Mid-Atlantic Consumer Demand for Ethnic Produce is on the Rise

Why is demand increasing for ethnic produce in the mid-Atlantic?  U.S. Census data indicates New York City, Washington DC, and Philadelphia are among the top ten cities that are majority-minority in population, meaning ethnic minorities account for more than half of the population (Census 2010). U.S. Census data also shows that the mainstream population only increased by 9.7% from 2000 to 2010 as compared to 43% for Asians and 43% for Hispanics (Census 2000, 2010). With this increase in population, there certainly would be an increased demand for ethnic produce and therefore more economic opportunities for producers, wholesalers, and retailers who grow and sell these products.  

To address this increased demand for ethnic produce, researchers at Penn State, Rutgers, the University of Florida, and the University of Massachusetts along with industry members (including farmers, retailers, wholesalers, distributors, etc) gathered earlier this year to discuss research data and trends related to ethnic crops in the mid-Atlantic at the 2014 Ethnic Greens and Herbs Workshop.  One of the projects developed by the research team was the Worldcrops.org website.  The World Crops site provides information about vegetables and herbs that can be grown in the northeastern United States. The emphasis is on crops that are popular among ethnic groups living here and can be grown here.  The site is organized by country. 

Another helpful aspect of the site is the glossary which is available in English to Spanish and vice versa.  A user can easily find the English or Spanish name for a particular type of produce as well as the genus and species of more than 350 entries.  Example 1 shows that an avocado is called an “aguacate” (Spanish), “pagua” (Mexican), or “pahua” (Mexican) and the genus and species is Persea americana.

Example 1.  Screenshot of English to Spanish glossary on Worldcrops.org.

Visitors can also find ethnic crops based on the country of origin.  In the “Go to region” box on the main page, visitors can click on a region and then select a country.  In example 2, Brazil is shown.  The language spoken is Portuguese and some of the main crops used in this country are listed including cilantro, maxixe, and okra. 

Example 2.  Screenshot of "Go to region" listing for Brazil on Worldcrops.org.

If you are an ag entrepreneur and are interested in exploring ethnic crop opportunities, it's imperative that you DO YOUR RESEARCH as you would with trying any new opportunity for your business.  Good luck!

Optimizing Your Farm Machinery Costs

Do you know how much it costs to operate each piece of farm equipment you own?  It's important to know the per acre operating cost of your equipment so you can accurately determine your cost of production.  For example, to grow an acre of corn, you would need to determine the costs associated with seed, fertilizer, water, labor, and machinery and then divide by the number of acres you have.  With this value, you can thus set the sale price of your crops to ensure a profit.  The video below describes why knowing your machinery costs is so important.

Obviously, you want to use your equipment as efficiently as possible.  Using equipment that is old and outdated can be just as cost-prohibitive as using expensive, over-sized equipment that is unnecessary for your acreage.  A tool like a machinery cost calculator (like this Iowa State University "Estimating Farm Machinery Costs" calculator found under the Machinery heading) can help determine your cost per acre.  Calculators like these can help you determine fixed and variable costs, depreciation, and cost benchmarks.

A machinery cost calculator is also helpful in the decision making process of buying equipment.  Is buying new, used, or leasing your best option?  You might also determine that a new machine just isn't in your budget, but it is a necessary tool in your farm operation.  You can use your machinery cost calculator to find out if other options like sharing, renting, or custom work are feasible.


As a farm owner, have you calculated your machinery costs lately?  When buying new equipment, have you used this calculation?  Have you had to re-evaluate how you use certain machines because the cost per acre was higher than you expected?

Using PA MarketMaker to Market Your Business (part 3)

Continuing on in the MarketMaker series, today I'm going to talk about using PA MarketMaker to search for a business or product. This is an important feature for both consumers and food business owners. For example, a consumer can find a pumpkin patch in their area and a cattle rancher could find a processor for his beef.

1. To search for a product or business, click on a business type from the dropdown box under the Farmers, Fisheries, and Businesses section of the Pennsylvania MarketMaker homepage, located in the center of the page. Then, choose a search distance of “PA” or a mileage range from a specific zip code. Click “Search” to continue.

2. On the Results page, you will see businesses matching your criteria on the right and can view their location on the map in the center of the page. If you are looking for more advanced search results, you can narrow your search by clicking on the available options in the “Select By,” “Select a Category,”and “Select a Subcategory” tabs.

3. To view the profiles of the businesses in your search, either click on the business name in the Results section or the orange and blue dots on the map.

