One reason young people aren't farming

One of the challenges for young people who wanted to get started as farmers is the amount of student loan debt they have taken on.  The need to repay that debt can prevent them from taking on the start up costs of a farm.

Read more about the issue on NESAWG's website.and review the Young Farmer Success Act proposed in Congress.

Land use leadership training

While farmers are out in the fields growing our food, decisions are made in town halls that impact the future of local agriculture. A new program plans to help residents develop leadership skills for participating in local planning meetings and speaking up for the farms in their community.

Young farmers conference

Every December, hundreds of beginning farmers from across the United States gather at Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture in Pocantico Hills, New York to learn from agricultural luminaries, peers, and advocacy organizations at the Young Farmers Conference. On December 2-4, 2015, Stone Barns Center will host the 8th annual Young Farmers Conference, providing participants with access to inspiring keynotes and unique workshops that address soil science, technical skills, agricultural policy, farm business management, conservation and more.

Stone Barns Center is offering a limited number of farmer scholarships to the 2015 Young Farmers Conference. Scholarships cover the cost of conference registration, December 3-4; recipients are expected to cover the cost of their lodging and travel expenses to and from the conference. For more info and an application, please click here. Applications are due by 5PM EST on Wednesday, August 12, 2015. 

Northern NY Food Hub Survey Preliminary Results Available

The Northern New York Agricultural Development Program has posted preliminary results of a survey asking regional consumers, food buyers, and farmers about their interest in developing a local food hub.

The goal is to gauge interest by the key players needed to make a local food hub successful. A food hub that efficiently coordinates ordering and delivery of local products can increase sales, while reducing costs for farmers, and reduce the number of miles food travels to its destination, said project leader Anita Deming, executive director of Cornell Cooperative Extension of Essex County.

The USDA identifies a regional food hub as a business or organization that actively manages the aggregation, distribution and marketing of source-identified food products primarily from local and regional producers to strengthen their ability to satisfy wholesale, retail, and institutional demand.

One hundred and twenty-five farmers, 25 buyers and 254 consumers completed the confidential survey conducted by the Cornell Cooperative Extension associations in NNY. Cornell University Cooperative Enterprise Program Director Roberta Severson with the Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management is analyzing the survey data.

Sixty-six percent of the farmers surveyed indicated they sell 75 to 100 percent of their products within the Northern NY region that includes Clinton, Essex, Franklin, Jefferson, Lewis and St. Lawrence counties.

Major food marketing areas identified were Canton, Lake Placid, Lowville, Malone, Plattsburgh and Watertown.

The types of market channels used by the farmers responding to the survey include farmstands, farmers markets, wholesalers or distributors, CSA, restaurants, food co-ops or buyers clubs, grocery stores, auctions, and institutions.

The types of services producers indicated they were interested in receiving from a food hub include pickup, washing, grading, packing, cooling of products; freezer storage; processing; and handling of sales and marketing so they can focus on food production.

Nearly 100 percent of the farmers reporting more than $100,000 in sales indicated they are full-time farmers, with a high percentage of those farmers indicating they have more than 30 years’ experience in agriculture.

Overall, consumers responding to the survey considered local as food produced in Northern NY or in their home county. The most frequently purchased products were vegetables and fruit. Nearly 60 percent of the consumers surveyed indicated they purchase local products at least once a month.

Preliminary results are posted on the Northern New York Agricultural Development Program website at www.nnyagdev.org. Data from the food buyers survey that included stores, restaurants, co-packers, and schools will be available later this year.

The Northern New York Agricultural Development Program is a farmer-driven research and technical assistance program serving Clinton, Essex, Franklin, Jefferson, Lewis and St. Lawrence counties. Funding for the Northern New York Agricultural Development Program is supported by the New York State Senate and administered through the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets.

This survey project also received a USDA Specialty Crops Block Grant administered by the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets. 

New farmers market manager certification program

The Farmers Market Federation of NY, in partnership with SUNY Cobleskill and Cornell Cooperative Extension of Broome County, is pleased to announce the first ever Farmers Market Managers Professional Certification Course to kickoff November 10^th to 12^th on the SUNY Cobleskill Campus: FMM PRO.  This program will create New York State’s first Market Manager Certification designation and will be recognized through the SUNY system.

