Agritainment Offers Opportunity to Diversify and Increase Income

By Michelle Kowalewski, Extension Educator, Susquehanna Co.

Zembrzycki's have diversified their dairy farm enterprise to
include a roadside farm market and now a corn maze.

(All photos from Zembrzycki's Corn Maze
located in Herrick Center, Susquehanna Co.)

Farmers have learned that diversity in agriculture is a must; and agritainment presents a rising opportunity for agriculture in Pennsylvania.  "Agritainment" is simply providing an opportunity for entertainment in an agricultural setting.  Visitors, or customers, can supply a wide range of revenue-generating opportunities for farms.  Agritainment creates opportunities to entice visitors to your farm, provide education about agriculture, and increase your overall profits.  Examples of agritainment enterprises include pick-your-own fruits and vegetables, farm markets, festivals/fairs, interactive animal displays, corn-maze enterprises, for-fee fishing, bed and breakfasts, and farm-stay vacations.  Many agritainment enterprises have an educational component to teach consumers about 'where their food comes from.'

The first step of considering an agritainment enterprise should be to check whether your proposed land use conforms to your local zoning regulations.  As with any new venture or enterprise, developing a business plan is an important next step.  If you currently have a business plan, revision will be necessary to consider the impact of the new enterprise.  Having a written business plan helps ensure that you have considered all issues pertaining to operating an agritainment enterprise and can help in obtaining financing.  The business plan will also highlight your marketing plan and marketing is a key component to your business's success!


When marketing and advertising your agritainment enterprise, it's important to thing about what will attract customers.  Your agritainment operation needs to be eye-appealing, easy to navigate, and above all - safe.  The first impression will be the customer's last impression and should be positive.  Providing information and attractive signs for guidance will enhance the experience of the customer.  Signs help keep customers within designated areas, well-maintained pathways also provide guidance and safety.

Remember, you are inviting customers to your operation.  Provide a variety of entertainment to encourage return visits.  Listen to your customers and provide them with what they need and you will have a successful entertainment business and add to your income and business story.

Information from this blog post provided from Agricultural Alternatives: Agritainment

Penn State Extension offers some great resources for entrepreneurs looking to expand their horizons in the agritainment industry.

Farm Marketing: Aspects of Direct-to-Consumer Marketing

by John Berry, Extension Educator, Lehigh County

Direct-to-consumer farm marketing enjoys a special space in east coast agriculture.  Not only do we have some of the best land and productive farmers in our midst - we have millions of hungry consumers surrounding our farms.  These ready consumers not only seek farm products, foods and knowledge - they seek a connection to farm experiences.

One of the areas of retail farm marketing and agri-tourism of particular interest for enhanced professional development to many direct-to-consumer farm marketers centers on merchandising concepts.

Merchandising - pricing, product packaging, market facility and fixtures - sums up all the means you can use to sell your product, and encourages the customer to buy as much as possible.

Attractive signage can entice customers to purchase

Signs - product description, consumer awareness and general written communications - are one key element of merchandising.  Signage is your major means of communication with customers.  What you say is important to the customer in choosing what to buy, or whether to buy, so make sure the information on the sign is complete and accurate.  Always make sure your signs are clean and neat - a worn out sign will undo all the effects of an otherwise perfect display.

When you have the room, don't assume that every customer knows everything about even the most basic item.  Don't be afraid to add information like "Best Apple Pie" or "Best Baked Potato."  In any case, all products which are new, unusual, or seasonal, should be adequately signed.

Signs can also be used to promote items that are especially good buys, or tie-ins with other items in your or another department.  Signs can also emphasize nutritional information on particular items.   Signs are provided by many suppliers, trade associations, and organizations like the American Cancer Society.  Use these to best advantage, but don't rely solely on them to do the job.  Good signage can increase your sales, so use your imagination and create your own "best sellers."

Display techniques - what is being done to show farm products in their best light and encourage purchasing - are another key element of merchandising.  Your market layout may be parallel counters with displays in between, or a lateral maze with counters extending into the center.  You may even have chosen a boutique style layout, with displays in clusters.

