Marketing and Risk Management for Socially Disadvantaged Horticultural Producers in South Texas

<p>NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY:<br/> The proposed project is intended to assist socially disadvantaged horticultural producers in Texas to overcome new industry challenges associated with increased sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) standards. The design is to equip the producers with business tools, such as knowledge of production management, marketing strategies, and consumer relations; as well as training for obtaining available governmental support from USDA/FAS. The long-term goal is for the producers to independently operate as entrepreneurs in their industries, allowing them to remain viable, competitive and sustainable. A great many resources are being invested to establish system standards to address concerns regarding food safety and food protection at all levels of the supply chain. However, at the present time the proliferation of these standards, guidelines and
certification programs has created a situation some have likened to an "arms race" to prove who is providing the safest food and hopefully capitalize on a perception of related consumer preferences. In the absence of a universally accepted set of standards, producers are often faced with having to comply with a different set of standards for different customers resulting in increased costs, with little evidence of a corresponding increase in compensation in the form of higher product prices. We propose to develop training and educational materials in English and Spanish for socially disadvantaged horticultural farmers in Texas who are being forced to comply with new and costly production guidelines from retailers and consumers.
<p>APPROACH:<br/>The primary methodology will be the development of training materials for each of the subject matter areas (building crop budgets, marketing strategies, and business plan development) that catered to the target audience. Materials will be development in Spanish and English with special emphasis on developing materials in situations when there are very little data/records available. Bilingual instructional videos will be developed for each subject matter area to augment the print materials. The selection process for producers will start shortly after proposal is funded. In this process, we will meet with south Texas county extension agents and extension horticultural specialists to get names of potential participants. We will contact producers and explain the purpose and benefits of the project. Our goal is to have around 50 participants each year. The first workshop will be on produce safety guidelines and related issues. Topics included in the first workshop will be GAPs, GHPs, chemical usage, and other food safety guidelines required by FDA. This will help us get an idea of the production practices of the participants and if they are complying with FDA guidelines. In addition, we will get information of the different outlets that the participant producers use for their products as well as their marketing strategies. Once we figure out their production practices, marketing strategies and outlets we can target the following workshops to meet their needs. The second through third workshop will be on building crop budgets, identify potential product outlets, marketing and how to develop business plans. Potential product outlets such as farmers markets or mailing list of potential buyers require knowledge of business planning, marketing strategies, and customer service. Moreover, developing crop budgets will help producers realize which products they are competitive and try to find niche markets. For a business plan development, we plan to work with producers to develop a feasibility study for a marketing cooperative for either fresh and/or processed products. The last workshop will concentrate on giving information of the different USDA/FSA programs available for them. Topics in this workshop will be where to get the information, how to apply and how do those programs fit their business plan. The overall goal is for the producers to independently operate as entrepreneurs in their industries, allowing them to remain viable, competitive and sustainable.
<p>PROGRESS: 2009/09 TO 2012/08<br/>OUTPUTS: Total workshops during the three-year grant were 13. Four workshops were conducted during the third reporting year of the grant. Over 70 percent of participants in all four workshops were socially disadvantaged mainly Hispanics and women. Information on the workshops is listed below: Date: May 22, 2012 Title: Vegetable Production for Small Acreage Producers Location: Crystal City, Texas Attendance: 11 Description: The objective of this workshop was to give an overview of vegetable production from start to finish. Topics such as growing transplants, soil types, fertilizers, vegetables that can be grown in your area were covered in this workshop. Date: June 19, 2012 Title: Food Safety (GAPs) Training for Small Acreage Producers Location: Crystal City, Texas Attendance: 6 Description: The objective of this workshop was to train
SD horticultural producers about food safety regulations and procedures. The agenda included an Overview of Good Agricultural Practices, Microbiology for Producers & On-Farm Microbiology and Understanding the Role of Water, Employee Training, and Facility Sanitation & Documentation. Date: July 10, 2012 Title: Business Planning and Marketing for Small Acreage Producers Location: Crystal City, Texas Attendance: 7 Description: The objective of this workshop was to equip producers with business, record keeping and marketing tools to start their own business or improve the performance of their existing business. The agenda included topics such as business planning, budgeting, vegetable outlook, and marketing for small acreage 101. Date: August 24, 2012 Title: Business and Marketing Workshop for Small Acreage Producers Location: Weslaco, Texas Attendance: 31 Description: The objective of this
