of a farm business to market products. These aspects may include farm history, family, community involvement, and/or good conservation practices. Several perspectives will be offered: a non-profit produce marketing organization, food media, and a successful farm marketer. We'll wrap up with an open discussion where you can ask questions or share some of your own great ideas.

Business Planning/Partnerships

Show Me the Money

Moderator: Scott Davis, Farm Viability Program Team Leader, Mass. Dept. of Agricultural Resources, Boston, MA

Speakers: Kathy Ruhf, Principal, Land for Good, Inc.; David Tuttle, State Director, MA, CT, RI, USDA Rural Development, Amherst, MA; additional speakers to be announced.

In this workshop you'll learn about various grant and other funding opportunities for farmers and farm organizations.  We'll cover what's out there, where to look, and how to prepare a successful project proposal.

Consumer Connections

Successfully Selling Farm Products to Local Schools

Moderator: Kelly Erwin, Managing Consultant, Massachusetts Farm to School Project, Amherst, MA.

Speakers: Barbara Cohen, District Manager, Chartwell’s School Dining, Bristol, RI; Kelly Erwin, Managing Consultant, Massachusetts Farm to School Project, Amherst, MA.

Some farmers in New England are profitably selling their products to local schools and colleges. In Massachusetts there are currently more than 40 school districts and colleges buying fresh locally grown foods directly from Massachusetts farmers. The Massachusetts Farm to School Project will share its experience and insights with you, including a discussion on how to quickly evaluate a school district or college as a potential customer and nuts n’ bolts issues to be resolved at the front-end. Additionally, there will be a presentation by a representative of the Chartwells Food Service Management Company, outlining the success of their pilot program in Rhode Island, which is now serving locally grown foods in six public school districts.

Market Opportunities

Adding Money to Your Company’s Bottom Line Through Export Sales: The Details of the Business for Success, and Government Support to Offset Costs

Moderator: Steve Justis, Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets, Montpelier, VT.

Speakers: John Iannacci, Export Sales, J.P. Sullivan and Co., Ayer, MA; Doug Resh, Branded Program Manager, Food Export USA–Northeast, Philadelphia, PA.

The story of JP Sullivan’s successful apple export business to the UK will be presented. John Iannacci will discuss how they first entered the export market some 60 years ago, their keys to export success, and challenges along the way. Located in Ayer, Massachusetts, JP Sullivan has been in business since 1925, representing apple growers in the New England region. Doug Resh, Food Export USA-Northeast, will describe sources of financial and technical support from the federal government for farm businesses to develop and grow export markets. The Food Export Helpline, Market Builder and Branded Program will be summarized, as well as resources for expertise to build an export strategy, research a market and address all the “critical details” to make your efforts a success.

Value Added/Food Safety

Value-Added Processing: A Reality Check - Strategies that Make Financial Sense

Moderator: Bonita Oehlke, Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources, Boston, MA.

Speakers: Brian Norder, Project Director, Vermont Food Venture Center, Fairfax, VT; Peter Hingston, Owner, Cherry Hill Farm, Springfield, VT. 

You must know how your product will be perceived and priced before you go into production and to market. A successful value added product is based on the processing costs in relation to the value increase. Brian Norder, Project Director of the Vermont Food Venture Center, a food business incubator in Fairfax, VT will compare and contrast value-added strategies with minimal input costs, as well as high ingredient and processing costs, to consumer perception and price point.   Peter Hingston, Cherry Hill Farm, Vermont, will describe his path to develop and produce value-added products, pitfalls and unexpected turns along the way, and expectations for the future. At Cherry Hill Farm, their raspberries, black raspberries, red currants and black currants are made into fruit jams. They also produce fruit puree and fresh fruit during the growing season for local businesses. 

Massachusetts Association of Roadside Stands & Pick Your Own (MARS) meeting

Meeting to discuss establishing a new Buy Local Group for Central Massachusetts and Worcester County; marketing to consumers; what we have been doing with our new website - www.massfarmstands.com; and what farmers need help with.

SimonPure Productions will tell the compelling story of Connecticut agriculture – from its earliest history to its present-day diversity. The program will also explore trends affecting farming in the state and the public policy that shapes its future. Along the way, we’ll visit many picturesque state farms and meet the farmers who work the land and waters of Connecticut.

Registration

The Best of New England

Moderator: Al Rose, Red Apple Farm, Phillipston, MA.

Speakers: Vincent Confreda Jr., Confreda Greenhouses and Farms, Hope, RI; Nigel Manley, The Rocks Christmas Tree Farm, Bethlehem, NH; Suzanne Sankow, Sankow’s Beaver Brook Farm, Lyme, CT; Ramona Snell, Snell Family Farm, Bar Mills, ME; Mo Tougas, Tougas Family Farm, Northboro, MA; Bill Suhr, Champlain Orchards, Shoreham, VT.