Jams are displayed using a cluster, boutique style, layout.

Whichever layout you've chosen, the main feature of its design is to control the movement of your customers so they spend the maximum amount of time in your department, and are exposed to all your products.

The manner in which you display your merchandise within this framework can enhance their captivating environment and maximize your sales opportunities.  It would be defeating your purpose, for example, to put all your basic, staple items in one area, when a customer might make his most urgent purchases and then leave your department without seeing what else you have to offer.  To eliminate this problem, scatter your high-demand "power" items throughout your department, next to impulse items.

To further the education of those active in retail farm marketing and agri-tourism (market owners, managers, other personnel, etc.), Penn State Extension is offering a two-day bus tour of twelve premiere farm markets in northern New Jersey and Connecticut with plenty of ideas, education, food and fun for all.

We have something for everyone - seasonal, year-round, produce, food, tourism, value-added, pick-your-own, entertainment and educational farm direct-to-consumer marketing at its finest!  Not to mention the "classroom-on-wheels" as we travel between markets with opportunities to network and learn from each other.

Tour information, details, and registration is available here. 

Local Food Business is Big Business in Pennsylvania

by Winifred McGee, Extension Educator, Dauphin County

Over the past couple of years, we've seen a dramatic rise in the number of people who come to the Penn State Extension's Food for Profit workshop.  During this one-day, jam-packed session (pun fully intended), we instructors endeavor to provide the basics in what a person would need to learn, and know, to start a food business.  We provide opportunity for the participants to learn about sanitation, regulation, and inspections from the inspectors - be it municipal health officials or sanitarians from the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture's Bureau of Food Safety.  The ability to meet these individuals - who fast become the "entrepreneur's first and best friend" - advising them what to do, and not do, to get their business started is often worth the class fee alone.  We also provide the opportunity to discuss food safety practices, niche marketing, social media, effective packaging and labeling, and money matters - financing and pricing - throughout the day.

A Food for Profit participant presents a unique marketing idea
for her activity group's assigned product: a barbecue sauce.

Between September 2012 and June 2013, we've had 219 people attend 11 workshops - 10 in Pennsylvania, one in Maryland - who joined the ranks of the previous 443 course graduates to bring the class participants to 661 since November 2010.  These folks are of all ages (20-somethings through senior citizens) from all walks of life - looking at the potential to turn their food idea into a venture for "extra money," or to full-time employment.  The participants of Food for Profit are not alone, or unusual, in their search for self-employment.  In this book, "To Sell is Human," Danial H. Pink asserts that "the last decade has also witnessed a substantial increase in very small enterprises - not only those that offer products, but one- or two- person outfits that sell services, creativity, and expertise."  Pink supports this statement by referencing:

• U.S. Census Bureau estimates of twenty-one million "non-employer" businesses - operations without any paid employees...the majority of businesses in the United States.
• The research firm IDC statistics - 30% of American workers now work on their own and that by 2015, this number will reach 1.3 billion.
• Some analysts' projections that U.S. independent entrepreneurs may grow by sixty-five million and could become a majority of the American workforce by 2020.
• Pink's own "What Do You Do at Work?" survey, which asked "Do you work for yourself or run your own business, even on the side?"  Thirty-eight percent of respondents answered "yes."

A little pickle can be the start to "big business"

To illustrate entrepreneurship, Pink profiles the Brooklyn Brine Company - started by disenchanted chef, Shamus Jones, who turned his "hobby" of pickling seasonal vegetables into a full-time business.  Similar to the Food for Profit graduates with whom I've worked, Jones started down the road to self-employment by experimenting with pickle recipes in a "borrowed" commercial kitchen from 10 p.m. to 8 a.m., honing the recipes that resulted in Brooklyn Brine opening its doors in 2009.  Now selling a range of products from the standard NYC Deli Pickles to the exotic Lavender Asparagus, jars of Brooklyn Brine are found on shelves of high-end food-shops literally around the world.  Also, like most Food for Profit graduates, Jones has ended up wearing many hats - being the "face" of the company - time meeting distributors, telling the company's story and convincing more stores to stock his products.  He also has sales tasks when he gets back to his production floor - influencing his employees so that they are "stoked to come into work."  This is a combination of traditional selling and non-sales selling that Pink calls "moving."  Pink defines this activity (which he asserts that a majority of us do) as "moving other people to part with resources - whether something tangible like cash or intangible like effort or attention - so that we both get what we want."  A subset of all the "moving" is, indeed, accomplished by successful food entrepreneurs.

