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February 2024 Newsletter

Kansas Honey Producers’

Spring Conference

March 8-9, 2024

Heartland Regional Food

Business Center 

Attention farm and food businesses!  More help building your enterprise and connecting to resources is available now through our partnership in the new five-state Heartland Regional Food Business Center (Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and Oklahoma). We are cultivating the region's local food supply with more on-the-ground assistance and coordination. Our 3 core objectives cover:  

• Technical assistance to meet the needs of food and farm entrepreneurs.   

• Coordination of current resources and supply chain connections. 

• On-the-ground capacity building, including Business Builder grants (expected mid 2024). 

Stay up to date on emerging opportunities through the Heartland Food Business Bytes Newsletter.

• February 23: Farm to Fork Summit & Expo (Nevada, Missouri)   

• March 7: Food Business Conference (Independence, Missouri)   

K-State Research and Extension is Hiring!

K-State Research and Extension is hiring two positions to support its role in the Heartland Regional Food Business Center (HRFBC)!

About the Center: 

The HRFBC helps farm and food enterprises develop local and regional food businesses and markets with an emphasis on assisting historically underserved audiences. Partner organizations provide assistance from startup through expansion and provides support for supply chain connections.    

About the positions: 

The Food Systems Entrepreneurial Resource Navigators will be responsible for providing technical assistance to small, midsized and diverse farm and food-based businesses (i.e. entrepreneurs selling value-added products, opening a restaurant, renovating a rural grocery store, etc.) across Kansas and support programming to fulfill K-State Research and Extension’s responsibilities for the Center.  These two statewide positions will be located in the Douglas County Extension office or based remotely for the Manhattan K-State Research and Extension team. 

Food Systems Entrepreneurial Resource Navigator 

Duties and responsibilities: 

• Identify aspiring and established farm and food-based businesses, assess needs and provide clients with relevant informational resources. 

• Track technical assistance interactions, follow up with clients and other technical assistance providers to ensure entrepreneurs are receiving relevant resources. 

• Identify informational gaps, compile and develop informational resources related to farm and food-based business development. 

• Effectively communicate with a variety of audiences about the work of the Heartland Regional Food Business Center (HRFBC) and available resources from the center. 

• Build relationships with HRFBC partners and clients, with a goal towards reaching underserved audiences. 

• Lead planning for bi-annual Edible Startup Summit and other outreach and promotional activities for the Heartland Regional Food Business Center. 

• Manage grant activities and contribute to written reports. 

2024 Field to Fork Webinars –

North Dakota State University 

North Dakota State University Extension will host the ninth annual Field to Fork Wednesday Webinar series February 21 through May 1. The webinars will be held online from 2-3 pm CST. 

Experts from across the region will provide information about growing, preserving and preparing specialty-crop fruits and vegetables safely. 

The webinars are free but preregistration is required. Register at the NDSU Extension Field to Fork webpage. Participants will receive email reminders each week. If participants are unable to attend, the webinars will be archived for later viewing; however, participating in the live webinar allows participants to interact with the presenter. 

“These online educational sessions have continued to grow in popularity from the time we launched them in 2016,” says Julie Garden-Robinson, NDSU Extension food and nutrition specialist. “This is an ongoing collaborative effort with the North Central Food Safety Extension Network. We are able to include NDSU Extension experts as well as regional experts.” 

Break-even Pricing, Revenue, and Units - University of Missouri Extension

For a value-added agricultural business, break-even pricing informs how to price a value-added product. If a product’s market-accepted sales price is greater than its break-even price, then the business can feel more confident in the financial feasibility of offering the given product. This publication shows how to determine a value-added agricultural product’s break-even price, revenue and unit sales from a cost perspective. 

Nurturing Vendor Business

FarmShop is the company that manages the Old Town Farm & Art Market in Wichita, KS. They have some free vendor education modules to help your local farmers market. 

FarmShop’s free training modules are designed to support direct-to-consumer vendor companies and event organizers in creating successful and engaging experiences for both vendors and customers. Our training covers essential topics such as vendor best practices, customer engagement strategies, display and booth design, marketing and promotion, and logistics. Through downloadable lessons, participants will gain valuable insights and practical skills to enhance their presence at farmers markets and other vendor-based events. Whether you're a seasoned vendor or just starting, this training is designed to help you thrive in the vendor marketplace.

Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program

Courtney Koenig with the Kansas Department of Health and Environment has online training available for the Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program.

If you need assistance with this online training, contact your local Extension office for assistance. 

Thank you so much for working with us!

If you ever have any questions feel free to message us or give us a call!