4. To start a new business search, simply click on the “Begin New Business Search” button located in the upper middle of the page.

That's it! Now you can perform a search for a business or product anytime you need. In the my next post, I'll write about how to use the Buy & Sell Forum.

UK institutes gluten-free labeling regulations; could the US be next?

In June of last year, I wrote a post about gluten-free products and it was the most read post so far. Since this seems to be a trending topic, I thought I would continue giving our readers more info about gluten-free products.


Starting this year, the UK has developed new regulations in the labeling of gluten-free foods. The labels will include 3 categories (as reported by SupermarketGuru.com):
1. Gluten-free: applies only to food which has 20 parts per million (ppm) or less of gluten.
2. Very low gluten: applies to foods which have between 21 and 100 parts per million (ppm) of gluten.
3. No gluten-containing ingredients: this is not covered by the law and is for foods that are made with ingredients that don’t contain gluten and where cross-contamination controls are in place. These foods will have very low levels of gluten but have not been tested to the same extent as those labeled gluten-free or very low gluten unless otherwise stated on the label.

Is the US next in instituting such regulations? The FDA took steps in 2007 to develop gluten-free labeling (products with less than 20ppm of gluten could use the term "gluten-free"). There was a lull in the FDA's development of gluten-free labeling, but the case was re-opened in 2011.

As a food business owner, what do you think? Will these regulations help or hurt the gluten-free industry? Do you currently make gluten-free products? Do you have customers asking for gluten-free?

Do consumers know where their produce is grown?

Over the past few months, I've been posting about research done at Penn State on mid-Atlantic consumers and their purchasing habits. One of the most interesting questions (by my own beliefs) was in regard to what produce is not grown in the mid-Atlantic.

Responses for participants who answered that they did purchase products from farmers’ markets were then compared to responses for participants who answered that they did NOT purchase from farmers' markets. Of the non-farmers' market shoppers, responses were compared pertaining to participants’ belief of what particular fruits and vegetables (bananas, lettuce, apples, lemons, tomatoes, mangoes, potatoes, grapes and avocados) are NOT grown in the mid-Atlantic region.

Figure 1 shows that more participants who shopped at farmers' markets were able to correctly identify which fruits and vegetables are NOT grown in the mid-Atlantic region and fewer of these participants incorrectly selected produce that IS grown in the mid-Atlantic region. For example, a greater percentage of participants who purchased from farmers’ markets (82%) correctly selected bananas as being NOT grown in the mid-Atlantic region compared to 74% of participants who reported not purchasing from farmers’ markets.



Read the full press release here.

Does this mean that people who shop at farmers' markets know what produce is grown in the mid-Atlantic because they see it at the farmers' market? This may be true, but approximately 20% of participants who shopped at farmers' markets indicated that fruits such as lemons, mangos, and avocados were grown in the mid-Atlantic region. It could be that they are attending farmers' markets that sell local and non-local items. This data may also mean that consumers simply don't know where their produce comes from. As an ag entrepreneur, this may be a great time to educate people as to what is fresh, local, and in season!

How can new and beginning farmers overcome overwhelming obstacles?

No one ever said farming was easy. Young and beginning farmers may face extra challenges too. These include high start up costs, availability of land, and cost of land, equipment, seed, livestock, feed, and fertilizer. Ben LaCross, 31, of Cedar, Michigan is a young farmer. He was interviewed by The Lempert Report on how he views these challenges. He states that, "The payout schedules for harvested crops can be spread out over the course of the following 12 months after harvest. That cash flow bottleneck makes it hard for anyone just to jump into farming."


Although these may seem like huge barriers, there are still opportunities for young and beginning farmer hopefuls to join the farming profession. Some young and beginning farmers are doing so by thinking of unique ways to solve these issues. Some examples:
-Working for a farm and gradually deferring salary for equity.
-Renting land and/or equipment from a retired farmer.
-Building a relationship with a farmer who is close to retirement and may be willing to sell you land at a fair price.
-Finding mentors to help you make difficult decisions and give advice.

If you are someone who has recently started farming, what barriers did you have to overcome to become a farmer? If you are someone who is a veteran farmer, what advice can you give to young and beginning farmers?

Horse Progress Days

The 18th Annual Horse Progress Days 2011 was held on July 1 & 2 in Kinzers, Lancaster County, PA, home of the highest concentration of horse drawn manufacturers and horse farmers in the world. For the first time, the event featured two full days of produce equipment demonstrations, and seminars about successfully growing and caring for produce. Penn State Educators played a vital role in the educational programming including Tim Elkner on “Diagnosing Plant Problems,” Steve Bogash on Use of Tissue Testing for Fertilizing,” and Jeff Graybill on “No Till Farming.”