Local food enterprises are big business - even when the operations are small.  The consumer demand and entrepreneurs' vision result in not only a variety of products on our tables, but a more energized local economy.  It is exciting to me personally to see the would-be food business owners come to Food for Profit.  I know their enterprises will not all experience the type of success that Brooklyn Brine had, but I know that many of them will work just as hard as Jones did, to see vision become a reality.  Penn State Extension provides our support by doing the "scavenger hunt" - collecting the information from various sources about how to launch a legal, marketable, profitable product and packaging it in a one day event - but the energy and enthusiasm has to come from within the entrepreneur, him- or her-self.  This is the essence of the American Dream; building a way to support one's household while having a great deal of fun.  And, hopefully, the food entrepreneurs will spread the fun on to their employees, customers, and communities.

What Purpose Does Packaging Serve?

Take a minute to think about the last packaged product you purchased.  Was there anything about the package that drew you to it?  Perhaps the size, shape, color, or story about the business on the label?  Or, perhaps you prefer glass to plastic.  I know that when I'm traveling and stop for a snack, I'm usually looking for something in a resealable package (I don't want my snack getting loose in my bag or car, after all!).

I look for resealable packages,
like this one, when traveling.

When it comes to a package, it serves four principal functions:

• Containment - Obviously, with multi-item products, such as my M&Ms, they need to be contained in some fashion.  As do food products such as juices, jams, sauces, etc.
• Protection - There are many reasons we want our food products protected through the use of packaging - protection from the elements, from possible tampering, from shock, vibration, etc.  Packaging helps to ensure that food items are in the same condition when the consumer purchases it as it was when produced.
• Information - Packaging serves as a convenient place to provide a variety of information to the consumer about the product itself, as well as the company that produces it.  Information can range from legal requirements, such as nutritional information and ingredients, to stories about the company background or founders.  Product packaging also conveys information in the form of "trade dress," or the set of visual characteristics that help the consumer identify products from the competition.
• Utility of Use - Let's face it, packaging makes life easier when it comes to using the product, whether it be pouring, dipping, or storing the item.  The right package can make a big difference.

However, packaging also helps with the mental placement of a product in peoples' minds.  I saw this quote in the book Successful Food Packaging Design and wanted to share it:

"Packaging is people's perception of the brand; it's that core....When people think of your product - whatever kind of food it may be - they picture the package it comes in" (Mark Greene, Pecos Design)

Every mix of packaging material(s), color(s), size, and other characteristics sends unspoken messages to your customers about your product.  I'll discuss some of these elements in coming posts.  However, food entrepreneurs should first be concerned about these four functional aspects of packaging.

Food Products and UPCs

by Winifred McGee, Extension Educator, Dauphin County

There are so many things for a new business owner to consider as the product moves from a "vision" to reality.  When the food items are created to have shelf life, designing an appropriate package is always part of the process - and whether to include a Universal Product Code (UPC) on that package is always a consideration.  Food products that will be sold exclusively in farmers' markets, specialty stores, or over the Internet (so that they never pass over a scanner) do not require barcodes.  However, if a would-be food entrepreneur envisions the product in a grocery or big box store sometime in the future, having the code on the label will, sooner or later, be a necessity.

UPCs were launched by a 10-pack of Juicy Fruit gum
and a hand-made laser scanner.

Although many of us cannot remember a time when UPCs were not common in the marketplace, the initiation of this system is "relatively" recent.  A UPC produced its first familiar "beep" when a 10-pack of Wrigley's Juicy Fruit gum passed over the prototype scanner at March Supermarket in Troy, Ohio, on June 26, 1974.  The technology is actually 39 years young!

