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Putting knowledge to work with the people of Maine
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Piscataquis & Penobscot
Farming Newsletter
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Volume 9 Number 12
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December 2011
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| Goal
The goal of the Piscataquis & Penobscot Farming Newsletter is to provide timely information on the production and marketing of crops and livestock grown in central Maine. Upcoming events and programs of interest will also be included. |
Mission
University of Maine Cooperative Extension is the major educational outreach program of the University of Maine, with offices statewide. UMaine Extension provides Maine people with research-based educational programs to help them live fuller, more productive lives. |
Local Weather Anytime
Many farming activities are driven by the weather. Our local National Weather Service in Caribou has meteorologists on staff 24 hours a day. They are willing to talk with you about rain predictions for your town. Give them a call at 492-0180. Or check out their online detailed maps at Weather |
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Quick Links
Find Piscataquis County on Facebook
Find Penobscot County on Facebook
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Underlined
Please note that underlined words and phrases link to webpages with more information. If you are unable to access these pages contact your local Extension Office for assistance.
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Marketing and Promotion Basics for Farmers and Value Added Agriculture Producers
Winter time is a great time to do your farm planning on paper to be ready for next year. Your Marketing Strategy: The 6 P's Once you know who you are, what you are selling and whom you are selling to, you need to determine your overall marketing strategy- how you plan to sell your product to your target market. A simple way of defining your marketing strategy is to break down your plan into the 6 P's: Product, Price, Position, Place, People and Promotion. We've already looked at your Product (in a previous article) so let's move to the next "P". P2-Price Pricing is an art as well as a science. You need to first calculate your costs (all of them, including your time!),so you will at least know your break-even point. Here are a few things to keep in mind when setting prices: - Remember that for a consumer, there are many factors to a purchase decision, and price is only one. Don't make the mistake of going too low in order to guarantee a sale.
- It is often easier to lower prices than to raise them.
- Know the true worth of your product and stand behind it. Customers can tell when you are sincere.
P3-Position Your position in the market place refers to how you will be viewed by your customers and competition. What features or benefits of your product will you highlight in order to appeal to your target market? Make these synonymous with your product. Say you're selling cookies and your target market is "children under the age of 5 and their health conscious moms". You would highlight the features and benefits of your product that appeal to your target markets: - Made with 100% organic ingredients: good for you
- Made with half the sugar of normal cookies
- Better for you than sweeter cookies but still taste great
- Uniquely designed bite-size shapes, fun and easy for little kids to eat
Your Position would be yummy, 100% organic, kid appealing, parent approved. Everything you do to market your cookies should revolve around your position. Your packaging, choice of design and colors, point of purchase literature, promotional strategies, etc. should all be synonymous with your position. What is your position in the market place? Will it be "gourmet"? "traditional"? "exotic"? "family-friendly"? Base your position on how customers perceive you- what customers find most appealing about your product. Choose a position and test it out with friends, colleagues or even a focus group to see if you've selected appropriately. Once you decide on a position, stick with it. Your position is key to your overall image in the market place. Source: McPhail, G, Farm Marketing & Image Building, Piscataquis Farming Newsletter, May to June 2006. |
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| Free Web Listing! Get Real Get Maine Site
The Maine Department of Agriculture has been providing a way for consumers to contact farmers to buy their agriculture products for many years. There are still some farms that direct market or wholesale their products who have not signed up for this service. Products listing includes fresh food products (apples, small fruits, vegetables, strawberries, wild blueberries, high bush blueberries, cranberries, fresh herbs, wild foods, beef, poultry, seafood, lamb, pork, eggs, potatoes, tomatoes, greens); value added food products (bakery products, grains, dry mixes, beverages, apple products, candy, snacks, maple syrup, maple products, jams, jellies, preserves, honey, sauces, condiments, pickles, relishes, processed vegetable or fruit products, dairy products, processed meats); non-food agricultural products (body care herbals or medicinal products made from ingredients you grow, Christmas trees and wreaths grown on your farm, fiver and fiber products from animals you raise, cut flowers, seedlings, perennials, greenhouse, nursery and horticulture products); and livestock and other live animals you raise and offer for sale (beef cattle, dairy cows, horses, hogs/swine, sheep, dairy goats, meat goats, llamas / alpacas, poultry, aquaculture).
