Food and Value Added Agriculture

Please join us for the 2012 Midwest Value Added Agriculture Conference – December 12-13, 2012 The La Crosse Center – La Crosse, Wisconsin Presented by River Country RC&D and Wisconsin Farmers Union Featuring: Laura Jackson, Author of “The Farm as Natural Habitat: Reconnecting Food Systems with Ecosystems,” Professor of Biology at the University of Northern Iowa, Daughter of [...]

Organic Tomatoes, Keewaydin Farms, Wisconsin Economic impacts of organic agriculture in Wisconsin Key points: Wisconsin has seen dramatic growth as our number of certified organic farms has grown from 422 in 2002 to 1,202 in 2007, an increase of 285%. From 2002 to 2011, organic acreage in Wisconsin has increased from 81,026 acres to 195,603 [...]

Wednesday, May 16th at 2pm EDT/1pm CDT/12noon MDT/11am PDT Please join us on Wednesday, May 16th 2012, as we host a conference call and webinar to launch our new “Together We Can” Partnership Series for community and faith-based organizations. This webinar program will share opportunities to collaborate with USDA to help those in need in your [...]

Check out this Journal Sentinel article about collaboration, revitalization, access, and veggies… Housing authority, Growing Power to create community gardens

WASHINGTON, April 5, 2012 – Agriculture Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is seeking grant applicants for the 2012 Farmers Market Promotion Program.  Approximately $10 million is available for marketing operations such as farmers markets, community supported agriculture and road-side stands. The grants, which are administered by USDA’s Agricultural Marketing [...]

On Friday, March 16, USDA released Moving Food Along the Value Chain: Innovations in Regional Food Distribution, a study of the aggregation, distribution, and marketing operations of eight regional food hubs/value chains. The press release may be found here: New Study Explores Innovation and Opportunities for Diverse Local Food Distributors        

For over 20 years, the ATTRA program (Appropriate Technology Transfer for Rural Areas) has served as a reliable source of research-based information about sustainable agriculture, offering an expansive selection of publications, webinars, and listings of farming internships.  In 2010, its staff answered over 60,000 requests on its 1-800 call line and brought over 5.8 million unique [...]

Specialty crops! Specialty crops play a unique role in Wisconsin agriculture – which as many Agri-View readers know, is responsible for $59.6 billion in economic activity each year. In fact, according to the National Agricultural Statistics Service, Wisconsin ranked in the top five nationally for the following: potatoes (3); tart cherries (5); cranberries (1); carrots [...]

Adding Value Diversity to Your Whole Farm Plan March 16 from 9:00am – Noon    $40 The basics of planning and planting plans for an organic orchard, managing risk, equipment needs, and budgeting for transition to organic fruit production. Participants encouraged to bring their ideas and farm maps as we will spend some time on orchard design [...]

Are you a fan of the CIAS Price Tags/Cost Tags series that explain hidden costs of popular food items? Several updated tags are now available for hamburger, potatoes, sweet corn and tomatoes. See http://www.cias.wisc.edu/farm-to-fork/price-tagscost-tags/ for these new tags.