Join this lively and informative panel as New England’s top farm marketers describe hot trends, marketing success stories, unexpected outcomes and other tales and tips from the farm.

Agritourism

If You Plan It, They Will Attend

Moderator: Christine Rasmussen, Essex Buy Local, Gloucester MA.

Speakers: John Lee, Allandale Farm, Brookline, MA; Al Rose, Red Apple Farm, Phillipston, MA.

This workshop offers an unique experience to learn from successful farmers how to establish and run a popular day camp using the resources of the farm and how to organize and run a community festival that brings together the farming community to showcase agriculture.

Business Planning/Partnerships

Risk Management: The Process of Control: What You Can’t, What You Can, and What You Want

Moderator: Gail McWilliam Jellie, New Hampshire Department of Agriculture, Markets and Food, Concord, NH

Speakers: Jeff Cole, Executive Director, Federation of Massachusetts Farmers’ Markets, Waltham, MA; Mike Sciabarrasi, Extension Professor/Specialist, Agricultural Business Management, University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension, Durham, NH

Farm practices can lower or increase liability risks that, in combination with liability, crop and revenue insurance, become part of the tool chest of an overall risk management strategy. Farmers take a substantial amount of risk with things that are uncontrollable, such as weather. Paying some attention to those things that are controllable is a process that may be the difference between staying in business and not, or working hard for someone else’s benefit or your own.

Value Added/Food Safety

The Final Step! Post-Harvest Advice to Obtain Reward From Your Hard Work in the Field by Ensuring Supply of Quality Produce to the Consumer

Moderator: Nada Haddad, Extension Educator, Agricultural Resources, University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension, Rockingham County.

Speaker: Chris Watkins, Professor, Postharvest Science, Department of Horticulture, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY.

Storing fruits and vegetables appropriately to maintain quality after harvest presents a formidable challenge to the grower, as well as to storage operators, shippers and retailers. Not only are the product types and their post-harvest requirements very diverse, but the importance of temperature, relative humidity, exposure to gases such as ethylene, and other postharvest manipulations can vary greatly according to the size of the operation and the time required after harvest to reach the markets. Therefore, no simple “model” of what is right is appropriate, especially when we consider the diversity of scale on New England farms.

The goal of this presentation, therefore, is to focus on the principles of product handling, using specific products as examples, and to provide information about where resources can be obtained most efficiently from texts and the web. Topics that will be covered will include:

• Harvest management – when should the product be harvested? For fruit especially, the compromise between quality and storability, and meeting the expectations of the consumer.
• Cooling of produce after harvest and maintaining temperatures (including during transportation) that will enhance product quality.
• Relative humidity and modified atmosphere storage.
• New technologies, especially SmartFresh, an inhibitor of ethylene action.
• Packing lines and cleanliness.
• Compatibility of products – temperature/relative humidity/atmospheres/ethylene.

Consumer Connections

How to Turn Conflict into Synergy

Speaker: Lynda Brushett, Cooperative Development Institute, Barrington, NH.

The potential for conflict exists in virtually every aspect of a market’s operations—vendors, the manager, sponsors, customers. How people deal with conflict can either bring a market down or lift it to higher levels of performance. Bring your market’s conflicts about pricing, rules, products, adding members, who makes decisions, entertainment and more to the workshop and learn ways to resolve disagreements AND strengthen market relationships.

Market Opportunities

Website Basics – Part I

Moderator: Lynn Hartman, President, Massachusetts Association of Roadside Stands & Pick Your Own, Barre, MA.

Speakers: Diane Baedeker Petit, Public Affairs Specialist, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, Amherst, MA; Mark Lattanzi, Campaign Director, Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture (CISA), South Deerfield, MA; Rick LeBlanc, Marketing Specialist, Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources, Boston, MA.

Let your website do the talking - how your website can be there when you can't be. How to get your Domain Name, finding a host for your site, website design. How to maintain your site once it is up. How to promote your site and creating a sign-up sheet for email newsletters. Collecting names on your site. Websites that can connect you to consumers looking for your farm experience and product.

Kitchen Table Direct Marketing: Examining Markets, Finding Your Customers and Managing Marketing Costs

Moderator: Michael Lehan, Berkshire Management Group, Goshen, MA.

Speakers: William and Cathy Emmons, Cloudland Farm, Woodstock, VT; Michael Lehan, Berkshire Management Group, Goshen, MA; Janice and Dale Wentworth, The Warren Farm and Sugarhouse, North Brookfield, MA.