workshop was to equip producers with business, record keeping and marketing tools to start their own business or improve the performance of their existing business. The agenda included topics such as business planning, budgeting, vegetable outlook, and marketing for small acreage 101. *Agendas and Sign-up sheets are available upon request. In addition, members of our group have been invited to give presentations to different small acreage cooperative groups, farmers markets in south Texas, and presented a paper at the Small Farms Conference in Memphis, Tennessee. A full time Extension Program Assistant, Arin Bauer, was hired to dedicate 100 percent of her time on this project. She was in charge of creating and updating our website http://texaslocalproduce.tamu.edu, where visitors can find useful information on how to grow horticultural crops, financial and funding resources, past
workshops presentations and videos, upcoming events, and find farmers markets and community supported agriculture (CSA) in Texas. The website is a work in progress and we'll working in having it available in Spanish by the end of 2012. PARTICIPANTS: Luis Ribera (PI): Coordinator of all the workshops, activities, website and other educational materials. Participated as speaker in two workshops supported by this grant and gave presentations on record keeping, business planning and budgeting as invited speaker on several meetings. Marco Palma (Co-PI): In charge of the marketing training for clientele and working on a farmers markets guide. Participated as speaker in two workshops supported by this grant and gave presentations on marketing and economic impact of small horticultural production in Texas as invited speaker on several meetings. Juan Anciso (Co-PI): In charge of production and
pest management training for clientele and working on a food safety guide. Participated as speaker in three workshops supported by this grant and gave presentations on production, pest management and food safety for small horticultural production in Texas as invited speaker on several meetings. Vidal Saenz (Co-PI): In charge of helping socially disadvantaged producers to apply for farm loans. Participated as speaker in one workshops supported by this grant on how to apply for farm loans. Helen Rodriguez/Arin Bauer: Helen was hired to dedicate 100 percent of her time on this project and Arin Bauer took her place in January 2012. She was in charge of creating and updating our website http://texaslocalproduce.tamu.edu. She's working on preparing educational materials for clientele and getting all workshop presentations on the website and on CDs. Grown' Growers & Family Producers of the
Valley: Two Hispanic cooperatives in Hidalgo County where most of their members participate on our workshops and events. Their members supply fresh organic produce to the San Juan and McAllen farmers markets. Drs. Ribera and Anciso gave presentations at their meetings twice each on the past reporting year. Tip of Texas Agricultural Producers (ToTAP): a mostly Hispanic cooperative in Cameron County where most of their members participate on our workshops and events. Their members supply fresh produce to the Harlingen and Brownsville farmers markets. Dr. Ribera and Ms. Rodriguez gave presentations at their meeting one and two times, respectively. Barbara Storz: A Texas AgriLIFE Extension Horticultural Agent for Hidalgo County, she helps us coordinate with both cooperatives in Hidalgo county and small horticultural producers' workshops and events funded by this grant. She's also on the
board of directors on both farmers markets in Hidalgo County. We are coordinating with her to get information on both farmers markets so we can help them improve participation and sales. Amelia Sanchez: An entomologist for UTPA Business Development, she helps us coordinate efforts with UTPA and their projects that are related with horticulture production and farmers markets. Diana and Saul Padilla: owners of the Yahweh's farm and CSA, a small horticultural and livestock farm and petting zoo, and president of the ToTAP cooperative. We are stating a vegetable trial at their farm to have field days at their farm and show clientele how to grow conventional and organic vegetables. TARGET AUDIENCES: Our target audience is socially disadvantaged horticultural producers in Texas. However, due to the location of our facilities we are concentrating our efforts to Hispanic producers, as well as
women. In addition, we do have some Asians participating on our workshops. In terms of groups, we are working with three small acreage horticultural cooperative in the Lower Rio Grande Valley, Deep South Texas. In 2011 we expanded our efforts towards the San Antonio Area. In 2012, we expanded our efforts to the Winter Garden area, Crystal City. The main events that we put together are workshops in the areas of production, food safety, government programs, business planning and marketing. In addition, we have a website: http://texaslocalproduce.tamu.edu, where visitors can find useful information on how to grow horticultural crops, financial and funding resources, past workshops, upcoming events, and find farmers markets and community supported agriculture (CSA) in Texas. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: One major problem that we faced was that most of our clientele are not farmers and/or don't
have a farming background; they are regular citizens that are interested in learning how to produce their own vegetables to eat healthier and supply their local farmers markets and/or form CSAs. Therefore, we are concentrating our efforts on training them how to produce and market their fruits and vegetables through direct outlets. We saw the need to conduct field vegetable trials, both organic and conventional, to show our clientele how to grow vegetable which was not a main objective of our project. Therefore, we submitted a proposal and got awarded funds to conduct vegetable trials in four different locations for the next two years so both grants complement each other.
