Regional needs assessments identify regoinal food system infrastructure gaps, including for dry, refrigerated and frozen storage, food processing facilities, grain handling and storage, and aggregation, distribution for collective marketing. Among other problems, lack of farm infrastructure in the region is dampening market opportunities, and likely contributing to long-term loss of farmland. Since 1950, farmland has dropped from 170,640 to 76,000 acres in Thurston County, and from 304,253 to 132,839 in Lewis County. Value-added production systems, regionalized aggregation and distribution networks, and community-based value-added processing provide improve access for crop producers and improve food system resilience in the region. Funding for this project has been provided by the Port of Olympia.
Market Research
South Sound Food Processing Facility Project
A WSU Thurston County Extension project that is exploring the potential of a vegetable processing facility to expand market access for crop producers in the south Puget Sound.
Direct marketing
WSU Food Systems Team
A collection of resources maintained by the WSU Food Systems Team to assist agricultural producers.
Farmer-to-Consumer Marketing
PNW Extension Manual PNW201E
- Part 1: An Overview
- Part 2: Production and Marketing Costs
- Part 3: Merchandising, Pricing, Promotion
- Part 4: Place of Business and Product Quality
- Part 5: Personnel Management
These bulletins looks at creating a venture to meet the grower’s needs within the framework of the consumer’s desires. Topics focus on basic evaluation and goal determination that suggest methods to match the seller’s abilities and personality with the project. Presents advantages and disadvantages of direct marketing efforts such as roadside stands, farmers markets, and rent-a-tree.
Crop Insurance Options for Specialty, Diversified, and Organic Farmers
,
by Jeff Schahczenski, NCAT
This publication reviews federally subsidized crop insurance, with special attention to options available to specialty, diversified, and organic farmers. Generally, the greater the diversity or specialization of the crops and livestock farmers grow, the more difficult it can be for them to obtain insurance that fully covers the value and risks of their production. This publication gives several examples of using alternative crop-insurance policies that can offer some degree of protection from significant market-price changes and the multiple perils of farming that can impact yield. It gives special attention to understanding whole-farm revenue insurance options, which may be of particular interest to growers of diverse specialty and organic crops and livestock.
Marketing Alternatives for Fresh Produce
PNW Extension Manual PNW0241E
New marketing opportunities for Pacific Northwest vegetable and fruit growers are exciting and inventive. Increased public desire for nutritious and minimally processed food grown locally and sustainably translates into farmer-to-consumer sales through community-supported agriculture, farmers’ markets, agritourism, the Internet, restaurants, U-pick, and roadside stands. This updated publication also outlines grower options for selling wholesale; Idaho, Oregon, and Washington regulations for organic certification; transportation alternatives and their respective issues; and how to calculate postharvest costs and returns.
Videos
WSDA Farm Widsom: Managing Risk on Small Farms Video Series
The farmers featured in this series, two of which are located in Thurston County, are leaders in utilizing innovative and viable business and production practices to manage risk, and to build and maintain sustainable small-scale farms. The series includes 11 videos made possible by 2 consecutive Community Outreach and Assistance Partnership grants from USDA Risk Management Agency.
Poultry Processing Rental Equipment,
In this video, Colin Barricklow, Kirsop Farm in Tumwater, WA shares his diversified farm’s practices for cultivating row crops and small-scale poultry production for direct to consumer sales of up to 1,000 birds allowed for in the WSDA Special Poultry Permit. Food safety, animal husbandry, and predator control are essential components of Kirsop’s whole farm system.
Kirsten Workman of WSU Mason County Extension walks tour participants through on-farm poultry processing including how to use rental killing cones, scalder, and plucker that Kirsop uses in their commercial production.
Other
Flood Preparation and Recovery Video
Are you farming in a flood plain? “Assume it will happen every year”, even if it’s called a hundred-year event. This is the advice given by farmer Jennifer Belknap of Rising River Farm in Rochester, WA in the after having been through several major floods on her farm. The aftermath can be less damaging to your farm’s bottom line if you have adequate flood insurance and a well laid-out plan that includes creating storage for equipment, livestock, and crops that will protect them from floodwaters.