Any farm or company that produces and sells food or other agricultural products that are primarily grown, raised, harvested or processed in Maine or if your company produces products that contain ingredients that are primarily grown, raised or harvested in Maine, you are invited to be part of this food and farm promotional web site.
To sign up for this free advertizing, go to http://www.getrealmaine.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/member.main/index.htm or call the Maine Department of Agriculture at 207-287-3871.
Winter time is the perfect time to set up this valuable marketing tool so you will be ready for summer. If you already have your information on the site, now is a great time to edit the information to be sure it is up-to-date.
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Looking for Farm Loans?
At one point or another farmers may need to make capital purchases or operating funds through a loan. Below are some sources of funding.
No Small Potatoes Investment Club of Maine. They will generally make loans of $5,000 or less, although they will consider other requests. They are most interested in making loans for equipment or special projects that will help a farm or food business operate more efficiently and/or support growth. They expect that the borrower will clearly show how the equipment or project will affect the borrower's business and whether the project will be successfully completed using the N.S.P. loan by itself or in conjunction with other funding. They will consider working capital loans, especially those that lower costs. They will generally not fund start-up businesses. Next round of applications deadline is January 27, 2012. For more information: No Small Potatoes; PelotonLabs, LLC, 795 Congress St. ,Portland, Maine 04102 or online at http://www.nosmallpotatoesinvestmentclub.com/
Finding Funds For Farmers The Maine Department of Agriculture's summer interns Robert Van Note and Jacqueline Lynch produced this revised publication to help you find financial resources for your farm and food business. This publication will provide you with most of the banks and grant programs available as of July, 2011. Not all private or philanthropic organizations are in this publication, and not all banks actually loan to farmers. Prospective farmers and food producers typically need patient capital, that is, capital that has a longer term payback and lower interest rates. Most farm and food businesses have limited assets as collateral, and profitability is usually low for a longer period of time than a traditional manufacturing business. Given these constraints, most applicants for loans need to understand the 5 C's of credit, and need to ask their lenders what is the most important criteria to get a loan. So, check out this detailed publication, and start the process. Check it out! Also feel free to contact our business development specialists at 207-287-3491 for further assistance. Funding for Farmers link |
2011-2012 Beginning Women Farmers Class to start soon!
Call or e-mail for an application NOW!!! This is the last year that the course will be offered for free.
What does this course offer...and what doesn't it?Whole Farm Planning, based on the principles of Holistic Management, is a method of setting goals, making decisions and testing those decisions to help you move closer to your goal. While there certainly is information that is presented (e.g., how to determine the number of animals that your pasture can maintain and be improved by), this is not a course that will address specific crops or will present best practices. It will help you learn to determine which are the best crops or practices for you.
The course requires between-meeting reading, and a commitment to the work of the course. For the financial planning session, for example, you are expected to review your own financial data - or begin to keep it if you have not yet done so. While there is a certain amount of passive learning, as in every "classroom" situation, there is also an expectation that you want to explore possibilities, experience growth or make a change in your farming enterprise...and that you will be willing to work at that. As no two farmers will have the same situation, no two farmers will find the same answers to questions or resolutions to problems. The effort that you put into the class will determine whether you make significant progress toward your goals.
What you will take away from the course is confidence: in your
decisions, in your ability to monitor them (and correct them if
necessary), and in the direction that you are heading. Expect that you will come away with a group of supportive peers who will help you move closer to your goal, as you will help them to move closer to theirs. The schedule to date (subject to change):
December 4, 2011: Introduction to holistic management, orientation & overview
January 8, 2012: Creating your whole farm goal and testing decisions
January 22, 2012: Financial Planning #1
February 12, 2012: Financial Planning #2
February 26, 2010: Business Planning Basics
March 11, 2012: Marketing
March 25, 2012: Leadership, communication and power: time management
April 15, 2012: Land and infrastructure planning
May 20, 2012: Grazing planning (on-farm session, with farm tour)
June 10, 2012: Soil fertility (on-farm, with farm tour)
Classes are offered for free, and include lunch.There is a mentor for the class who will keep in touch with you and will visit your farm once within the year.
