Category Archives: Marketing & Communication – The Driftless Identity

Responses to COVID 19 #1

On-line sales platforms

There is a flurry of activity to support small farmers and their farmers markets and restaurant partners as we all grapple with changing supply chains. The good news is that with restaurants closed, people are purchasing more food from groceries. (More than 50% of the food we consume has come from restaurants!) Our independent grocery partners are now on the front line of resilience in the food system.

I will post info to this web site as it becomes available to me. For example, this webinar will discuss on-line sales platforms and will be recorded so you can participate live or listen later. [I realize not everyone has internet access – people are working on options. Time to make the internet a utility!]:

With restaurants and some farmers markets shutting down, we know many of you need to find alternative sales channels for your products. Customers are also looking for new solutions to buy quality, organic food safely.

Join Oregon Tilth’s free webinar on Friday, March 20 at 11:00am PST to learn more about direct-to-consumer online sales platforms.

Please forward this to any farmers that may benefit from attending.

We’ll hear from representatives from four online sales platforms:

 * Barn2Door
<https://nam01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftilth.us10.list-manage.com%2Ftrack%2Fclick%3Fu%3Da8b54e2fc4edb4203771d7bc8%26id%3D826de0d82d%26e%3D86d54827d5&data=02%7C01%7C%7C6b8b60ce42c24855b99708d7cc33b50b%7Cafb58802ff7a4bb1ab21367ff2ecfc8b%7C0%7C0%7C637202394768923494&sdata=izkRQEW%2BIvddeLqb4%2FVrs%2BJze7cMMdxxhIEtmaSK0js%3D&reserved=0>
 * Harvie
<https://nam01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftilth.us10.list-manage.com%2Ftrack%2Fclick%3Fu%3Da8b54e2fc4edb4203771d7bc8%26id%3Db582c7f137%26e%3D86d54827d5&data=02%7C01%7C%7C6b8b60ce42c24855b99708d7cc33b50b%7Cafb58802ff7a4bb1ab21367ff2ecfc8b%7C0%7C0%7C637202394768923494&sdata=dCKH%2Bu4XSqq%2FX16VD69MWunTQveQgWhTdhK1hYp0D2Y%3D&reserved=0>
 * Local Food Marketplace
<https://nam01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftilth.us10.list-manage.com%2Ftrack%2Fclick%3Fu%3Da8b54e2fc4edb4203771d7bc8%26id%3D0fd301af5e%26e%3D86d54827d5&data=02%7C01%7C%7C6b8b60ce42c24855b99708d7cc33b50b%7Cafb58802ff7a4bb1ab21367ff2ecfc8b%7C0%7C0%7C637202394768933489&sdata=XgOPG56qF4qWr9%2BMXpydHdzIgZijUb2RkU1B%2BmKuJKI%3D&reserved=0>
 * Open Food Network
<https://nam01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftilth.us10.list-manage.com%2Ftrack%2Fclick%3Fu%3Da8b54e2fc4edb4203771d7bc8%26id%3D5ebcbc7df8%26e%3D86d54827d5&data=02%7C01%7C%7C6b8b60ce42c24855b99708d7cc33b50b%7Cafb58802ff7a4bb1ab21367ff2ecfc8b%7C0%7C0%7C637202394768933489&sdata=LHi1%2F4%2FZzcP%2BgWTR9XmvMJHb4m5P1KwKtoksefW0QnU%3D&reserved=0>

When you register, we’ll send you a round-up of online sales platforms, questions to consider, and other resources to help your farm adapt during this crisis.

The webinar will be recorded and available on our website.

*REGISTER FOR THE WEBINAR <https://nam01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftilth.us10.list-manage.com%2Ftrack%2Fclick%3Fu%3Da8b54e2fc4edb4203771d7bc8%26id%3Dff815ee4fd%26e%3D86d54827d5&data=02%7C01%7C%7C6b8b60ce42c24855b99708d7cc33b50b%7Cafb58802ff7a4bb1ab21367ff2ecfc8b%7C0%7C0%7C637202394768933489&sdata=dSHxjNVgO5assJxMD6sT%2F2vo6jATUJAJxP24%2FxHBURU%3D&reserved=0>*

Updates on food transportation

Just a news flash that a lot has happened with the Madison Food Terminal. There is more detail posted on the Regional Food Freight Tab (top of your screen). Interested in other transportation issues? I posted a short summary of the 99th Annual Transportation Research Conference on the page, too.

#DairyTogether road trip!

Join other dairy farmers and coops on August 13 to advance solutions to the dairy crisis. There is a bus leaving from Wisconsin, full of dairy farmers. The bus will stop along the way for media opportunities and to pick up attendees in Michigan, Ohio, and Pennsylvania.

More details on Agrimark’s event page:

Register now for the 4th Annual 2017 Great Lakes Great Apple Crunch!