At a 2004 ceremony commemorating the original first scan, Tom Jackson, the president and chief executive of the Ohio Grocers Association, said "(t)he bar code has forever changed the world and the way we do business as an industry."  Although other industries had experimented with barcodes before 1974, the groceries were early adopters of the UPC, since this technology allowed the stores to change from using item-level price tags to shelf tags, and eliminated the keypunch errors at the register.  In an era before the "super store," grocery stores of the 1970s had a finite number of price lookups (PLUs) and the average customer bought a number of items per store visit - this made these retail establishments a "natural" for trying out the concept.  March Supermarket was chosen to be the first to incorporate the technology because of its proximity to Dayton (home of the NCR where the checkout counter was designed).  After a number of years of "trial and error," it was noted that using barcodes resulted in fewer under-rings (reducing revenue loss), and helped keep shelf inventories more efficiently - forever linking UPCs with grocery stores.

Almost 40 years later, food entrepreneurs who visualize their gourmet jams, salsa, or meat rubs on a retail shelf will find that joining the tradition of incorporating a UPC is a must.  For a proactive business owner, including a barcode with the first run of labels may make great sense, so that the product is ready when the demand is right.  Since UPCs depend on company-specific codes, barcodes must be purchased from a vendor.  This is most easily accomplished by going to the non-profit company, GS1 US.  Although barcodes are available at other sources, GS1 US guarantees that each company prefix will be unique, and they provide the tools and training for business owners to get started using UPCs.

This familiar UPC is a "must" for selling through
groceries and big box stores.

The amount a company pays for barcodes is determined by the number of distinct products the company makes (and the number of different sizes of each variety) since each flavor and quantity will need its own code.  A secondary factor affecting the cost of barcodes is the annual gross revenues realized by the business.  New customers can easily estimate the fees that they will likely pay, using the downloadable Barcode and Fee Estimator, available on the GS1 US website.  The smallest purchase increment available is 100 barcodes, and the smallest revenue level is "less than $250,000" - these two factors resulting in an initial fee of $760 and annual renewal fees of $158.  While this may seem like a lot of money to spend before a wholesale contract is in hand, the costs will most likely be greater if an entrepreneur waits to retro-fit packaging (that is, to include the barcode) until he or she actually has an order from a store.

Being ready to respond to the demands and expectations of the customer is the road to business success.  In a marketplace laden with choices, it is much easier to launch an exciting, professional-looking food product that catches the consumer eye.  Food entrepreneurs who are looking for more information about food packaging may reference Food Labeling, a Penn State Extension fact sheet covering basic label requirements, or visit the Penn State Extension's Packaging and Labeling resource page.  For more comprehensive information about starting and growing a food business, look for a Food for Profit workshop near you this fall - bookmark the site and return in July to see upcoming class dates and locations.

Financial Management Invaluable for Farm Success

by Miguel Saviroff, Extension Educator, Somerset County

A farm business depends on its finances!  Financial management is as critical as the other components of the business, such as crop, labor, nutrient, and pest management.  Lenders expect farmers to manage the funds they lend to them, so a farmer-lender relationship is very important.  Credit institutions will rarely extend credit when there is no visible record of your past income or when a financial plan cannot be prepared to convience them of the ability to use funds efficiently and repay the loans.  Financial literacy and management are a must for anyone aspiring to be a successful farmer.

Miguel Saviroff leads a Farm$en$e workshop

The Farm$en$e program trains farm managers who receive financial assistance from the USDA Farm Service Agency.  The course is 25 hours spread over 4 days.  Making decisions on the farm is a daily activity, but buying land or equipment requires informed decisions and the use of financial statements.  The program covers the use of the balance sheet, a "snapshot" of the farm financial condition at a single point in time.  In order for the balance sheet to balance, total assets on one side have to equal total liabilities plus shareholders' equity on the other.  The accrual income statement is a summary of the revenues, and the expense associated with generating those revenues, during a production cycle.  The accrual concept applies directly to agriculture; farm managers in the program learn that changes in inventory are part of the farm revenues.  The cash flow budget statement allows producers to project cash flows for each month of the upcoming year; it is the best financial planning tool.  Participants are required to prepare these statements for their own farm.

