Posts Tagged: money management

Farm Business resources

The recent LA Times article, Farm Team: Two chefs spend a year at Windrose Farm, lending labor and know-how, and learning from the ground up is an interesting and entertaining article related to the business of farming.

Farmers are busy, multi-talented people. They must have skills in a wide variety of areas for their business to survive. As the LA Times article explains slight adjustments in operations have the potential to make a profound difference on the bottom line.

UC’s Farm Business and Market Place has many resources to help food producers strengthen their business. Including:

• Customer Service and Relationships
  • Building trust with consumers
  • I’m right and you’re wrong: Do’s and don’ts in customer service
  • Selling strategies for local food producers
  • Strategies to attract and keep customers

• Promotion & Branding
  • Adding value to agriculture: Branding and certification
  • Building your brand
  • Creating a winning display for your farm products
  • Reputation as your brand

• Budgeting
  • Projecting costs and returns – enterprise budgeting
  • Cost and return studies
  • Determining prices for CSA share boxes
  • Enterprise budgets – 100 foot rows
  • Partial budgeting
  • Using enterprise budgets to make decisions about your farm

• Marketing Channels & Strategies
  • A guide to understanding the value chain
  • Adding value to farm products: An overview
  • An overview of Small Farm direct marketing
  • Bringing local food to local institutions
  • Community supported agriculture
  • Direct marketing of farm produce and home goods
  • Guide to marketing channel selection: How to sell through wholesale and direct market channels
  • Marketing 101
  • Marketing alternatives for fresh produce
  • Marketing strategies for farmers and ranchers
  • New markets for your crops (available in Spanish)
  • Niche market pricing and strategies for maintaining price
  • Pricing for profit
  • Selling directly to restaurants and retailers
  • Selling to institutions: An Iowa Farmer’s guide
  • Selling to Restaurants
  • Strategic marketing management: Building a foundation for your future
  • Value added agriculture: Is it right for me?
  • What are niche markets? What advantages do they offer?

   

  

  To be successful, farmers must have skills and knowledge in a wide variety of areas.

   

Making Every Dollar Count

For nearly 100 years the University of California Cooperative Extension (UCCE) has worked to extend a variety of knowledge to California’s communities. Money management outreach resources are developed by our Family and Consumer Science Advisors.

UCCE’s Making Every Dollar Count website is a practical resource and provides much knowledge to help individuals and families gain control of their money. This easily navigated website can be read or listened to and is available in both English and Spanish. Classroom setting resources are available.

Topics include:

• Setting goals
• Making choices
• Stretch your dollars
• Budgeting basics
• Paying bills on time
• When you can’t pay cash
• Saving money on food
• Food advertising

Links for additional resources can be found at the bottom of each page.

The incredible dry bean

The dry bean is an amazing and inexpensive food source. Costing just pennies per serving, beans are the only food listed in the USDA’s Dietary Guidelines for Americans which counts as both a vegetable and a protein.

An ever growing body of research suggests that beans promote good health and may even reduce the risk of several diseases.

Studies show that beans:

• Increase both soluble and insoluble fiber in the diet
• May reduce the risk of cancer
• Aide in weight loss and maintenance
• May  improve blood vessel function and cardiac health
• Contain many key nutrients necessary for optimum health including folate, manganese, magnesium, potassium, and iron
• May protect against the development of type 2 diabetes
• Are cholesterol and fat free
• May increase general health and longevity
• And much more

As an added bonus dried beans have a long storage life.

But what about…flatulence? Many people avoid eating beans due to the fear of gas and bloating.  The same bean properties that cause gas, also provide some of beans’ benefits – including stimulating healthy gut flora. Research has shown that people who experienced gas and bloating after introducing beans to their diets, no longer had the problem after two to four weeks of regular bean consumption.

To learn more about the benefits of beans, including cooking instructions and delicious recipes, please visit the US Dry bean Council or the California Dry Bean Board.

Compost bins and rainbarrels

In an effort to encourage composting and rain water harvesting, the County of Ventura Integrated Waste Management, Ventura Countywide Stormwater Quality Management Program and local Ventura County cities are sponsoring a compost bin and rain barrel truckload sale.

Composting and rain water harvesting provide many environmental benefits, including reducing urban runoff. As an added bonus these practices can also help save money.

The truckload sale is available to all County of Ventura residents. Bins and barrels will be available at less than half the regular price. The sale will be held at the County of Ventura Government Center on Saturday, October 22, 2011. To learn more, please see their flyer.

The County of Ventura Integrated Waste Management Division website has many other fabulous resources for residents looking to improve the environmental health of their communities.

 

 

Recipes and Tips for Healthy, Thrifty Meals

Learn how to make low cost and healthy meals with the USDA’s free online cookbook Recipes and Tips for Healthy, Thrifty Meals.

In addition to 40 quick and easy recipes, sample menus, shopping lists are included along with basic cooking and food safety guidance. All menus conform to the recommendations in the Dietary Guidelines for Americans and the USDA Food Guide Pyramid.

USDA cookbook image

Read more