The heart and soul of Horse Progress Days is the equipment demonstrations. Over the past several years the no-till movement has caught on within many of the plain communities. This is especially true of the Amish dairy and tobacco farmers. This trend has primarily seen growth in row crops such and corn and soybeans, but also alfalfa. Penn State Extension in Lancaster County was awarded a grant in 2007 to build a prototype no-till transplanter. The planter was designed and built by the Agronomy educator with input from several local Amish farmers. To date, three planters of this type have been constructed with approximately 300 acres of mostly tobacco, but also pumpkins, broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower have been planted no-till. The original unit was on display and demonstrated at Horse progress day.

Horse Progress Days’ Mission Statement is “To encourage and promote the combination of animal power and the latest equipment innovations in an effort to support sustainable small scale farming and land stewardship. To show draft animal power is possible, practical and profitable.”

Agricultural and Penn State Extension Direct Marketing Specialists, Peggy Fogarty-Harnish and John Berry conducted two panels for folks interested in sustainable, local foods marketing as new opportunities arise for increasing farm profits. A Co-op Growers Panel on Friday afternoon featured three local cooperatives, Lancaster Vegetable Growers Cooperative, Lancaster Farm Fresh Cooperative and the newly formed Oasis at Bird-in-Hand all of which have provided new opportunities for produce growers in the county over the past few years. Saturday’s Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) Grower’s Panel discussed ways for consumers to buy seasonal food directly from a farmer throughout the season by purchasing a weekly share. Experienced producers and managers shared their knowledge, discussed logistics and answered questions. Other Penn State displays included Farm Food Safety and Food Preservation.

In keeping with the theme of “Something for Everyone,” the event was one to bring the whole family. Children were especially happy to see the playground area and the petting zoo. Kay Moyer, Penn State Extension Farm Safety Specialist hosted a child safety area which was very busy with approximately 4,500 people visiting the hands-on activity stations. About 3,000 “I visited the Safety Area and Petting Zoo at Horse Progress Days” safety activity books were given to the children who attended. This twelve page culturally appropriate Anabaptist activity book was created to reinforce the education provided at the children safety area and included: machine safety, animal safety, Poison safety, and 911/emergency safety. The event was a great success with over 10,000 people attending each day. In 2012, the event will be held in Michigan.

Written by Peggy Fogarty-Harnish (pfogharn@psu.edu)

Lessons learned from Ag Progress Days

On Thursday, I visited Ag Progress Days for the first time ever. It was an amazing combination of all things agriculture. Most of the vendors had well-designed displays. Unfortunately, a few displays were just not helpful. If you saw Jeff's tweets from APD last week, you may have read about some vendors reading books at their displays and not looking very welcoming to potential customers.

Besides the reading vendors, I think the most lackluster display can be seen above (I waited until someone stood in front of the table to protect the identity of the vendor). As you can see, the "display" consists of banner with the business's name, an employee sitting at the table (behind the standing man), and a few brochures. As a potenial customer, what would bring me to this booth? The banner doesn't even give an idea what kind of business it is.

When setting up a vendor booth, remember that you are there to attract customers. With hundreds of other vendors at Ag Progress Days, attendees have a lot to see. Your display should sell your business without you even having to say a word. In an article by Startup Nation, a website developed to give how-to advice to entrepreneurs, they give tips on creating a vendor booth.

Tip 1: Spend serious time planning. "Create specialized, eye-catching marketing materials...The idea is to get attendees to stop. Think of your marketing materials as 'bait for fishing in the aisles.'"

Tip 2: Put your signage in sharp focus. "Make your booth signage as focused as your overall trade-show approach. Your backdrop should be simple and concise – five or six words to tell your story; something that people cruising by will get quickly. Also, design two-sided business cards for the event. Include contact info and a photo on one side, with a list of benefits in working with you on the other."

Tip 3: Choose your floor location carefully. "Where you park yourself is key...A corner, an island, a peninsula is the most ideal situation because of traffic flow and visibility. And don’t sit. Sitting behind an exhibit booth sends the message that you’re not interested or aggressive. People will just keep on walking."

Startup Nation article

As an ag entrepreneur, have you participated in any fairs or shows? Have you developed a strategy for your display? Do you have any other advice for potential vendors?