Teaching Direct Marketing and Small Farm Viability: Resources for Instructors, 2nd Edition. Introduction
Teaching Direct Marketing and Small Farm Viability: Resources for Instructors, 2nd Edition. Introduction

Author: Jan Perez

Publisher:

Published: 2015

Total Pages:

ISBN-13:

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For farmers, growing quality crops is just one step in running a successful farm--making the farm or market garden economically viable requires another suite of skills, including finding land, planning what crops to grow, marketing the crops, managing income and expenses, and addressing food safety and labor issues. At the University of California, Santa Cruz Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems (CASFS), the Farm & Garden Apprenticeship instructors have put together a new instructional resource filled with lessons to teach these skills. Teaching Direct Marketing and Small Farm Viability: Resources for Instructors, 2nd Edition is a companion volume to CASFS's first training manual, Teaching Organic Farming and Gardening: Resources for Instructors. Revised and expanded in 2015, the first teaching resource has met with widespread praise from educators across North America. Teaching Direct Marketing and Small Farm Viability builds on our experience educating nearly 1,500 apprentice growers in organic production, farm and business planning, direct marketing at a roadside farm stand and to local restaurants, and Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) management through hands-on training in the running of our 135-member CSA program. Published in 2015, the new edition of Teaching Direct Marketing and Small Farm Viability: Resources for Instructors is organized into nine units, four focusing on marketing and five covering other topics related to making a small farm economically viable. Included are lessons and resources for running a CSA project, selling at farmers' markets, forming collaborative marketing groups and grower cooperatives, and selling to restaurants. Also covered are strategies to reach customers using social media and on-farm events, improve small farm planning, including enterprise visioning and market assessment; creating a business plan, including marketing and crop plans; understanding basic bookkeeping and tax issues; and managing time a

Small Farm Handbook, 2nd Edition
Small Farm Handbook, 2nd Edition

Author: Laura Tourte

Publisher: UCANR Publications

Published: 2011

Total Pages: 194

ISBN-13: 1601076983

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Since its publication in 1994, the Small Farm Handbook has been an essential resource for California’s small farmers and the agricultural professionals advising them – selling over 4300 copies. Now this invaluable reference has been updated and expanded for today’s small-scale producers. The handbook covers three essential areas: Background skills and knowledge, the business side, and the farming side Within these broad areas you’ll find specific chapters on: Requirements for Successful Farming Growing Crops Raising Animals Farm and Financial Management Marketing and Product Sales Labor Management Also included are profiles of six small farm operators representing a sample of California’s diverse agriculture. Throughout you’ll get a look at emerging trends and issues for California agriculture and innovative methods for better production and management, all of which can lead to better farm performance. Drawing upon the knowledge of 32 experts from the University of California, No other publication covers the topics, issues, and facets of California’s small-scale agriculture with this depth or level of expertise. From the basics to risk management, specialty crops to marketing and product sales, this guide covers the gamut.

Teaching Organic Farming and Gardening
Teaching Organic Farming and Gardening

Author: Martha Brown

Publisher:

Published: 2015-02-23

Total Pages: 704

ISBN-13: 9780982878101

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Drawing on nearly 50 years of teaching organic farming and gardening, the staff of the UC Santa Cruz Farm & Garden Apprenticeship and invited authors have developed an updated and expanded resource for instructors based on many of the skills and concepts taught in UCSC's annual Apprenticeship in Ecological Horticulture program. Teaching Organic Farming & Gardening: Resources for Instructors, 3rd Edition addresses practical aspects of organic farming and gardening, applied soil science, and social and environmental issues in agriculture. New features of the 3rd Edition include revised and expanded lecture outlines, new demonstrations and exercises, detailed narrative supplements to support lecture topics, and new appendices and illustrations. Although much of the material has been developed for field or garden demonstrations and skill building, most of the units can also be tailored to a classroom setting.The 700-page manual was produced by UCSC's Center for Agroecology & Sustainable Food System and is designed for a wide audience of those involved in teaching farming and gardening skills and sustainable agriculture concepts, including colleges and universities with sustainable agriculture programs, student farms or gardens, and on-farm education programs; urban agriculture, community garden, and farm training programs; farms with internships or apprenticeships; agriculture extension stations; school gardening programs; organizations such as the Peace Corps, US AID, and other groups that provide international training in food growing and ecological growing methods; and master gardener programs.

