Iowa MarketReady Program Helps Food Producers Reach Beyond Local Consumers

By Linda Naeve

Farmers interested in expanding their distribution to local markets will benefit from a one-day training in January. The Iowa MarketReady program provides best business practices that have been identified by buyers actively seeking to purchase goods from local suppliers.

“While significant opportunity exists for farmers to build on the demand for local products in local markets, many farmers are hesitant or unprepared to meet the transactional requirements of institutional, wholesale and restaurant buyers,” said Linda Naeve, value added agriculture program specialist with Iowa State University Extension and Outreach. “These transactional requirements are set in order to manage food safety, insurance, product quality and traceability risks.”

Naeve says the Iowa MarketReady program from ISU Extension and Outreach Value Added Agriculture addresses these issues and seeks to educate food suppliers to succeed in today's markets. The program helps farmers continue to be profitable while utilizing a new marketing stream.

“Iowa MarketReady will help farm vendors selling dairy, fruits, meats and vegetables design a business strategy to succeed,” Naeve said.

Program topics will include communications and relationship building, packaging, labels, supply and delivery, post-harvest handling for produce, grading, insurance and marketing.

This one-day training will be held in two locations. ISU Extension and Outreach in Madison County will offer a program on Jan. 6 at the county office, 117 N. John Wayne Drive, Winterset. ISU Extension and Outreach in Johnson County will offer the Iowa MarketReady program on Jan. 31 at the county office, 3109 Old Highway 218 S., Iowa City. Both workshops begin at 8 a.m. and conclude at 5 p.m.

The registration fee for the Iowa MarketReady program is $55 per person or $90 per couple or two employees attending from the same farm. The fee includes training materials, a light lunch and refreshments.

Pre-registration is required for this training. For more information or to register, call or email Linda Naeve at 515-294-8946 or lnaeve@iastate.edu. Please give the name of the registrant, address, phone number, e-mail address and indicate whether the registrant is a produce or livestock/poultry/egg producer.

Sponsors of the program include the Iowa State University Extension and Outreach county offices, Iowa State University Extension and Outreach Value Added Agriculture Program, and Iowa Valley Resource Conservation and Development.

Source:iastate.edu