Business
In order to be economically viable, vegetable and small fruit growers must be good business people. Growers utilize a variety of markets in New York, including retail farm stands and farmers' markets, wholesale markets and produce auctions. Sales of produce continue to increase and expand in New York as growers create new markets for their product. Recent expansions have included more sales directly into New York City and year-round farmers' markets.
Growers must also pay close attention to the costs of doing business on the farm. As costs of inputs such as fuel and fertilizers continue to increase, growers must find new ways to increase efficiency and help consumers understand the value of their products. By keeping costs under control and selling product at a fair price, growers are able to expand the industry in New York.
BUSINESS CATEGORIES
Relevant Event
Collaborative and Alternative Marketing for Farmers - Learning from Those Who are Doing It
March 25, 2024
NYS Produce Auctions Locations and Contact Information
Judson Reid, Extension Vegetable Specialist
Cornell Vegetable Program
Produce auctions in New York State have been formed so that produce growers have a way of marketing their product to quality minded buyers through open competitive bidding. A map of produce auction locations across the state is provided along with auction days, times, and contact information.
Video Series: Essentials of Food Safety for Farmworkers
We all know that farm employees have many crucial roles on the farm, including carrying out food safety policies and practices. However, their ability to do that effectively, depends heavily on the quality of the training they receive. To meet the growing need for online, easily accessible resources, Robert Hadad and Caitlin Tucker have designed "Essentials of Food Safety for Farmworkers", a 5-part video series that covers many of the required worker training topics set forth by FSMA (the Food Safety Modernization Act), or other 3rd party auditing programs.
Growing for Wholesale: Grading and Packing Guidelines by Crop
Grading and packing guidelines are now available for 18 commonly grown specialty crops in NYS: romaine lettuce, acorn squash, broccoli crowns, Brussels sprouts, sweet corn, green peppers, cucumbers, green cabbage, red cabbage, savoy cabbage, cauliflower, eggplant, green beans, jalapenos, poblanos, Hungarian hot peppers, summer squash, and zucchini.
What's Up with Wholesaling?
Robert Hadad, Extension Vegetable Specialist
Cornell Vegetable Program
This is one of two narrated PowerPoint presentations investigating farmers experience with and attitudes towards wholesaling. The project, Assessing Barriers to Wholesaling for Small-Scale Produce Growers: Case Study, ran from 2016-2018. We investigated how some produce growers have fared well with wholesaling and how they got started; while others have been stumbling and have misconceptions about what makes wholesaling successful. A farmer survey was developed and results of the 199 survey respondents are presented in this presentation.
Wholesale Barriers: Case Studies Overview
Robert Hadad, Extension Vegetable Specialist
Cornell Vegetable Program
This is the second of two narrated PowerPoint presentations providing further findings from a USDA-AMA funded project, Assessing Barriers to Wholesaling for Small-Scale Produce Growers: Case Study. In this presentation, we provide more information found by diving deeper into the barriers of wholesaling for New York produce growers. The previous video provided information on a large grower survey whereas this video provides more in-depth findings from 8 individual farms selected from 3 focus groups. The farms agreed to provide more details about their marketing experiences, issues, and/or needs. These 8 farms became our 8 case studies; some of the case study farms had wholesaling experience while other farms had no wholesaling experience but were considering moving into that market.
Guide on How to Purchase at the NYS Produce Auctions
Judson Reid, Extension Vegetable Specialist
Cornell Vegetable Program
A produce auction is a wholesale market for regionally grown produce. Currently there are eight produce auctions in New York State offering a wide variety of produce at competitive prices. This guide will provide basic information on the terminology of the auction, as well as how to purchase produce at these unique markets.
Video: New York State Produce Auctions
Currently, there are 8 produce auctions in New York State. These auctions are aggregation points that allow local farmers to sell their produce in wholesale lots to buyers from across the region. To document the economic impact of produce auctions on agriculture, local businesses, family farms, and produce buyers, the Cornell Vegetable Program worked with Harvest New York to survey top sellers and buyers.
A new Cornell Vegetable Program video shares general information about produce auctions, how buyers and sellers use the auctions to expand their businesses, and how local communities benefit from them.
Growing for Wholesale: Vegetable Grading/Sizing Templates
Robert Hadad, Extension Vegetable Specialist
Cornell Vegetable Program
To further assist farmers looking to sell into the wholesale markets, the Cornell Vegetable Program has put together some helpful tools. The tools provided here consist of a color photo guide highlighting the grades of some of the most common vegetables grown for wholesale market in WNY. To aid in the visualization of the grading sizes, the templates are available here for you to print off. These are scaled to size and can be used to create sizing templates to be used by workers on the wash and pack lines.
Cornell Small Farms Program: Aiding in Small Farm Business Development
The Cornell Small Farms Program helps farmers get expert assistance to facilitate all phases of small farm development, from initial growth to optimization to maturity. Online courses are available for aspiring, new, and experienced farmers through the Northeast Beginning Farmers Project. Sign up to receive the Small Find Farms E-newsletter to find out about resources, events, career opportunities and funding opportunities.
Farmers Markets in the Finger Lakes Region
Angela Ochterski, Communications and Administrative Lead
Cornell Vegetable Program
There are over 70 farmers markets in the Cornell Vegetable Program counties. Find lists of markets in our region.
Collaborative Marketing for Small Farms
Collaborative marketing is a realistic solution for small- to mid-size farms that are seeking access to larger markets, but are unable to individually serve such accounts. In collaborative marketing, several like-minded producers join together formally to market and distribute farm products, but not necessarily under the governance or control of a cooperative.
Generally, small farms should consider temporary, limited-scale collaborative projects before developing substantial business agreements. Such arrangements can be a simple as consignment sales, or as complex as a corporation dedicated to marketing and distribution.
Upcoming Events
Oswego Muck Onion Growers Pre-Season Meeting: Stop the Rot, Nematodes and SLB Fungicide Resistance
March 20, 2024
Phoenix, NY
Christy Hoepting and Frank Hay will get growers ready for the season with updates on managing Stemphylium Leaf Blight fungicide resistance, progress made towards understanding and managing bacterial bulb rot of onion, and results of the 2023 nematode survey and research project. 2.5 DEC recertification credits will be offered in categories 1A, 10 and 23.
2024 NYS Dry Bean Meeting and Cutting Event
March 22, 2024
Geneva, NY
The NYS Dry Bean Meeting will be paired with the annual Dry Bean Cutting Event again this year! The morning meeting will include presentations on the latest dry bean research in New York, with topics including market updates, white mold management, western bean cutworm management, dry bean variety testing, and incorporating NY dry beans into schools. 1.5 DEC credits will be available in categories 10, 1a, 21, 23. CCA credits will be available too.
The Dry Bean Cutting will follow the meeting and showcase the canned dry beans from the 2023 Dry Bean Variety Trial.
Collaborative and Alternative Marketing for Farmers - Learning from Those Who are Doing It
March 25, 2024
Join us for a virtual panel discussion meeting where panelists will share their marketing enterprise, why and how it came to be, and what it takes for groups of farmers to work together to improve their marketing opportunities. Then the floor will be open for Q/A and discussion with the audience. The goal of this effort is to learn about these types of marketing alternatives, what it took to put them together, and maybe get interest enough from those attending to explore new collaborations.