Small fresh produce growers seeking help from Delaware for value-added produce
Small fresh produce growers seeking help from Delaware for value-added produce
The Delaware Department of Agriculture in Dover has launched a project to help small-volume fresh produce farms develop value-added products.
According to an abstract provided by the department's Gary Pettit, "There are 199 small fresh produce farmers in Delaware that suffer not only from the constraints of their small acreages, but also from a commodity marketing model they have been in for years. Many of these farmers have told us they want to increase their profitability and believe they could do so if they could add value to the products they grow and sell them directly without going through a broker. These farmers also told us they need help in putting together a marketing model to enable them to be successful in this environment."
He added, "The Delaware Department of Agriculture Marketing team, in collaboration with the cooperative extension staff of Delaware State University, will mentor a group of farmers to help them develop ways to add value to their products, help them identify and overcome barriers they face and empower them to sell through all the direct-market channels available. We will use our successful farmer collaborators and our marketing model to reach out and mentor others in the years beyond our project."
(For more on the Eastern Shore deal, see the June 13 issue of The Produce News.)
According to an abstract provided by the department's Gary Pettit, "There are 199 small fresh produce farmers in Delaware that suffer not only from the constraints of their small acreages, but also from a commodity marketing model they have been in for years. Many of these farmers have told us they want to increase their profitability and believe they could do so if they could add value to the products they grow and sell them directly without going through a broker. These farmers also told us they need help in putting together a marketing model to enable them to be successful in this environment."
He added, "The Delaware Department of Agriculture Marketing team, in collaboration with the cooperative extension staff of Delaware State University, will mentor a group of farmers to help them develop ways to add value to their products, help them identify and overcome barriers they face and empower them to sell through all the direct-market channels available. We will use our successful farmer collaborators and our marketing model to reach out and mentor others in the years beyond our project."
(For more on the Eastern Shore deal, see the June 13 issue of The Produce News.)