The FMM PRO course curriculum will include all aspects of maintaining and growing a successful farmers market given in 22 workshops covering 3 main topics:

1.    Nuts and Bolts of Managing Markets
2.    Reaching Out to the Market Community
3.    Building Market Systems

Program participants who complete the full curriculum will be receive certificates signed by the three partnering agencies and will have earned the title of Certified Market Manager. As a SUNY FMM PRO Certified Market Manager, graduates of the program will:

·         Be fully knowledgeable in today’s best practices for managing farmers markets
·         Learn tactics to expand and optimize their farmers market
·         Be equipped to build successful relationships with farmers and shoppers
·         Be able to use their certification to leverage funding and support for their market

The cost of the SUNY Farmers Market Managers Professional Certification will be an affordable $200 for 12 months of access to the online curriculum.  Participants will need to complete all 22 sessions within this time frame, including submitting a quiz and assignment from each section for review in order to receive certification.  In addition, they will need to earn 2 continuing education credits bi-annually by attending special sessions at the Federation’s annual Farmers Market Managers Conference and/or specified manager training webinars in order to keep their Certification active.  

For more information, visit: http://www.nyfarmersmarket.com/fmmpro.

FMM PRO is funded by a grant from Governor Cuomo’s Fresh Connect Program, as part of the Governor’s initiative to build bridges between Upstate NY and Downstate NY, as well as build connections between consumers and NYS agriculture.  

Food choices and the grocery check-out line

Earlier this week, the Center for Science in the Public Interest launched a new report that looks at how retail marketing manipulates food choices. “Temptation at Checkout: The Food Industry’s Sneaky Strategy for Selling More” makes the case that the retail environment should be shaped not only by profit but also by public health considerations.

The report offers some suggestions for consumers, store managers, and public policy.

Clarkson University Professor Helps Run Potsdam Neighborhood Center Summer Lunch Program

Everywhere he has lived, Clarkson University Assistant Professor of Physical Therapy Ali Boolani has strived to help feed the children in his community.

Boolani and his daughter would spend weekends preparing peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to distribute to children in need when they lived in Tennessee, Oklahoma, Georgia and Louisiana. After arriving in Potsdam, N.Y. in 2014, he approached the Potsdam Neighborhood Center about starting a PB&J program there.

Boolani said his community supported him when he was growing up as an immigrant in the United States, so he wants to give back to the next generation. By volunteering with his daughter, he hopes to share an appreciation for helping others.

"My goal is to be there for the kids because somewhere someone was there for me," he said.

The PB&J program this year is supplying 25 lunches per day, five days a week throughout July and part of August while school is out for the summer. Lunches include sandwiches, fruit, a cracker snack, yogurt and water, and the meals are distributed through the Pine Street Arena Recreation program.

Potsdam Neighborhood Center Director Daisy Cox said unlike areas with more concentrated populations, the North Country faces a summer feeding program conundrum. In order to have a congregate summer food program that is financially viable, the organization has to serve a large number of children. Because of the long distances between communities, children would have to be bussed in to a site to receive meals.

Moreover, Cox said the need for summer feeding programs is growing. While some areas of the economy seem to be improving, Cox said she has observed a 27 percent increase of children in need of food in the North Country.

"We need to be mindful that while we've had some economic growth, it's not enough to carry an entire family," she said.

Boolani is collaborating with the Potsdam Neighborhood Center to determine how to expand PB&J and reach more children throughout the summer.

"Our vision is to grow this, and the more lives we can touch, the better," he said.

PB&J is supported with grants and gifts from donors, including members the community, the Youth Philanthropy Council of the Northern New York Community Foundation and Walmart. The program also relies on the help of volunteers to coordinate the distribution of lunches during the day.

People interested in supporting PB&J can call the Potsdam Neighborhood Center at 315-265-3920, or send donations to 2 Park St., Potsdam, NY 13676. The Potsdam Neighborhood Center is one of many programs administered by the local community action agency, St. Lawrence County Community Development Program.