Are you looking for an easy way to celebrate Farm to School Month, support your local farmers, and have a good reason to party?! Look no further than the Great Lakes Great Apple Crunch on Thursday, October 12. This fun, easy, and flexible event encourages you to purchase local apples and ‘Crunch’ into them at the same time with over one million other Crunchers across the region. We already have 250,000 Crunchers registered at over 700 different sites in Wisconsin, and we hope that you will join us! Register today to help us keep track of our #OneMillionCrunch goal. When you register you get a copy of the Crunch Guide to help you source local apples and plan your event, and you can get FREE CRUNCH STICKERS (sticker deadline October 2)! Everyone at K-12 schools, early care centers, farms, hospitals, agencies, offices, non-profits and more is encouraged to participate. Find more information and registration at the links below, or contact Vanessa Herald (vherald@wisc.edu) with any questions.
Website & Registration: www.cias.wisc.edu/applecrunch
Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/greatlakesgreatapplecrunch

Making More From Milk!

Have you ever thought about adding value to the milk you produce on your farm? This May, join with other farmers to learn about value-added dairy, including visits to retails that specialize in specialty cheeses, and visits to farms that are making cheese and ice cream from their milk. Cow, sheep and goat milk dairies and cheese makers are featured, especially those producing artisan and raw milk cheeses from grass-fed animals.

This is three full days of on-site expert introduction to value-added dairy. The event fee of $695 includes:

  • 3 farm visits,
  • 3 processor visits,
  • 5 retailer visits,
  • 5 seminars with industry experts,
  • 3 lunches,
  • ground transportation to visits,
  • Translation to Spanish.

There are also optional cheese making opportunities on Thursday May 4.

  • Option one – make cheese with an award-winning cheese maker in a small factory setting. $425.
  • Option two – make cottage cheese with professionals from the University of Wisconsin. $525.

The event runs Monday May 1 at 8 am to Wednesday May 3 at 3:30. Seminars are offered in Madison, WI and tours are concentrated in the Fox Valley.

Register at https://fs3.formsite.com/8onTH0/form1/index.html

For more details on the program, go to http://globalcow.com/making-more-from-milk/

Contact Karen@globaldairyoutreach.com to register. 866-267-2879

Cooperative Board Leadership Roundtable

Join us in Madison on August 4th
View this email in your browser

MARK YOUR CALENDARS AND REGISTER NOW!
As the business world grows increasingly more complex, an effective board is critical to cooperative’s success. How do board leaders balance responding to changing conditions while remaining focused on the long-term goals and needs of the cooperative? How might your board improve performance to better meet the needs of its members?Join other cooperative board leaders on August 4th in Madison, WI, to share challenges and solutions that your cooperative board is facing. The Cooperative Board Leadership Roundtable is a flexible and interactive forum that will focus on the following topics:

  • Role of the board chair and other leadership positions
  • Facilitating effective meetings
  • Strategies for good decision making processes and developing a more efficient board
  • CEO review and succession planning
  • Best practices in board leadership.

Don’t miss out on this opportunity to network with your cooperative board peers!
Cooperative Board Leadership Roundtable
Fluno Center, Madison, WI
August 4, 2015
Register Now
Logistics and other Information
Agenda
9:00AM – Registration and Continental Breakfast
9:30AM – Roundtable begins
2:00PM – Roundtable adjournsContact Information:
Anne Reynolds, Executive Director
UW Center for Cooperatives
anne.reynolds@wisc.edu
(608) 263-4775
Registration and Cost: $100 per participant includes light breakfast, lunch and onsite parking at the Fluno CenterRegister two or more individuals from the same cooperative and receive a 10% discount!There is a limited number of financial hardship registrations available. If you need assistance, please contact us.
Thank you to Cooperative Network for cosponsoring this event!
This program is presented by:
The University of Wisconsin Center for Cooperatives and UW Extension
Copyright © 2015 University of Wisconsin Center for Cooperatives, All rights reserved.unsubscribe from this list    update subscription preferences

Strengthen your values-based supply chain connections

Remember the talk about a trade association for regional food? the Local Food Association, based in Lexington, KY,  is organizing just such a service! The director bio is awesome and they have a great board of directors. They are hosting a first conference November 6th for supply chain businesses, including farmers / shippers, to meet and do business.

http://www.infoinc.com/LFA/0814.html

Two new reports : regional food transportation and climate

CIAS and USDA-AMS transportation division just released our report: Networking Across the Supply Chain http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/AgTransportation  We are continuing this work, hoping to host a meeting next spring in Chicago for the logistics and transportation sector. If you are working on freight transportation and values-based food supply chains, I would love to hear your thinking on this.

I’ve also been working with the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters on a report we released last Friday: “Climate Forward: A new roadmap for Wisconsin’s climate and energy fuuture” https://www.wisconsinacademy.org/sites/default/files/ClimateForward2014.pdf  The Academy will continue its work on this area into 2015. We hope to link CIAS faculty, students, staff and our many community partners (that means YOU) to it through our work on perennializing agriculture.