<p>PROGRESS: 2010/09/01 TO 2011/08/31<br/>OUTPUTS: Four workshops were conducted during the second reporting year of the grant. Information on the workshops is listed below: Date: April 19, 2011 Title: Vegetable Production for Small Acreage Producers Location: San Antonio, Texas Attendance: 26 Description: The objective of this workshop was to give an overview of vegetable production from start to finish. Topics such as growing transplants, soil types, fertilizers, vegetables that can be grown in your area were covered in this workshop. In addition, we had a panel of small acreage producers from the area to talk about their needs, challenges and opportunities that they've experienced. In addition, we had an afternoon tour to Peterson Brothers Nursery, San Antonio, Texas. Date: May 3, 2011 Title: Business Planning and Marketing for Small Acreage Producers Location: San
Antonio, Texas Attendance: 19 Description: The objective of this workshop was to equip producers with business, record keeping and marketing tools to start their own business or improve the performance of their existing business. The agenda included topics such as business planning, budgeting, vegetable outlook, and marketing for small acreage 101. Also, we had a tour to Markley Family Farm a hydroponic U-Pick farm, New Braunfels, Texas. Date: May 17, 201 Title: Food Safety (GAPs) Training for Small Acreage Producers Location: San Antonio, Texas Attendance: 13 Description: The objective of this workshop was to train SD horticultural producers about food safety regulations and procedures. The agenda included an Overview of Good Agricultural Practices, Microbiology for Producers & On-Farm Microbiology and Understanding the Role of Water, Employee Training, and Facility Sanitation &
Documentation. Date: June 7, 2011 Title: Funding for New & Transitioning for Small Acreage Producers Location: San Antonio, Texas Attendance: 22 Description: The objective of this workshop was to list all government programs available for small SD horticultural producers in terms on funding available through direct loans, funding for value added products, farmers markets promotional program, etc. The agenda included an overview of the Specialty crop Title Under the Farm Bill, How to Get Your Crop Insured, Direct & Guaranteed Loans, Step by Step Help on How to Apply to Farm Loans & Youth Projects, What NRCS Has to Offer, and Value Added, Renewable Energy & Energy Efficiency Grants. In addition, we had an afternoon tour to Verstuyft Famrs, Von Ormy, Texas A full time Extension Program Assistant, Helen Rodriguez, was hired to dedicate 100 percent of her time on this project. She was in
charge of creating and updating our website http://texaslocalproduce.tamu.edu, where visitors can find useful information on how to grow horticultural crops, financial and funding resources, past workshops presentations and videos, upcoming events, and find farmers markets and community supported agriculture (CSA) in Texas. The website is a work in progress and we'll working in having it available in Spanish as well. Moreover, CDs and DVDs will be made with previous workshops for people that could not make it to the workshops. PARTICIPANTS: Luis Ribera (PI): Coordinator of all the workshops, activities, website and other educational materials. Participated as speaker in two workshops supported by this grant and gave presentations on record keeping, business planning and budgeting as invited speaker on several meetings. Marco Palma (Co-PI): In charge of the marketing training for
clientele and working on a farmers markets guide. Participated as speaker in two workshops supported by this grant and gave presentations on marketing and economic impact of small horticultural production in Texas as invited speaker on several meetings. Juan Anciso (Co-PI): In charge of production and pest management training for clientele and working on a food safety guide. Participated as speaker in three workshops supported by this grant and gave presentations on production, pest management and food safety for small horticultural production in Texas as invited speaker on several meetings. Vidal Saenz (Co-PI): In charge of helping socially disadvantaged producers to apply for farm loans. Participated as speaker in one workshops supported by this grant on how to apply for farm loans. Helen Rodriguez: Helen was hired to dedicate 100 percent of her time on this project. She was in charge
of creating and updating our website http://texaslocalproduce.tamu.edu. She's working on preparing educational materials for clientele and getting all workshop presentations on the website and on CDs. Grown' Growers & Family Producers of the Valley: Two Hispanic cooperatives in Hidalgo County where most of their members participate on our workshops and events. Their members supply fresh organic produce to the San Juan and McAllen farmers markets. Drs. Ribera and Anciso gave presentations at their meetings twice each on the past reporting year. Tip of Texas Agricultural Producers (TTAP): a mostly Hispanic cooperative in Cameron County where most of their members participate on our workshops and events. Their members supply fresh produce to the Harlingen and Brownsville farmers markets. Dr. Ribera and Ms. Rodriguez gave presentations at their meeting one and two times, respectively.