For more information contact: Gail Chase, Community Development Manager, Kennebec Valley Council of Governments, 207 453-4258 ext. 218, gchase@kvcog.org, www.kvcog.org, Director, Maine WAgN -Women's Agricultural Network, 207 453-4258 ext. 218, wagnmaine@gmail.com |
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Items of Interest
- Winter Care and Feeding of Horses - Free Webinar
Winter can be tough for some horses depending on age or the climate that they have been adapted to. This webinar will cover some key points about the care and feeding management of horses to help them have a happy and healthy winter. Presenter Information: Carey A. Williams, Ph.D. joined Rutgers University in July 2003 as its equine Extension Specialist, and the associate director of outreach with the Equine Science Center taking an active role in teaching, conducting research and working with the equine and academic communities to ensure the viability of the horse industry in New Jersey. To view this archived session go to My Horse University - Winter Feeding Webinar - Cornell Winter Online Courses for Beginning Farmers
The long dark days of winter are the perfect time to dream and plan for the next growing season, and if you're already farming, to organize your records and look back at how last season went. Cornell offers several online courses to help you with this:
BF 102: Markets and Profits: Exploring the Feasibility of Your Farming Ideas will help you begin to think about markets and the potential to make money growing various crops.
BF 201: Pricing, Positioning in the Market, and Guerrilla Marketing
BF 104: Financial Records: Setting Up Systems to Track Your Profitability
BF 121: Veggie Farming: From Season-Long Care to Harvest is the second half of their popular Veggie Farming courses, but can be taken as a stand-alone course if you missed BF 120.
BF 122: Berry Production: Getting Started with Production and Marketing will get you started on the right foot with careful site selection and preparation, planning and marketing, and production considerations for strawberries, blueberries, brambles, and lesser-known berry crops.
The Cornell courses are taught by experienced Cooperative Extension educators, farmers, and other specialists. Courses are typically 6 weeks long, cost $175, and include both real-time meetings (online webinars) and on-your-own time reading and activities. They do not offer any academic credit, but those who successfully complete a course will receive a certificate and may improve their eligibility to receive a low-interest Farm Service Agency (FSA) loan.
To learn more about each course, please visit http://nebeginningfarmers.org/online-courses. From this site you can see their full calendar of courses, learn more about their instructors, see answers to Frequently Asked Questions, read details for each course, and even visit a sample online course. - On-farm Food Safety Project is a comprehensive national program that offers fruit and vegetable farmers, food safety professionals and agricultural extension specialists technical assistance to utilize and teach best practices in food safety. The project website includes resources including a free online tool, based on a comprehensive risk based framework, which generates customized on-farm food safety plans based on user input. The tool is designed for use by small to mid-scale fruit and vegetable growers and provides a full set of record keeping tools to document their food safety program and to provide training to their employees. Here is a link to the web site http://onfarmfoodsafety.org
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Featured UMaine Extension Publications / Store
The following agriculture related Extension publications are available or can be ordered at the Extension Office nearest you. You will notice that some publications are free and some have a cost recovery charge. Many other publications are available for free online or may be purchased at our secure publications web site.
