Promoting the Strength of Minnesota's Agricultural Economy
Welcome to the MDA Marketing Minute,
the marketing e-newsletter from the Minnesota Dept. of Agriculture |
New Minnesota Grown Directory Now Available
Buy local. It's all the rage!
At the Minnesota Department of Agriculture, we're hoping the buy local trend is here to stay and we're doing our part to make it easy for consumers to find locally grown products through the 2010 Minnesota Grown Directory.
Gracing the directory cover again this year is Minnesota Grown Spokesperson and Olympian Carrie Tollefson, a staunch advocate for eating fresh, healthy, locally grown foods.
MDA Marketing Specialist Brian Erickson says consumers who use this directory can be confident they will find what they want when it comes to local foods and other agricultural products.
"Packed with a record 840 listings, the directory is easily Minnesota's most comprehensive print and online guide to local foods," says MDA Agriculture Marketing Specialist Brian Erickson. The directory includes 120 farmers' markets, 107 apple orchards, 58 CSA farms, along with many berry patches, garden centers and other places where you can purchase products directly from the farmer.
Printing of the directory is paid for by MDA, listed farms and markets, and through the support of many advertising sponsors, including repeat title sponsor, Minnesota Farmers Union (www.mfu.org). The Minnestoa Grown Directory is available FREE in print form by calling 1-800-657-3878 or online at www.minnesotagrown.com |
 Farmers Markets Set to Open
May is an exciting month for vendors and consumers alike when many Minnesota farmers markets open for the season. MDA's Ag Marketing Services staff teamed up recently with the Minnesota Farmers Market Association (MFMA) to help vendors and market operators prepare for the upcoming season.
At the MFMA's annual spring conference, vendors and farmers market operators learned how to host special events that will draw a crowd and about the art of visual merchandising. They also got ideas on how to ramp up from being a good vendor to becoming a great one, i.e., the vendor that always has customers!
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Ag is Major Export Sector in MN
Agriculture is the second largest exporting sector in Minnesota (after manufacturing), and contributes 26 percent of Minnesota's total exports to the world. More than one-third of the state's agricultural products are shipped overseas and establishing and maintaining export markets for these products is a major objective of MDA's Ag Marketing Services.
While Minnesota ranks 21st in population, we are 6th in agriculture production among all states. Since 2000, Minnesota's agricultural exports achieved an average annual growth rate of 12 percent which is higher than the national average. The year 2008 marked a historical high for Minnesota's agricultural exports, with a total value of $5.5 billion compared to $2.2 billion in 2000.
MDA has hosted trade missions to all the top markets for Minnesota's agricultural exports including Mexico (with a 13% market-share), Japan (12.8%), China (12.5%), Canada (11%), Korea (6%), and Taiwan (4%). Together, these top six markets account for almost 60 percent of Minnesota's total agricultural exports.
Minnesota's top agricultural export commodities include soybeans, corn, livestock and meat, wheat, dairy, animal feed, and poultry. The 2008 agricultural export data (the latest year available) shows an impressive overall growth for all commodities:
Commodity exports - value and growth:
Soybeans: $1.7 billion - 57% growth from 2007 to 2008;
Corn: $1.6 billion - 65% growth;
Wheat: $642 million - 73% growth;
Live animals and meat: $534 million - 46% growth;
Dairy: $191 million - 69% growth;
Feeds and fodder: $142 million - 31% growth;
Poultry: $107 million - 17% growth.
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 This year the Living Green Expo has a new focus to help attendees find easy ways to make manageable changes to live healthier and more sustainably. For example, it will include a marketplace with Eco-Artists and local farmers, with more than double the local food options. More experts will be on hand to answer questions and help build personal goals. Minnesota Grown is a co-sponsor of this family-friendly event featuring more than 250 local exhibitors, workshops and demonstrations - one of the largest and most successful green events of its kind. The Living Green Expo is May 1-2 at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds.
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AG STATS
The Minnesota Grown Program has more than 1000 members. Due to increased demand, more than 190,000 copies of the popular Minnesota Grown Directory were printed this year.
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BIOMASS Event
May 4-6 in Mpls
Is there a biomass industry in Minnesota?
Those attending the 2010 BIOMASS Conference will get a better sense of this emerging industry from experts presenting information on topics ranging from anaerobic digestion and gasification to pyrolysis and combined heat and power.
Potential producers of biomass-derived power, fuels and chemicals have the opportunity to network with waste generators, energy crop growers, utility executives, municipal leaders and other players in today's biomass utlitization movement.
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Finding New Ways to Feed the Hungry
It's no small task but the Feeding Minnesota Task Force is facing it's legislative challenge head-on. Created by the 2009 Legislature, the mission of the 13-member task force is to figure out a way to get surplus Minnesota grown foods to those who need it.
Task force members recently visited the Southeastern Minnesota Food Network, Wescott Orchards, Burt's Custom Meat Processors, Lakeside Foods, Fairview Farms and SeKapp Orchards all in southeastern MN to gather information from growers, processors and distributors about the feasibility of creating a surplus food distribution system.
"The tour really helped us get a feel for how large a surplus there may be," said MDA Assist.Commissioner Robin Kinney who serves as chair of the task force. "It's encouraging that these producers and processors agree excess food shouldn't go to waste and that they believe a system can be created to channel the surplus to the hungry."
The Feeding Minnesota Task Force will issue its recommendations to the Legislature next fall.
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