Barbara Storz: A Texas AgriLIFE Extension Horticultural Agent for Hidalgo County, she helps us coordinate with both cooperatives in Hidalgo county and small horticultural producers' workshops and events funded by this grant. She's also on the board of directors on both farmers markets in Hidalgo County. We are coordinating with her to get information on both farmers markets so we can help them improve participation and sales. Amelia Sanchez: An entomologist for UTPA Business Development, she helps us coordinate efforts with UTPA and their projects that are related with horticulture production and farmers markets. Diana and Saul Padilla: owners of the Yahweh's farm and CSA, a small horticultural and livestock farm and petting zoo, and president of the TTAP cooperative. We are stating a vegetable trial at their farm to have field days at their farm and show clientele how to grow
conventional and organic vegetables. TARGET AUDIENCES: Our target audience is socially disadvantaged horticultural producers in Texas. However, due to the location of our facilities we are concentrating our efforts to Hispanic producers, as well as women. In addition, we do have some Asians participating on our workshops. In terms of groups, we are working with three small acreage horticultural cooperative in the Lower Rio Grande Valley, Deep South Texas. In 2011 we expanded our efforts towards the San Antonio Area. In 2012, we will expand our efforts to the Austin or Houston area. The main events that we put together are workshops in the areas of production, food safety, government programs, business planning and marketing. In addition, we have a website: http://texaslocalproduce.tamu.edu, where visitors can find useful information on how to grow horticultural crops, financial and
funding resources, past workshops, upcoming events, and find farmers markets and community supported agriculture (CSA) in Texas. Eventually we'll have all the workshops available on our website and/or on CDs to distribute statewide. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: One major problem that we faced was that most of our clientele are not farmers and/or don't have a farming background; they are regular citizens that are interested in learning how to produce their own vegetables to eat healthier and supply their local farmers markets and/or form CSAs. Therefore, we are concentrating our efforts on training them how to produce and market their fruits and vegetables through direct outlets. We saw the need to conduct field vegetable trials, both organic and conventional, to show our clientele how to grow vegetable which was not a main objective of our project. Therefore, we submitted a proposal and got
awarded funds to conduct vegetable trials in four different locations for the next three years so both grants complement each other.
<p>PROGRESS: 2009/09/01 TO 2010/08/31<br/>OUTPUTS: Four workshops were conducted during the first reporting year of the grant. Over 80 percent of participants in all four workshops were socially disadvantaged mainly Hispanics and women. Information on the workshops is listed below: Date: September 24, 2009 Title: EQIP Funding for Organic & Transitioning Producers Location: Weslaco, Texas Attendance: 65 Description: The objective of this workshop was to give an overview of what our funded project will offer to socially disadvantage (SD) horticultural producers in south Texas. The agenda included a list of available EQIP funds, the Texas Organic Certification Program, Cover Crops in South Texas, Insects & Disease Management in Organic Systems, and Record Keeping & Budgeting. Date: July 29, 2010 Title: Funding for New & Transitioning Horticultural Producers Location:
Weslaco, Texas Attendance: 46 Description: The objective of this workshop was to list all government programs available for small SD horticultural producers in terms on funding available through direct loans, funding for value added products, farmers markets promotional program, etc. The agenda included an overview of the Specialty crop Title Under the Farm Bill, How to Get Your Crop Insured, Direct & Guaranteed Loans, Step by Step Help on How to Apply to Farm Loans & Youth Projects, What NRCS Has to Offer, and Value Added, Renewable Energy & Energy Efficiency Grants. Date: August 18, 2010 Title: Food Safety Training for Horticultural Producers Location: McAllen, Texas Attendance: 35 Description: The objective of this workshop was to train SD horticultural producers about food safety regulations and procedures. The agenda included an Overview of Good Agricultural Practices, Microbiology
for Producers & On-Farm Microbiology and Understanding the Role of Water, Employee Training, Facility Sanitation & Documentation. *Agendas and Sign-up sheets are available upon request. Date: September 1, 2010 Title: Food Safety Training for Horticultural Producers Location: Uvalde, Texas Attendance: 15 Description: Same as above. Two more workshops will be carried out on this calendar year, the first one on Small Acreage Horticulture Production (Oct. 21, 2010) and the second one on Record Keeping, Business Plan development and Marketing (Nov. 18, 2010). In addition, members of our group have been invited to give presentations to different small acreage cooperative groups, as well as farmers markets in south Texas. A full time Extension Program Assistant, Helen Rodriguez, was hired to dedicate 100 percent of her time on this project. She was in charge of creating and updating our website