The workshop is designed to teach farmers how to assess their financial strengths and weaknesses, to identify the specific goals of the farm, and how to prepare a production plan that outlines the changes required to improve profitability.  Enterprise budgets are used to better analyze short and long run fiscal impacts and evaluate profitability.  Managing risks like price, cost, and interest rates are considered in this plan.

Monitoring financial ratios can be useful to adjust operations throughout the year, rather than once a year.  Borrowers attending the program learn to calculate their farm's financial ratios obtaining them from the key financial statements.  The liquidity ratio measures the ability to pay bills when due, the solvency ratio indicates the amount of debt relative to equity, and the profitability ratio indicates the true financial performance of the business.  These ratios are applied to troubleshoot and fix financial and production problems.

As many beginning farmers, Orlo St. Clair, attendee of the program, lacked land, equipment, managerial experience and access to financial resources.  St. Clair started as a herd manager on a farm in Indiana County.  "I asked the owner if I could raise my own heifers, and he accepted," St. Clair said.  "I wanted to have a base to start with."

Orlo St. Clair and his girlfriend review some of his financial records

"Since I am a production guy, usually it is my sister helping me with the financial accounting, but now I enjoy planning my year's cash flow," said St. Clair, who milks 90 cows and crops 175 acres.  "Thanks to the Farm$en$e program, I am able to plan my goals, changes, and measure the impact on the net income due to these changes."

Penn State Extension and the FSA assist farmers in adopting the financial tools necessary to become active managers.  For more information about Farm$en$e, contact Miguel Saviroff at the Somerset Extension office at 814-445-8911 ext. 144.

Youth Entrepreneurship - Developing a PASSION

by Michelle Kowalewski, Extension Educator, Susquehanna County

There are no specific traits that are required to be a successful entrepreneur, but one thing that is required is a PASSION for something specific you are drawn to.  One's "passion," or "love for what you do," must be realized; it cannot be substituted nor can someone else tell you what it is!

Your passion might be to be your own boss, or to be creative, or a desire for change.  Nothing else keeps you going, and your passion must belong to you.  Whatever the passion is, it's a "must!"  It's the passion that pushes entrepreneurs through difficult times with the necessary drive to find answers to seemingly unanswered questions.

Working with the 4-H animal science project members, I find that they have a passion for raising, showing, and selling livestock.  These 4-H youth, believe it or not, are running a business.  The life skills they are developing through these projects are skills that will help them in their next business venture as adults.  Skills such as decision making, record keeping, and marketing are all things that apply to an entrepreneur.

An enterprising youth shows off their market hog

The first step in the process for them is selecting a market animal (decision making) and then deciding where to house the animal, what to feed the animal, and also when to do routine animal health treatments.  Members keep careful track (record keeping) in their project record book of when things are done and if an expense or income might be associated with any of the activities.  The project book serves as the member's business plan as they use it to set goals and gauge their accomplishments and level of success of the project.

On of the most important parts of a successful market animal project is the sale of the animal.  By raising a market animal, they are part of the food supply continuum.  As the producer, they are responsible for providing animals with the proper care and environment needed to produce a safe and wholesome product for customers.  Members are strongly encouraged to reach out to potential buyers (marketing) and invite them to attend the auction and hopefully purchase his or her animal(s).

The 4-H animal science market animal project is just one example of youth entrepreneurship.  It goes without saying that a 4-H'er must have a mentor in order to fully do everything involved in raising a market animal.  That mentor might be a parent, 4-H leader, or friend.

In closing, think about what you or your children are passionate about and see how it fits into a possible long term life plan.  Serve as a youth mentor and help them develop their passion.  There are many ideas created by youth that have turned into famous products, such as Popsicle® which was created by accident by 11-year old Frank Epperson in 1905.  Although it took him years to develop, perfect, and patent his product, Popsicles® are a household favorite among my youngsters!