Announcing Sheri Salatin as 2013 AGRItunity Speaker!

The AGRItunity 2013 Conference and Trade Show planning committe is excited to announce the selection of a keynote speaker for the January 26 conference. Sheri Salatin is the marketing director at Polyface Farm and stay-at-home mom of three children. Sheri is passionate about clean food and enjoys working the land along side her husband, Daniel.

Sheri was influential in getting the buying clubs up and running and now oversees 25 drop locations throughout Virginia and Maryland with over 3,000 families. The buying clubs are nurtured under her direct oversight and she is the go-to person for all questions about marketing to metropolitan areas.
Through real life experiences, Sheri has honed her skills and shares some of the best ways to approach and sell to some of the top chefs in the world.
Polyface services more than 4,000 families, 10 retail outlets, and 50 restaurants through on-farm sales and metropolitan buying clubs with salad bar beef, pastured poultry, eggmobile eggs, pigaerator pork, forage-based rabbits, pastured turkey and forestry products through relationship marketing.
Today Sheri spends her days juggling marketing, website maintenance, blogging, motherhood, and farming. At thirty-one, Sheri is married to husband Daniel and has two sons Travis and Andrew and one daughter Lauryn.

Registration is open for AGRItunity at http://sumter.ifas.ufl.edu   We are also seeking vendors for the famous AGRItunity Trade Show.  Mark your calendars for a great day - January 26, 2013!

 

SARE Grants for Producers Available Now

Each year two Producer Grants are offered by Southern Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) to any farmer or group of farmers in the southern United States. The Call for Proposals is available now and proposals are due November 15, 2012. Both grants provide funding to help a producer improve processes on the farm but do not pay a farmer to farm.

 

The On-Farm Research Grant Program is a grant that is applied for by a county extension agent, university researcher, or other agencies that regularly work with farmers.  The proposal is to be written with the producer for a research project on their farm that can last up to two years.  The funding is provided for costs of sampling, materials and supplies, field day expenses, travel, and hired labor and can be provided up to a maximum of $15,000.

 

The Producer Grant is similar but is applied for by the farmer for an innovative sustainable practice that they are not currently doing but would like to try.  The purpose of the grant is to help pay for the risk of trying new practices, and also to provide funding to share the results with other farmers at a field day.  Unlike the On-Farm Research Grant the farmer submits the proposal but an extension agent must still be involved to assist in the project. 

 

The Producer Grant will pay for the same expenses as the On-Farm Research Grant but is limited to $10,000 for an individual farmer or $15,000 for a producer group. Areas of focus for both grants are: Beneficial Insect Habitat, Alternative Crops/Animals, Organic Agriculture, Sustainable Marketing Projects, Sustainable Grazing Systems, Soil Organic Matter Building/Protection Management, Increasing Sustainability of Existing Farming Practices, Appropriate Technology and Agroforestry/Water Quality.

 

Contact the UF/IFAS Sumter County Extension Office at (352) 793-2728 x236 to learn more or go to the Southern SARE website at ssare@uga.edu.

New Market Coming to Center Hill!

The City of Center Hill is starting a Farmers' Market in October and just in time for great farm fresh produce!  It is my hope that this will become a destination market, drawing visitors to the charming and unique town of Center Hill.  Once the "Green Bean Capital", the officials in Center Hill are hoping to encourage the farmers and producers in the area to become vendors, as well as new visitors.  Here is the press release:

The City of Center Hill will be starting a Farmers’ Market this October!  At the Market, locally grown produce, Cottage Foods, and crafts will be available.  Market days will be as follows - the first and third Saturday of each month.  It will be open for buyers from 8:00 AM to Noon.  We will be holding the market in the old downtown area of Center Hill, known as Market Street.   It is our goal to create the best farmers’ market experience for the whole family and our vendors.  We would also like to take this time to inquire about any local musical talents who would be interested in performing at the market.  We are looking for vendors for vegetables, plants, crafts, and cottage good vendors.  At this time, we are taking applications from potential vendors.  For more information please call City Hall at 352-793-4431.

 

The Conference Starts Today!

It’s all about food.  Whether you are growing it, promoting it, researching better varieties of it, buying it or cooking it you can’t miss the Saturday events at the Florida Small Farms and Alternative Enterprises Conference. The fourth version of the conference will be more focused on local foods than ever before with small farmers learning new ways to market fresh foods to restaurants, grocery stores, schools and communities.

Saturday will begin with delicious morning refreshments and lunch skillfully prepared by SAVOR of Osceola Heritage Park using products sourced directly from Florida farmers. Keynote speaker Michael Shuman will provide an address that will illuminate the economic benefits of purchasing and eating locally produced foods. Eighteen concurrent workshop sessions will provide a wide range of information for producers. Ninety-three trade show vendors will display products and supplies used in the business of producing food.

At 5:30pm the Networking Social will bring it all together with six exciting and distinguished chefs, live entertainment, hors d’oevures and beverages. Sample beverages from Florida Farm wineries, breweries and fruit juice producers. Network with the producers of these delicious beverages who also support local foods and local foodsheds in FL.

Experience scrumptious hors d'oeuvres showcased by Florida celebrity chefs using foods from Florida farmers! For example, there will be Chef Greg Baker from the Refinery Restaurant in Tampa, Chef Darwin Santa Maria of Darwin’s on the 4th Restaurant/Brewery in Sarasota, Chef Tony Adams of Big Wheel Provisions in Orlando, Chef Dak Kerprich of Pizzeria Oceano in Palm Beach, Chipotle Chefs, and our own Executive Chef Tony Donnelly of Osceola Heritage Park and SAVOR. Come interact with these chefs and learn how to network with these leaders of the local foods movement in Florida. The music for the social will be provided by Mark Gaignard with the Mr. Ainsworth Band.

The organizers of the Florida Small Farms and Alternative Enterprises Conference are the University of Florida and Florida A & M University. The conference opens today and will continue through Sunday at the Osceola Heritage Park, 1875 Silver Spur Lane Kissimmee, FL 34744. The conference website is http://conference.ifas.ufl.edu/smallfarms

Michael Shuman Keynote Speaker!

The Florida Small Farms and Alternative Enterprises Conference announces their keynote speaker for 2012. Michael Shuman will be featured on Saturday, July 28^th, sponsored by the Florida Food Policy Council. Michael H. Shuman is an economist, attorney, author, and entrepreneur, and Director of Research and Marketing for Cutting Edge Capital. He has authored, coauthored, or edited eight books. His most recent book, just published by Chelsea Green, is Local Dollars, Local Sense: How to Move Your Money from Wall Street to Main Street and Achieve Real Prosperity. His previous book, The Small Mart Revolution: How Local Businesses Are Beating the Global Competition (Berrett-Koehler, 2006), received a bronze prize from the Independent Publishers Association for best business book of 2006. He helped co-found BALLE, which represents 22,000 local businesses in North America in 80 communities, and is now a Fellow there. At Cutting Edge Capital, a consulting firm that helps communities and businesses solving finance challenges, he manages its economic development initiatives.

To register for the conference visit http://conference.ifas.ufl.edu/smallfarms

Small Farms Conference Registration Open!

Don't miss the 4th Annual Conference and Trade show!  Get in on the early bird registration now through July 9th.

Tons of new workshops, more hands-on, lots of vendors, delicious local foods.  Anyone who farms or is thinking of farming would benefit from attending this event.

Hands-On Fish Pond Management Workshop

Get up close and personal with the critters who live in this pond!  Dr. Chuck Cichra is coming to Wildwood on March 21st from 10 - 2PM to teach a  hands-on workshop for people interested in improving their farm ponds for fish. Water quality, fish stocking and management and aquatic weeds will be the topics. Lunch included but space is limited.  Please rsvp by calling Susan Kelly (352) 793-2728 x236 by Monday, March 19th.

Calling Women in Agriculture - Annie's Project Starts April 3

Annie's Project is a 6 week class for women in agriculture, focusing on financial management, risk management and other business aspects of farming.  The class is scheduled for six Tuesday evenings starting April 3, 2012 from 5:30PM to 8:30PM.  The class location is the West Central Florida Agriculture Education Center at the Sumter County Fairgrounds in Bushnell, FL.  The cost of the class is $60 which includes materials and a light supper for the six sessions.  UF/IFAS Extension Agents Susan Kelly, Julie England and Megan Brew are facilitators and many of the speakers will be from the local community as well as faculty members from the University of Florida. To register please call Susan Kelly at (352) 793-2728 x236.

Support Local Business Through Cash Mobs

On March 17 you can show your support for local farmers and businesses by Sharin' your green at the Wildwood Growers' Market! Show up by 10 AM, check in at the Chamber of Commerce table, and spend at least $20 with the market vendors. Then join us for a post mob bite! It is like a buy local pep rally!

Hope to see you there!

Exhibitors at the AGRItunity Conference

The trade show has become one of the favorite parts of the AGRItunity Conference - which is only 10 days away!  If you haven't registered yet - http://sumter.ifas.ufl.edu  Exhibitors and sponsors make it possible for us to provide a low cost conference.  Please come and visit them -

Here are the exhibitors we have so far!

Accuplastics

Ag Alliance of Citrus County - Silver Sponsor

Bioworks, Inc.

C & C Peat Company Inc.

Citrus County Cattlemen's Association

Farm Bureaus of Lake,Sumter,

Hernando/Citrus and Pasco Counties - Sustaining Sponsor

Farm Credit of Central Florida - Gold Sponsor

Florida Cracker Cow Association

Florida FGT, LLC

Florida SARE

Green and Growing Organics

Green World Path

Hillside Orchard Farms

Meat Sheep Alliance of Florida

Moore Ranch - Contributing Sponsor

Mothers Organics Inc.

Regions Bank

Sparr Building and Farm Supply

Sweet Pro Feeds

True Blue Plants

UF/IFAS Citrus REC

UF/IFAS Market Maker

UF/IFAS Small Farms Program

UF/IFAS FAWN

United Ag Services of America

Verti-Gro Inc. - Gold Sponsor High Mowing Organic Seeds - Sustaining Sponsor Citrus Visitors and Convention Bureau - Silver Sponsor Brandt Consolidated - Silver Sponsor United Irrigation Supply - Silver Sponsor Outdoor Exhibits Fields Equipment Everglades Farm Equipment Sock It Dewatering Educational Serenity Hills Llama Ranch Roanna Farms Antique Equipment Steve Melton Never Say Never Farm Sumter Shepherds 4-H Club