http://texaslocalproduce.tamu.edu, where visitors can find useful information on how to grow horticultural crops, financial and funding resources, past workshops, upcoming events, and find farmers markets and community supported agriculture (CSA) in Texas. The website is a work in progress and we'll working in having it available in Spanish as well. Moreover, CDs and DVDs will be made with previous workshops for people that could not make it to the workshops. PARTICIPANTS: Luis Ribera (PI): Coordinator of all the workshops, activities, website and other educational materials. Participated as speaker in two workshops supported by this grant and gave presentations on record keeping, business planning and budgeting as invited speaker on several meetings. Marco Palma (Co-PI): In charge of the marketing training for clientele and working on a farmers markets guide. Participated as speaker in
two workshops supported by this grant and gave presentations on marketing and economic impact of small horticultural production in Texas as invited speaker on several meetings. Juan Anciso (Co-PI): In charge of production and pest management training for clientele and working on a food safety guide. Participated as speaker in three workshops supported by this grant and gave presentations on production, pest management and food safety for small horticultural production in Texas as invited speaker on several meetings. Vidal Saenz (Co-PI): In charge of helping socially disadvantaged producers to apply for farm loans. Participated as speaker in one workshops supported by this grant on how to apply for farm loans. Helen Rodriguez: Helen was hired to dedicate 100 percent of her time on this project. She was in charge of creating and updating our website http://texaslocalproduce.tamu.edu. She's
working on preparing educational materials for clientele and getting all workshop presentations on the website and on CDs. Grown' Growers & Family Producers of the Valley: Two Hispanic cooperatives in Hidalgo County where most of their members participate on our workshops and events. Their members supply fresh organic produce to the San Juan and McAllen farmers markets. Drs. Ribera and Anciso gave presentations at their meetings twice each on the past reporting year. Tip of Texas Agricultural Producers (TTAP): a mostly Hispanic cooperative in Cameron County where most of their members participate on our workshops and events. Their members supply fresh produce to the Harlingen and Brownsville farmers markets. Dr. Ribera and Ms. Rodriguez gave presentations at their meeting one and two times, respectively. Barbara Storz: A Texas AgriLIFE Extension Horticultural Agent for Hidalgo County,
she helps us coordinate with both cooperatives in Hidalgo county and small horticultural producers' workshops and events funded by this grant. She's also on the board of directors on both farmers markets in Hidalgo County. We are coordinating with her to get information on both farmers markets so we can help them improve participation and sales. Amelia Sanchez: An entomologist for UTPA Business Development, she helps us coordinate efforts with UTPA and their projects that are related with horticulture production and farmers markets. Diana and Saul Padilla: owners of the Yahweh's farm and CSA, a small horticultural and livestock farm and petting zoo, and president of the TTAP cooperative. We are stating a vegetable trial at their farm to have field days at their farm and show clientele how to grow conventional and organic vegetables. TARGET AUDIENCES: Our target audience is socially
disadvantaged horticultural producers in Texas. However, due to the location of our facilities we are concentrating our efforts to Hispanic producers, as well as women. In addition, we do have some Asians participating on our workshops. In terms of groups, we are working with three small acreage horticultural cooperative in the Lower Rio Grande Valley, Deep South Texas. The counties that we are serving are Starr, Hidalgo, Cameron and Willacy counties. In the next couple of years we are expanding our efforts towards the San Antonio and Houston area. The main events that we put together are workshops in the areas of production, food safety, government programs, business planning and marketing. In addition, we have a website: http://texaslocalproduce.tamu.edu, where visitors can find useful information on how to grow horticultural crops, financial and funding resources, past workshops,
upcoming events, and find farmers markets and community supported agriculture (CSA) in Texas. Eventually we'll have all the workshops available on our website and/or on CDs to distribute statewide. <p>PROJECT MODIFICATIONS:<br/> One major problem that we faced was that most of our clientele are not farmers and/or don't have a farming background; they are regular citizens that are interested in learning how to produce their own vegetables to eat healthier and supply their local farmers markets and/or form CSAs. Therefore, we are concentrating our efforts on training them how to produce and market their fruits and vegetables through direct outlets. We saw the need to conduct field vegetable trials, both organic and conventional, to show our clientele how to grow vegetable which was not a main objective of our project. Therefore, we submitted a proposal to get other sources of funds and we got
awarded funds to conduct vegetable trials in four different locations for the next three years so both grants will complement each other. The small modification in our efforts has delayed us on delivering the entire intended workshop for the first reporting year, but we'll make up the time and have more data and educational material to present the following year as results from our field trials.