Spring tuning yourfarmers market?Legal Toolkit among great resources availablefor leadership boards and managersBy Matt Ernst, independent writer

Many Kentucky farmers markets are preparing to reopen in the next few months, and it’s not too late for market leadership to review farmers market business structures and related concerns. Here are a few resources that farmers market boards and managers might draw on this season.

Farmers Market Legal ToolkitFarmers market organizers can draw on the Farmers Market Legal Toolkit, a very helpful resource from the Center for Agriculture and Food Systems at the University of Vermont Law School. https://farmersmarketlegaltoolkit.org/..

The toolkit is not a substitute for professional legal or business plan-ning advice; however, it is well-designed to help farmers markets think through the most common business structure and risk man-agement issues. The major sections of the Farmers Market Legal Toolkit are business structure, implementing SNAP/EBT and man-aging risk. There are also informative case studies from farmers markets around the country, which provide real world snapshots of how different markets addressed challenges and growth.

Structuring the Farmers Market BusinessThere are plenty of ways that farmers markets may be organized,

What’s insideCarrot research ................ 3 CCD resources update ...... 4

Coming upMarch 1-3 - Indiana Small Farm Conference, Danville, IN. For details and registra-tion information, click here.

March 2-3 - Organic As-sociation of Kentucky Con-ference, Clarion Hotel and Conference Center - North, 1950 Newtown Pike, Lexing-ton. For more information and to register, visit https://www.oak-ky.org/2018-con-ference.

March 22 - Growing Ginger, Turmeric, and Other Unique Crops, Illinois Small Farms Winter Webinar Series, noon-1 p.m. CDT. For more information, see Page 5.

March 23-24 - 2018 Ohio State University Hops Con-ference, Bus Tour and Trade Show at the OSU Endeavor Center and Extension Re-search Facility in Piketon, OH. For more information, click here.

February 2018Brett Wolff, EditorChristy Cassady, Editor/Designer

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Cooperative Extension Service University of KentuckyDepartment of HorticultureN-318 Agricultural Science CenterLexington KY 40546-0091(859) 257-1477Fax: (859) 257-2859extension.ca.uky.edu

Educational programs of Kentucky Cooperative Extension serve all people regardless of economicor social status and will not discriminate on the basis of race, color, ethnic origin, national origin, creed,religion, political belief, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy, maritalstatus, genetic information, age, veteran status, or physical or mental disability. University of Kentucky,Kentucky State University, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and Kentucky Counties, Cooperating.

and the choice of business structure can be espe-cially important when it comes to addressing legal issues. Farmers markets also frequently operate under the umbrella of another organization, like a community group or city. The Farmers Market Le-gal Toolkit provides a good overview of strengths and considerations for various farmers market business structures at https://farmersmarketle-galtoolkit.org/business-structures/#options.

The Kentucky Center for Agriculture and Rural De-velopment is an important resource that can offer assis-tance for organizing farmers

markets and other farm businesses in Kentucky. KCARD takes a hands-on approach when assist-ing markets, and it offers lots of information about business structure, hiring managers, managing employees, legal agreements, and operations analysis. A description of the KCARD resources is at http://www.kcard.info/services?m=1.

SNAP and Other Nutrition Program PaymentsFarmers markets are becoming a more frequent food retail choice for participants in the Supple-mental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), and some Kentucky farmers markets have long served participants in the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) and senior nutrition programs. The Farm-ers Market Legal Toolkit provides a great over-view of how markets can navigate these programs at https://farmersmarketlegaltoolkit.org/snap/.

Kentucky’s Community Farm Alliance provides as-sistance for farmers markets, including markets that wish

to begin or expand access to low-income house-holds. A description of CFA programs, including the popular Kentucky Double Dollars program, is available at http://cfaky.org/what-we-do/fmsp/. CFA also offers market planning tips at http://cfaky.org/market-mindfulness-1-plan-ning-your-market-season-now-for-a-smoother-summer/.

Managing Liability, Food Safety and Other RisksRisk management, including managing potential

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liability exposure, is important for any business – including farmers markets. A farmers market’s openness to the public, as well as the varied sites and locations of community farmers markets, cre-ate unique considerations for liability insurance and other risk management concerns.

The Farmers Market Toolkit provides a terrific overview of liability and risk management at https://farmersmarketlegaltoolkit.org/risks/. There is also a concise case study about how a market in Vermont handled a lawsuit from some-one injured on its premises at https://farmers-marketlegaltoolkit.org/case-studies/capital-city-farmers-market-montpelier-vermont/.