- Embellisia Skin Blotch of Garlic Item #1204 Publisher: UMaine Extension. This 2-page fact sheet describes conditions for embellisia skin blotch of garlic symptoms and control in Maine. 2011. Download it for free, or buy a printout $0.50
- Herbaceous Perennials Production: A Guide from Propagation to Marketing Item #2435 Publisher: NRAES. 208-page comprehensive guide to growing perennial plants is for perennial growers as well as people who are thinking about getting involved in the industry. It focuses on nursery and greenhouse production of field or container perennials, but the greenhouse plug and bedding plant methods of perennial production are covered as well. The extensive appendices on propagation and pests will prove useful to all who grow perennials, whether commercially or at home. 1998. $27.00
- Storeys Guide to Raising Chickens Item #2234 Publisher: Storey Publishing. Gail Damerow. Described by Ron Macher of Small Farm Today magazine as "the best single book on chicken raising I have seen," this comprehensive guide covers choosing, housing, feeding, and managing a flock of meat birds or layers, as well as collecting and storing eggs, incubation and hatching, chick care, health care, and preparing chickens for show. Damerow is editor of Rural Heritage magazine and a contributor to Backyard Poultry magazine, and has raised chickens since 1970. 352 pages, 1995. $18.95
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Upcoming Events
- December 7th, 2011 Kitchen Licensing Workshop. 10:00 to 3:00 p.m. at MOFGA's Common Ground Education Center in Unity. Designed for farmers and others interested in home-food processing for resale. Licensing requirements, food safety, and liability insurance will be covered by panel members. For more information
- DECEMBER 13, 14, 15 2011, New England Vegetable & Fruit Conference and Trade Show will be held at the Radisson Hotel in Manchester, NH and will include more than 25 educational sessions over 3 days, covering major vegetable, berry and tree fruit crops as well as various special topics. A Farmer to Farmer meeting after each morning and afternoon session will bring speakers and farmers together for informal, in-depth discussion on certain issues. There is also an extensive Trade Show with over 100 exhibitors. The pre-registration fee to attend any part or all of the conference or trade show is $95 for the first member of the farm or business and $65 for each additional member (family or employee) when pre-registered with first member. The pre-registration fee for students (high school or college) is $45 each when pre-registered by the instructor. There is an additional fee of $30 ($20 for students) per person for late registration or walk-ins. You can register online at www.newenglandvfc.org/ or call 207-933-2100 for a brochure.
- December 17th, 2011 Beef Quality Assurance Training 9 am to 2 om Fort Fairfield, contact Cindy Kilgore with the Maine Department of Agriculture to register.
- December 28th, 2011 Maine Highlands Farmers - Potluck Supper at 6 pm at Donna Coffin's house in Dover-Foxcroft. www.mainehighlandsfarmers.com
- January 10 - 12, 2012 Maine Agricultural Trades Show, Augusta Civic Center.
- January 14 - 15, 2012 Northeast Horsemen's Conference & Trade Show, Augusta Civic Center
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January 20-22, 2012, 30th Annual Organic Farming and Gardening Conference, Saratoga Hilton and City Center, Saratoga, NY. United Nations has declared 2012 as the International Year of Cooperatives. Building on this momentum, NOFA-NY has chosen The Cooperative Economy for the theme of their 2012 Winter Conference. For more information go to www.nofanyconference.org For any questions on registration or to register over the phone contact Katie Nagle-Caraluzzo, Membership and Registration Coordinator at (585) 271-1979 ext. 512 or register@nofany.org. Scholarships are available.
- March 17, 2012 Grass Farmers Network and Beef Conference, Waterville
Need Pesticide credits? Check out the Maine Board of Pesticide credit calendar, many approved pesticide applicator recertification programs are listed. You can view the calendar on their web site at: Pesticide Recertification Credit Calendar
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Contact Info
Donna Coffin, Extension Educator
207-564-3301 or in Maine 1-800-287-1491
In complying with the letter and spirit of applicable laws and pursuing its own goals of diversity, the University System shall not discriminate on the grounds of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, including transgender status or gender expression, national origin, citizenship status, age, disability, or veteran's status in employment, education, and all other areas of the University System. The University provides reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities upon request.
A member of the University of Maine System
Information in this newsletter is provided purely for educational purposes. No responsibility is assumed for any problems associated with the use of products or services mentioned in this newsletter. No endorsement of products or companies is intended, nor is criticism of unnamed products or companies implied.
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SURFACE MAIL RECIPIENTS CAN CONTACT THEIR COUNTY EXTENSION OFFICE FOR FURTHER INFORMATION WHEN WEB LINKS ARE INCLUDED IN AN ARTICLE.
Piscataquis County Office 207-564-3301 or 800-287-1491
165 East Main Street Dover-Foxcroft, ME 04426
Penobscot County Office 207-942-7396 or 800-287-1485
307 Maine Avenue Bangor, ME 04401 |
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