Who can implement this: Governmental organizations, advocacy organizations, and agricultural producers
Farmers can increase revenues by exploring new technologies. New and different practices in the production, upkeep, and harvesting of crops could reduce the costs of operating a farm.[1]
Farmers and ranchers may also be able to increase revenue by exploring products for niche markets. Farmers could work with other farmers, both local and nationwide, to develop new processes and improve existing products in order to create new and more valuable products. Agricultural producers could also team up with other small-scale farmers and ranchers to increase their purchasing and marketing power.
Implementation:
- Utah State University should continue to look for ways to expand existing resources to help support farmers reduce operational costs and more efficiently produce and process agricultural exports.
- Farmers and ranchers should form partnerships and work closely with other local and nationwide agricultural producers to combine buying and selling power and explore ways to more efficiently market, ship, and otherwise process their products. This combined power allows for local farmers and ranchers to explore new products, marketing methods, and other ways to improve revenues and the overall quality and reach of their operations.
Examples:
The Rowleys of Rowley’s Red Barn pioneered new ways of drying cherries by working with agricultural researchers at the University of California Davis and producers from Michigan and Oregon.[2] Rowley’s Red Barn is now working with Michigan’s Cherry Central, combining their buying and selling powers to become leading cherry producers in the United States.
Nutri-Mulch, of the Moroni Feed Company, is a natural compost created with the used turkey bedding of five million turkeys.[3] This byproduct is processed to become a weed-free compost that releases nutrients slowly and improves plant-root structure, water-drainage, and air penetration.
Sheep ranchers Logan and Albert Wilde of Croydon, Utah, created fertilizer pellets from the waste produced by wool production. This innovation provided an extra source of revenue for the wool operation, improved the profitability of the ranch, and reduced the amount of wool that was thrown away.[4]
McMullin Orchards partnered with Utah County Extension to use specialty crop grants offered through the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food. The funds were spent to begin using cherry pits as part of soils and fertilizers allowing producers to make use of an underutilized by-product of cherry processing.[5]
[1] https://www.uky.edu/Ag/CCD/introsheets/sustainableag.pdf
[2] https://www.rowleysredbarn.com/history-of-dried-cherries/
[3] http://nutrimulch.com/?page_id=26
[4] http://fox13now.com/2016/05/03/utah-sheep-ranchers-invent-new-product-out-of-leftover-wool/
[5] http://ag.utah.gov/home/news/521-specialty-crop-block-grant-applications-now-available.html