Good marketing consists of understanding who your best customers are and getting them your product or services in a way that produces a profit. It sounds simple – and in theory it is. The hard parts are staying focused on the things that make a difference when there are a million things to do while measuring results in a useful way. This session will focus on some practical ways to combine your sales and marketing thinking with the financial information that tells you whether things are really working – or not. The session will present specific questions for each farmer to answer and will outline key concepts in the areas of examining existing or potential markets, gathering information about customers in a low cost manner, and managing planned and actual product profitability and marketing costs. Mike will outline the concepts to be covered while the farmers will discuss their experiences – planned and unplanned – in analyzing new markets and managing the cost of bringing a product to market. Questions and interaction throughout the session, rather than at the end, is welcome.

Agritourism

Tapping Into the Group Tour Market

Moderator: Sarah Kelley, Executive Director, Southeastern Massachusetts Agricultural Partnership, East Wareham, MA.

Speakers: Dagny Ashley, Group Sales Director, Southeastern Massachusetts Convention and Visitors Bureau, New Bedford, MA; Hope Gaglio, Great Escapes Tours Inc., Sandwich, MA; Jack Angley, Flax Pond Farms, Carver, MA.

This workshop will explore group tour opportunities for New England farms. Attendees will learn about the facilities required to host a bus tour and how to find and market your business to group tour operators. Hear from a representative from a regional Visitors Bureau, a group tour operator and farmer on the steps you need to consider to tap into this expanding market.

Business Planning/Partnerships

Co-op 101

Speaker: Jennifer Gutshall, Executive Director, Cooperative Development Institute, South Deerfield, MA.

Speakers: Robin Chesmer, Manager, The Farmers Cow, LLC, Lebanon, CT; Jennifer Gutshall, Executive Director, Cooperative Development Institute, South Deerfield, MA.

When does it make sense for farmers to join together in a business venture to be able to supply or a common market or to purchase materials, other goods or services together? What is involved with starting a member-owned business? How do I decide whether a cooperatively structured business is right for me? Bring all your questions and concerns about working with others to this step by step exploration of the cooperative business model.

Business Planning/Partnerships

Farm Transfer and Succession

Moderator: Scott Davis, Farm Viability Program Team Leader, Mass. Dept. of Agricultural Resources

Speakers: Kathy Ruhf, Principal, Land for Good, Inc., Belchertown, MA; Rick Chandler, Director, Agricultural Business Training Program, Mass. Dept. of Agricultural Resources

Farm transfer and succession are critical issues for thousands of New England farmers. With planning and support, farm families can meet their farm transfer goals. This workshop will go over the basics of farm transfer, what's involved in transfer planning, and where to go for help.

Consumer Connections

Boosting Market Profits

Moderator: Sonia Schloemann, Small Fruit Specialist, University of Massachusetts Extension, Amherst, MA.

Speaker: Nada Haddad, Extension Educator, Agricultural Resources, University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension, Rockingham County.

Whether you’ve been selling at a market for several years or you’re in your first season, an eye-catching, well merchandized display of fresh, top-quality products attracts customers and keeps them buying week after week. Improve your bottom line with practical, low cost tips for marketing your products, your space and your farm.

Market Opportunities

Website Basics: Part II

Moderator: Mark Lattanzi, Campaign Director, Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture, South Deerfield, MA.

Speakers: Rick LeBlanc, Marketing Specialist, Massachusetts Department of Agricultural- Resources, Boston, MA; Andre Tougas, Tougas Family Farm, Northboro, MA; Sam McClellan, Netcera, Hadley, MA.

Website Marketing/ Making the most of your Website. How to make your website better and how to get more hits How consumers are finding your site. How to read reports and tracking your customers. How often you should update your site. We will look at some examples of farm sites and how they work and we will talk about farm organizations that bring consumers to your site.

Value Added/Food Safety

A Dose of Production and Marketing Reality: Regulatory Issues, Facility Considerations for Production, Marketing and Distribution

Moderator: Bonita Oehlke, Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources, Boston, MA.

Speakers: Joe Czacjowski, Joe Czacjowski Farms, Hadley, MA; Herb Heller, Program Manager, Western Massachusetts Food Processing Center, Greenfield, MA; Michelle Howard, Linabella’s Gourmet Garlic Farm, LLC, Oakham, MA.

Herb Heller, Program Manager, Western Mass Food Processing Center, Greenfield, MA, will provide an overview of issues value-added producers need to understand including regulatory compliance, production facility considerations, In-house versus co-packing and marketing and distribution realities. Michelle Howard, Linabella’s Gourmet Garlic Farm, Oakham, MA will discuss how she graduated her gourmet pesto business from production in a shared use kitchen to her own facility, developed product line extensions and its impact on the business as well as her pesto sales and marketing. Joe Czajkowski, Joe Czacowski Farms, Hadley, MA, generates a higher dollar/acre income with the value-added produce he processes in a shared use kitchen and markets and distributes to schools. He will describe the steps he took to grow his business with cut and peeled vegetables and jams, and to develop his product marketing and distribution.