Free webinars boost farm market expansion

Tuesday, June 18, 2024

This summer, Rural Prosperity Nebraska together with the Heartland Regional Food Business Center is launching a series of no-cost webinars aimed at assisting farmers in extending their market reach.

The "MarketReady Advanced Topic Webinar Series" starts on June 20, offering insights into insurance, marketing, and packaging to help producers scale their operations into retail, wholesale, and restaurant sectors.

Ben Jewell, a Rural Prosperity Nebraska Extension educator, emphasizes the importance of these webinars for small-scale farmers who often lack knowledge about affordable insurance options. He likens their situation to a grocery store leaving produce out in extreme weather without protection.

“There haven’t been many insurance programs for local farmers like there are for larger commodity producers. Our webinars aim to fill this gap with new programs from the USDA,” Jewell explained.

The webinars will cover a variety of topics essential for business expansion. Scheduled topics include risk management and insurance in June, marketing strategies in July, and effective packaging and labeling in August.

Each session is designed not just to provide theoretical knowledge, but also practical advice drawn from extensive research and interviews with over 100 buyers across various markets.

The webinars will feature experts from the USDA Risk Management Agency and rural development sectors. Following the presentations, there will be a Q&A segment where attendees can address their specific questions and concerns.

These educational sessions are particularly crucial for farmers looking to transition from local markets to larger wholesale environments, a move that often involves increased production and risk. The webinar series promises to equip farmers with the necessary tools to manage these risks effectively.

The scheduled dates and topics for the MarketReady Advanced Topic Webinars are as follows: