NATIONAL SUSTAINABLE AG INFORMATION CLEARINHOUSES

Start here!  ATTRA is the most complete, practical, and user-friendly place to get information about nearly any aspect of sustainable agriculture and food business.  Their publications are invaluable and based on well-researched information.  From production to pest management to marketing to finance, ATTRA is where I always begin.

http://www.attra.org/

AgMRC (the Agricultural Marketing Resource Center) has MANY well-organized resources for ag entrepreneurs like product opportunities, market research, and business.  I have also worked directly with some of their staff and they are very good folks; send them questions!

http://www.agmrc.org/agmrc/

Rodale’s NEW FARM is THE place for farmer-to-farmer knowledge transfer.  They have the longest running organic vs. conventional farm trials around.  They have good articles and helpful web tools, including Farm Select and the Organic Price Index.  It’s also a great place to buy books, talk to other farmers, and get on their farm locator.

http://www.newfarm.org/index.shtml

Alternative Farming Systems Information Center (AFSIC) is part of the National Agriculture Library and contains a TON of information on organic, sustainable, CSAs, aquaculture, etc., but you’ll need to spend a little more time looking and browsing.

http://www.nal.usda.gov/afsic/

STATE-BASED CENTERS FOR AG ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Initiative for Development of Entrepreneurs in Agriculture (IDEA) is a University of Illinois Extension team focusing on developing and maintaining value-added food and agricultural ventures in Illinois.  They help with business planning, marketing research, and food systems information.

http://web.extension.uiuc.edu/iidea/

Illinois MarketMaker is a free web tool developed by IDEA that allows users to find specific populations of consumers by demographic and Illinois farms/food businesses throughout the state.  Register your farm or business for free if you aren’t already on.

http://www.marketmaker.uiuc.edu/

The North Central Small Farms Resource Guide for Illinois has a long list of helpful people and organizations within the state

http://ssfin.missouri.edu/ncrsf/resource/illinois.htm

And if you’re looking meat processing in Illinois, go here.

http://dnr.state.il.us/legislation/ISAH/TABLE.htm

Here is another cool site that has lessons on a wide variety of topics, including product development and accessing markets; as well as a searchable database of food ventures markets, products, and organizations that you may find useful.

http://www.acenetworks.org/frames/framesfoodventures.htm

The Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture (Iowa State) has good publications, a newsletter, and electronic tools.  Some are Iowa-specific, but they translate well.

http://www.leopold.iastate.edu/

Purdue Agricultural Innovation and Commercialization Center (AICC) will hold your hand through the whole process of writing a business plan.  Very helpful and intuitive; will help you learn what questions to ask.

http://www.emba-agbus.purdue.edu/planner/

Cornell Extension – Agriculture, Food, and Communities.  Their ‘small farms’ program is probably the most useful portion of this site, but it’s all good.  Be patient with their redesign process.

http://www.cfap.org/afs_ld.cfm

New Farm Options – University of Wisconsin Extension.  Some parts of this site are still being built up, but ‘starting a value added food-farm business’ will prove useful.

http://www.uwex.edu/ces/agmarkets/index.html

FoodMAP (Nebraska) is a nicely categorized database of publications on food marketing and processing, complete with case studies and extra articles.

http://www.foodmap.unl.edu/index.asp

FARMER FINDERS:

These are all free.  Register for these services and get your farm on the map for a new generation of conscientious consumer to find you on the web.

National:

http://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/localfood_dir.php

http://www.localharvest.org/

http://www.newfarm.org/farmlocator/index.php

Illinois-specific:

http://www.marketmaker.uiuc.edu/

http://www.illinoisfarmdirect.org/

http://www.specialtygrowers.org/bounty.htm

http://www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/fresh/

http://www.agr.state.il.us/markets/mis/

STATS, DATA, AND TECHNICAL STUFF

Learning about the trends, laws, statistics, standards, and technicalities of the food system is something you will all eventually have to do.  It is a “necessary evil.”  It is a great way to research your business and marketing plans, and you’ll probably have to know how these things work if you ever decide to enter the larger industry supply chain.  Here are some great places to start:

USDA-Economic Research Service has many articles and data products that will help get you a feel for the shape of the food industry

http://www.ers.usda.gov/

Especially within a few select Briefing Rooms

http://www.ers.usda.gov/briefing/Organic/index.htm

http://www.ers.usda.gov/Briefing/FoodMarketStructures/

http://www.ers.usda.gov/Briefing/FoodPriceSpreads/

USDA-AMS Division of Transportation and Marketing, Marketing Services Branch maintains publications on federal research into many aspects of farm-direct marketing.

http://www.ams.usda.gov/tmd/MSB/

Also see the USDA-AMS quality standards for agricultural products if you want to learn how to grade anything from lettuce to livestock.

http://www.ams.usda.gov/standards/

Illinois General Assembly, Illinois Compiled Statutes

http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs.asp

If you want to know the letter of the law in Illinois regarding your agricultural production and marketing, here it is.  It’s boring, but if you take the time to wade through the “Husbandry” section with specific searches, you can generally find the regulatory answers (and loopholes) you may be looking for.

The FDA’s page for learning how to start a food business will also teach you a bit about how to stay legal when adding value to your products.

http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~comm/foodbiz.html

American FactFinder – US Census Bureau.  Learn about the people around you because they all may be potential customers.  Interface is not simple, but a little practice with their databases and queries will yield useful demographic information.

http://factfinder.census.gov/home/saff/main.html?_lang=en

NASS (National Ag Statistics Service) will help you find detailed info on your state/county agricultural system.  Info on farm numbers, stocks, bushels, dollars…

http://www.nass.usda.gov/index.asp

National Ag Risk Education Enterprise Budget Library will give you templates and examples for detailed budgets for many crops (including fruit and veg) and livestock.

http://www.agrisk.umn.edu/Budgets/