Food safety, including appropriate procedures for product sampling, is another risk management concern at farmers markets. In addition to ma-terials on the Farmers Market Legal Toolkit site, market vendors and organizers can access specific information on food safety for Kentucky produce growers at the Center for Crop Diversification Food Safety page, http://www.uky.edu/ccd/foodsafety.

Every farmers market circumstance is unique, and the resources listed here are no substitute for legal advice from an attorney. But reviewing these resources can help farmers market boards, managers and vendors ask informed questions about organizing the farmers market business and managing risks. And asking the right questions in these areas can help position a farmers market for a successful season in 2018, and beyond. Matt Ernst is an independent agricultural writer, under contract with the CCD, and former UK Extension Associate.

From the Farmers Market Legal Toolkit website

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Kentucky State University offers Small Scale Farm Grants and Farmer Education Grants. Deadlines for both will be coming up on April 1, June 1, August 1, and October 1 in 2018. The Small Scale Farm Grant offers up to $5,000 for individuals and $15,000 for organizations that benefit multiple farmers. Farmer Education Grants offer up to $500 to cover registration fees and some travel expens-es to attend workshops and trainings. For details, including links to application forms, visit http://kysu.edu/academics/cafsss/research-extension/small-scale-farm-grant-program/, or contact Joni

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Nelson at joni.nelson@kysu.edu. Renewable Energy for America Grants (REAP) are offered by USDA Rural Development and can help agricultural producers and rural businesses pay for 25 percent of renewable energy and/or energy efficiency project costs. The deadline is March 31 for these grants, which total $1,500 to $500,000. For more information, visit https://www.rd.usda.gov/programs-services/rural-energy-america-program-renewable-energy-systems-energy-efficiency.

By Chris Smigell, University of Kentucky Research is needed to expand product and marketing opportunities for Kentucky’s high tunnel farmers who are primarily growing tomatoes because of their profitability. University of Kentucky Horticulture Department members John Strang, Chris Smigell, Krista Jacobsen and Shawn Wright are collaborating in evaluating spring carrot production in high tunnels. The intent of this study is to determine the best spring planting date(s) and varieties for direct marketing and to provide a rotational crop for tomatoes. If a crop is continually grown in the same spot year after year, insect and disease pests build up, making continued production of the same crop much more difficult. Rotating to an unrelated crop helps solve this problem without pesticides.

Four Nantes-type carrots - Napoli, Ya Ya, Mokum and Romance - will be studied, with planting dates of February 1, 15, March 1, 15, and 30 in an organically maintained high tunnel at the Univer-sity of Kentucky Horticulture Research Farm in Lexington. This study is being duplicated at the Robinson Station in Jackson, KY. Data collected will include germination percent, harvest date,

High tunnel carrot planting date and variety study under way

carrot and greens appearance, color, size, taste and sugar content. Sugar content will be analyzed by George Antonious at Kentucky State University. This study is intended to provide producers with a specific spring planting window that yields the sweetest, most attractive spring carrots, a highly marketable item for the early farm market.

This research is funded in part by the Kentucky Horticulture Council through a grant from the Kentucky Agricultural Development Fund.

Photos by John Strang, UK

Carrots were first planted in a Horti-culture Research Farm high tunnel on February 1 (above). Carrots on February 25 (left).

Check out these grant opportunities; deadlines coming up soon

From the Center for Profitable Agriculture website

The Center for Profitable Agriculture is offering workshops on multiple topics at locations around Tennessee in March. The Center’s Recordkeeping for Successful Value-Added Enterprises work-shops will be held in Memphis on March 13th, Franklin on March 14th, and Knoxville on March 15th.

“Direct marketers, food processors and agritour-ism operators who keep good records are better able to analyze their costs and returns and evalu-ate market outlets,” says Hal Pepper, Financial Analysis Specialist with University of Tennessee Extension. Pepper, Les Humpal, Dallas Manning and Danny Morris from UT Extension will present the seven-hour workshops. Participants will be in-troduced to QuickBooks accounting software and learn about setting up a chart of accounts, items, customers and vendors, entering sales and re-cording deposits, paying bills and writing checks and creating reports. The workshop is designed for producers who sell fresh and processed farm products at direct marketing outlets such as farm-

ers markets, on-farm stands, pick-your-own and agritourism operations.

