2018 Baskets to Pallets Farmer Trainings

Baskets to Pallets at the 2018 NOFA-NY Winter Conference – Saratoga Springs, NY

January 21, 2018, 8:00-9:15am
Looking to diversify sales? Food hubs, groceries, restaurants and cooperatives are seeking your products, but these ‘intermediated’ channels require different marketing strategies. This workshop will include discussion and activities to prepare direct-marketing farmers to start building successful sales relationships with wholesale buyers.

This year’s conference theme —Healthy People, Healthy Planet­ — recognizes the intersection of health and agriculture. It will celebrate the production of nutritious food in an organic system that maintains and encourages the well-being of the earth and all inhabitants.
See the conference brochure for a full listing of workshops and events. To register for the conference, click here.

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Baskets to Pallets Two Day Training
Tug Hill Vineyards, Lowville, NY

January 29 & January 30, 10:00am – 4:00pm
The ‘Baskets to Pallets’ course is designed for farmers of all enterprises and will cover building relationships with buyers, customer management and record keeping, pricing, grading and packaging, uniformity and consistency, and food safety, among many other topics!  This fun course includes plenty of hands-on activities and opportunities for peer learning and small group discussion.  The course includes one break-out session for livestock and produce farmers. Additionally, the training includes an end-of-day session to start crop-planning for selling to the NNY Food Hub, based out of Jefferson county CCE, during the 2018 growing season.

The training cost is $35.00, which enables 2 people per farm to attend and includes breakfast refreshments and a delicious locally sourced lunch each day. Space is limited to 40 participants and early registration is encouraged. Lodging is available at Ridge View Lodge at a discounted rate of $80-90 per night.  Reserve by January 15th!

The ‘Baskets to Pallets’ course is co-hosted by the Cornell Small Farms Program, Cornell Cooperative Extension of Jefferson County, Cornell Cooperative Extension of Lewis County and funded via Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE).

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REGISTRATION OPEN: CLICK HERE

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Training Agenda

DAY 1: Monday, January 29^th

9:00am – 10:00am	Arrival. Enjoy breakfast refreshments
10:00am – 10:15am	Overview of the Training | Introductions	Violet Stone, Cathy Moore and Melissa Spence
10:15am – 10:30am	Consumer Trends and the Demand for Local	Violet Stone
10:30am – 11:00am	Market Channel Assessment	Lindsey Pashow
11:00am – 11:30am	Building Relationships with Buyers	Violet Stone
11:30am – 12:00pm	Perfecting the Pitch and Cold Calling	Violet Stone
Noon – 1:00pm	Lunch & Socializing
1:00pm – 1:30pm	Inform Your Buyers, Build Your Brand	Lindsey Pashow
1:30pm – 2:30pm	Buyer Q&A	Buyer Panel TBA
2:30pm – 3:30pm	The Ingredients of Good Marketing | Sell Sheets	Violet Stone
3:30pm – 4:00pm	Crop Planning for the Food Hub Meeting: for farmers interested in selling to the Food Hub	Cathy Moore

DAY 2: Tuesday, January 30th

9:00am – 10:00am	Arrival. Enjoy breakfast refreshments
10:00am – 10:15am	Reflecting on Day 1 and Overview of Day 2	Violet Stone
10: 15am – 10:45am	Grading	Liz Higgins
10:45am – Noon	Uniformity, Consistency and Scheduling BREAK OUT SESSION for Produce and Livestock	Crystal Stewart and Betsy Hodge
Noon – 1:00pm	Lunch & Socializing
1:00 – 2:00pm	Farmer Stories	Farmer Panel TBA
2:00pm – 2:30pm	Labeling	Liz Higgins
2:30pm – 3:00pm	Packaging	Liz Higgins
3:00pm – 3:15pm	Hands On Pallet Stacking	Violet Stone
3:15pm – 3:45pm	Keeping Production Records & Food Safety Basics	Crystal Stewart
3:45pm – 4:00pm	Evaluation	Violet Stone

 

Training Instructors

Violet Stone Violet launched the Baskets to Pallets Project in 2014 in an effort to prepare direct-marketing farmers to successfully connect with new scale-appropriate markets.  Prior to joining the Cornell Small Farms staff  in 2007, Violet worked as a farmers market manager, local foods educator and farm direct-marketing consultant. She has a Certificate in Agroecology from the UC Santa Cruz Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems.  She is also the  New York NESARE (Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education State Coordinator.	Cathy Moore Catherine Moore is the Agriculture, Natural Resources & Fort Drum Issue Leader at Jefferson County Cornell Cooperative Extension.  Cathy is the coordinator of the NNY Food Hub, a regional initiative to help local producers expand their production and become more competitive in the marketplace. The hub serves an area that includes Jefferson, Lewis, Oswego, and St. Lawrence counties.
Liz Higgins As a CCE Business Management Specialist, Liz provides research and extension support to growers in ENY in farm business management, business planning and risk management and agricultural economics. She as experience as the director of the Center for Rural Development at Louisiana Tech University and most recently worked with CCE in both Ulster and Sullivan Counties as a program leader in Nutrition and Consumer Programs.	Crystal Stewart Crystal works as an extension vegetable specialist for CCE, focusing on organic horticulture, small and beginning farmers assistance, and basic farm business management. She worked as Regional Extension Educator with the SDSU Cooperative Extension providing horticulture support, and originally joined CCE as the horticulture and agriculture educator in Fulton and Montgomery counties.
Betsy Hodge Betsy is Regional Livestock Educator for CCE’s NNY Regional Ag Team and is also a local educator for St. Lawrence County. In this dual role, Betsy leads the NNY Livestock Team, a group of Extension Educators from across Northern New York. Betsy is a member of  Farm Bureau and the Empire Sheep Producers Association as well as a member of several advisory boards.	Lindsey Pashow Lindsey is an Agriculture Business Development and Marketing Specialist for CCE’s Harvest NY Team that is affiliated with the Northern NY Regional Agriculture Program. She serves Clinton, Essex, Franklin, Jefferson, Lewis, and St. Lawrence counties. She has previously worked as a horticulture field technician for CCE, and she owns Adirondack View Vineyard.