Sustainable Market Farming
Sustainable Market Farming

Author: Pam Dawling

Publisher: New Society Publishers

Published: 2013-02-01

Total Pages: 459

ISBN-13: 1550925121

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Growing for 100 - the complete year-round guide for the small-scale market grower. Across North America, an agricultural renaissance is unfolding. A growing number of market gardeners are emerging to feed our appetite for organic, regional produce. But most of the available resources on food production are aimed at the backyard or hobby gardener who wants to supplement their family's diet with a few homegrown fruits and vegetables. Targeted at serious growers in every climate zone, Sustainable Market Farming is a comprehensive manual for small-scale farmers raising organic crops sustainably on a few acres. Informed by the author's extensive experience growing a wide variety of fresh, organic vegetables and fruit to feed the approximately one hundred members of Twin Oaks Community in central Virginia, this practical guide provides: Detailed profiles of a full range of crops, addressing sowing, cultivation, rotation, succession, common pests and diseases, and harvest and storage Information about new, efficient techniques, season extension, and disease resistant varieties Farm-specific business skills to help ensure a successful, profitable enterprise Whether you are a beginning market grower or an established enterprise seeking to improve your skills, Sustainable Market Farming is an invaluable resource and a timely book for the maturing local agriculture movement.

Farmer Jane
Farmer Jane

Author: Temra Costa

Publisher: Gibbs Smith

Published: 2010

Total Pages: 226

ISBN-13: 1423605624

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Farmer Jane profiles thirty women in the sustainable food industry, describing their agriculture and business models and illustrating the amazing changes they are making in how we connect with food. These advocates for creating a more holistic and nurturing food and agriculture system also answer questions on starting a community-supported agriculture (CSA) program, how to get involved in policy at local and national levels, and how to address the different types of renewable energy and finance them.

Teaching Direct Marketing and Small Farm Viability: Resources for Instructors, 2nd Edition. Unit 6 - Building Resilience: Small Farm Planning and Operations
Teaching Direct Marketing and Small Farm Viability: Resources for Instructors, 2nd Edition. Unit 6 - Building Resilience: Small Farm Planning and Operations

Author: Jan Perez

Publisher:

Published: 2015

Total Pages:

ISBN-13:

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This unit is about integrated farm planning. The goal of this approach to planning is to integrate the crop plan, the marketing plan, the financial plan, and the time management plan in order to minimize risk and maximize return.All businesses have to manage uncertainty, but farmers face significant risks that are beyond their control, including the vagaries of nature, the fiercely competitive global market, land access challenges, and increased demands from local markets for ever-improved food safety plans and marketing materials. The farmer does not know what will happen each year, but over the life of the farm all of these pressures (and more) will surely influence the farmer's success. While larger farmers selling into the undifferentiated commodity market can manage a great deal of production and marketing risk with crop insurance and marketing contracts, small-scale direct-market farmers have to manage their risks with their wits.As with many things in farming, diversity--combined with planning--is the key. The lectures, exercises, and background scenario presented in Units 6.0-6.4 provide a framework for planning and operating a small direct-market farm to ensure resilience in an ever-changing world.

Teaching Direct Marketing and Small Farm Viability: Resources for Instructors, 2nd Edition. Part 9 - Land Tenure Options and Strategies
Teaching Direct Marketing and Small Farm Viability: Resources for Instructors, 2nd Edition. Part 9 - Land Tenure Options and Strategies

Author: Jan Perez

Publisher:

Published: 2015

Total Pages:

ISBN-13:

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Affordable and secure access to land is crucial for assuring both the economic viability of small-scale agriculture and the adoption and use of sound land stewardship practices. In order to help beginning farmers secure long-term land tenure in the face of development and increasing land prices, new and innovative options for land tenure must be explored. This unit introduces students to a range of strategies that may be used to secure affordable access to land. Although the focus is on those farming or seeking farmland in California, this information will also be useful in other regions.Lecture 1 examines the challenge of finding affordable farmland, and outlines various land tenure options, including leasing and purchasing, and alternative models such as community land trusts and shared ownership arrangements.Lecture 2 offers "how to" information on finding land and developing a lease agreement. It also identifies government programs that offer help to beginning farmers who are looking for land and improving farmland.