For more information and to register, visit https://ag.tennessee.edu/news/Pages/NR02017-11-Ac-countingWorkshop.aspx.

The Center for Profitable Agriculture is also offer-ing Food for Profit workshops in March. Food for Profit workshops take participants step by step through the information necessary to start and run a small food product business. The workshop provides information that participants will be able to use immediately to ensure that their business starts out and grows in a way that matches their vision and goals. Topics covered include the reali-ties of a food business by a local food manufactur-er, regulatory requirements, packaging, safe food handling, marketing, financing, and developing a game plan.

Food for Profit will be offered March 15th in Unicoi, and March 21st in Centerville. For more information about the workshops and to register, visit https://ag.tennessee.edu/news/Pages/NR-2018-2018-02-FoodProcessingWorkshop.aspx.

The Center for Crop Diversification has launched a new fact sheet, Organic Regulations & Resources (CCD-FS-8), which you can find on our website at http://www.uky.edu/ccd/sites/www.uky.edu.ccd/files/organicregs&resources.pdf. The CCD also has three new podcasts available at http://www.uky.edu/ccd/training/podcasts. All three feature Kentucky farmers. These include Joel Wilson of Wilson’s Cedar Point Farm in Nancy, who discusses plasticulture strawberries, Nathan Howell of Need More Acres Farm in Scottsville, who talks about running a CSA, and Kim Roberts of Garden Spot Produce in Franklin, who discusses high tunnel production.Recently updated marketing profiles include Marketing Fresh Produce to Food Retailers (Grocery Stores) (CCD-MP-20) and Roadside Farm Markets (CCD-MP-4).

Organic guide, podcasts among new CCD resources

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Center for Profitable Agriculture features workshops in Tennessee

Thanks for reading!If you know someone who would enjoy our newslet-ter, or you’re not subscribed yet yourself, visit www.uky.edu/ccd/newsletter and click “Subscribe Now.” Or call Brett Wolff at 859-218-4384 , or Christy Cas-sady at 859-257-1477. Stay up to date with the Center on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/Center-forCropDiversification/

Christy Cassady, Extension Specialist

IL Small Farms Webinar Seriesoffers variety of helpful topicsFrom the University of Illinois Local Food Systems and Small Farms website

University of Illinois Extension presents a weekly educational series for the small farm community. This series will provide practical knowledge on emerging topics that advance local food production in Illinois. Webinars will be held from noon -1 p.m. Central time on Thursdays and are free. Upcoming webinars are:

March 1 - Heavy metals in soils: identifying and acting on contamination, Dr. Andrew Margenot, University of Illinois Department of Crop SciencesMarch 8 - Native Pollinators on your Farm, Doug Gucker, University of Illinois Extension Local Food Systems and Small Farms EducatorMarch 15 – Small Acres Pastured Poultry, James Theuri, University of Illinois Extension Local Food Systems and Small Farms EducatorMarch 22 - Growing Ginger, Turmeric, and Other Unique Crops, Chris Enroth, University of Illinois Extension Horticulture EducatorMarch 29 - Tips for Modifying and Building Sprayers for Specialty Crops, Nathan Johanning, University of Illinois Extension Local Food Systems and Small Farms Educator

For registration information and a link to archived webinars, visit http://web.extension.illinois.edu/smallfarm/webinar.html.

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Hone your online searching skillsThe internet is a wonderful source of information, and it has made learning and getting answers incredibly convenient. Not all information on the internet is created equal, but you can use your search engine a little bit smarter to help improve the chances of getting good science-based information. When you search for a specific item, you can add “site:.edu” to the end of the search and it will filter out only results from university websites. You can do the same thing for “.gov,” “.org,” or any other address suffix. Of course, another great place to get science-based information is through your local extension office. If you haven’t talked with your extension agent, this is a great time to introduce yourself and let them know about what you grow and what you need.

For a list of extension offices, click below:

• Kentucky Extension Offices https://extension.ca.uky.edu/county/

• Tennessee Extension Offices https://extension.tennessee.edu/Pages/Office-Locations.aspx

• Indiana Extension Offices https://extension.purdue.edu/pages/countyoffices.aspx

• Illinois Extension Offices http://web.extension.illinois.edu/state/findoffice.cfm

• West Virginia Extension Offices https://extension.wvu.edu/offices

• Ohio Extension Offices https://extension.osu.edu/lao#county

Department of HorticultureN-318 Agricultural Science CenterLexington, KY, 40546-0091