Many farmers are teaming up to develop, market, and deliver multiple products to meet the needs of buyers interested in purchasing local foods. Cornell Cooperative Extension will hold workshops in Burrville, Canton and Plattsburgh to help farmers develop formal partnerships, cooperatives, and corporations.
The workshop agenda features Bobbie Severson of the Cooperative Enterprise Program of the Cornell Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management, and panels of three farmers explaining their experiences with working together and the pro and cons of their particular systems.
‘These Extension workshops in Northern New York are timely as farmers there begin to look at developing food hubs. The option for building collaborations between farmers to market and deliver products can be attractive for implementing that type of project, and cooperative, group-action businesses not only strengthen farmers but enhance the local food sector and add vigor to local economies,’ Severson says.
‘Informal agreements or a memorandum of agreement may work for a while, but over time joint purchases of equipment and sharing income can lead partners to wanting more formal strategies. These workshops will help farmers develop those strategies,’ says co-organizer Anita Deming, executive director of Cornell Cooperative Extension of Essex County.
The Farmer Strategies for Working Together workshops have a $5 fee and are set for:
- Thursday April 9, 1-3 pm, CCE Clinton County Meeting Room, 6064 State Route 22, Plattsburgh, to register: CCE Clinton County: 518-561-7450 or CCE Essex County: 518-962-4810 x0
- Thursday April 9, 7-9 pm, CCE St. Lawrence County Extension Learning Farm Classroom, 2043 State Highway 68, Canton, to register: CCE St. Lawrence County: 315-379-9192
- Friday April 10, 1-3 pm, Farm Credit East Office, 25417 NY Route 12, Burrville, to register: CCE Lewis County, 315-376-5270 and CCE Jefferson County, 315-788-8450.
Cornell Cooperative Extension offers equal program and employment opportunities.
For more information
Plattsburgh site: Anita Deming, 518-962-4810; Amy Ivy, 518-561-7450
Canton site: Brent Buchanan, 315-379-9192
Burrville site: Peggy Murray, 315-376-5270