Virtual Workshop Series for Beginning Farmers, Shellfish Farmers and all other Farming Commodities in Rhode Island and Massachusetts.

This virtual workshop on risk management and marketing will be delivered through nine zoom sessions and will be accompanied by homework assignments, and individualized counseling sessions if desired.

Participants will acquire the skills and understand their own operation sufficiently to develop personal risk management and marketing plans and strategies at the enterprise level.

7:00 pm – 9:00 pm
June 3 • June 17 • July 8 • July 22 • August 12 • August 26 • September 16 • September 30 • October 14

Please plan to attend ALL nine workshops. Pre-registration is required to participate.  Please register early as space is limited. There is a $25 non-refundable registration fee.

To register please contact:
Peggy Siligato (401) 640-0484 | Email Peggy
Paul Russell (508) 472-2364 | Email Paul
Tom Smiarowski (413) 320-1718 | Email Tom

At the end of this project, each participant will have developed a personal risk management and marketing plan for their farm/ranch.

Participants are encouraged to attend ALL NINE zoom workshops.

Objective: Assist Beginning Growers respond to and manage risk.

Participants in this virtual workshop series will:

1. Be introduced to the farm business planning process and learn how to:

• Identify and list all of their farm’s assets and their productive capacity
• Determine the current wellbeing of the farm business
• Review the feasibility of alternative enterprises
• Evaluate the risks the farm faces.
• Determine who the customers of the farm are and what utility (form, place, time, possession) these customers want.
• Make basic marketing decisions:
  • What form, grade, quality to produce.
  • When, where, how to price.
  • When, where, how to deliver.

2. Be introduced to five areas of risk (Production, Marketing, Financial, Human Resource, Legal) and learn how to identify, measure, and manage risks on their farms in these areas.

3. Understand financial management of the farm and how to use financial statements (Income Statement, Balance Sheet) and enterprise budgets to assess the performance of the farm business and make better decisions.

4. Understand marketing principles and how the elements of the marketing mix (Product, Price, Promotion, Place, People) are used to create an effective plan to manage the marketing decisions on the farm.

5.  Develop a personal risk management and marketing plan for your farm.

• Develop goals in each of the five risk areas, and in each of the five marketing areas.
• Identify specific actions you will take for each goal.
• Commit to follow through and implement the actions identified.

Individualized Study

The activities in the workshop series will build on each other with specific homework (individual study) assignments to be conducted following each workshop. Local Extension Educators will also attend the workshops and will provide assistance to the producers
on an individual basis to ensure that homework assignments are completed.

Program sponsors: United States Department of Agriculture / National Institute of Food and Agriculture, UMass Extension, The University of Rhode Island Cooperative Extension, and Northeast Extension Risk Management Education

This workshop is open to all interested persons. The USDA prohibits discrimination in all its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, gender, religion, age, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, and marital status.