Author: Emily Adams

Selling Food from Your Farm or Farmers’ Market

Farmers’ Market Season is here! Lots of markets are opening this week and especially this weekend. I do hope that you will check out the markets in your area and support your local producers. And if you have ever considered selling agricultural products yourself, here are some answers to some of the most frequently asked questions I receive.

Can I make food in my home to sell? In Ohio we have Cottage Food Law that allows individuals to make food in their own home. There is a specific list of the foods that can be made including lots of baked goods (cookies, cakes and pies); jams and jellies; and dried mixes. These foods all have minimal risk of causing foodborne illness and do not require any temperature controls to keep them safe for us to eat. There is no inspection of the home kitchen and no fee required. The foods must be properly labeled and have the declarations “This food is home produced.”

It is also possibly though to make cream pies that require refrigeration or other baked foods that are potentially hazardous like cheesecakes or noodles or fry pies. These require a home bakery license from the Ohio Department of Agriculture (ODA). This is only $10 per year and requires an inspection. You can learn more about these under “Fact Sheets” at ODA Food Safety .

Can I sell salsa or sauces that I can in my home? Since these are processed foods that could be potentially hazardous, they cannot be made in the home and sold. You can make these types of foods in an approved kitchen. This can be any facility outside of your home that has been approved by ODA including another structure on your property, an ODA registered church kitchen, or a shared use facility that co-packs foods.

What are the rules for selling eggs from my farm? In Ohio we can sell eggs from our farms without an inspection or license as long as we maintain 500 or fewer birds. You can find more information from ODA at ODA Egg Producer Fact Sheet

What are the rules to sell eggs somewhere other than my farm? If you want to sell eggs at a Farmers’ Market or restaurant or retail store, then ODA will inspect your farm. They will make sure that water quality is acceptable for washing eggs, that the refrigerator is in working order, and that egg cartons are labeled properly. The only time that a license is required to sell eggs is when selling off farm at a Farmers’ Market. This Mobile Retail Food Establishment (MRFE) license can be obtained from our local County Health Department.

Today I’ll leave you with this quote from Mother Teresa, “If you can’t feed a hundred people, then feed just one.”

Recap of the East Ohio Women in Agriculture Conference

A favorite part of early spring each year is hosting the annual East Ohio Women in Agriculture Conference. This year 74 Ohio women travelled to Massillon to learn about everything from equine dental to conflict resolution, from beekeeping basics to appropriate farm tasks for children. This year’s keynote speaker was Marlene Eick who challenged and encouraged the women to know themselves well, and then to expect more.

There is something pretty special about being around a large group of people who want to learn more. I enjoy the energy and the questions. However, for me it is equally refreshing to have time to quietly reflect and research certain topics to greater depths. How are you doing in the learning department? Are you actively seeking out opportunities to learn more about a topic that interests you?

If there is something that you’ve always wanted to learn more about, make the choice this week to take the first step. Whether its reading a book that broadens your view of the world or a conversation with an expert who is passionate about a certain subject, I encourage you to expect more of yourself this week. But not in a guilty way like you should be pushing yourself to do more. Instead expect more of yourself in the noble way of pushing yourself to “be” more.

Keynote speaker, Marlene Eick, inspired attendees with lessons learned from her purple flannel jacket.
Several women from Coshocton County attended the event. Six of the nine women are pictured here with educator Emily Adams.
Heather Neikirk welcomes us to Stark County for the conference.
Participants in the Real Colors session learned about their temperment and how to improve communication with others.
The “Blue” group during Real Colors.
The most popular session by far was the Conflict Resolution and Dealing with Difficult People session taught by Jackie Kirby-Wilkins.
The “Orange” group during Real Colors.
David Marrison taught a double session on Farm Transition and Family Communication.
A reminder from the State FFA Officers about priorities.
Two women won free registrations for the 2018 conference!

 

It’s Not Too Late to Register for the East Ohio Women in Agriculture Conference!

It’s not too late! We are extending the registration deadline for the 2017 East Ohio Women in Agriculture Conference until next Friday, March 17. Please tell anyone that you think would enjoy a day of fun, learning and networking.

This year’s conference will be Friday, March 24 from 9:00 am – 3:45 pm. The event will be held at R. G. Drage Career Technical Center, 2800 Richville Drive SE, Massillon, OH 44646.

This year’s program will feature 18 break-out sessions presented by OSU Extension educators, farmers, and partner agencies including: Business & Finance; Plants & Animals; Communication; Home & Family; Special Interest (energy, beekeeping and farmland preservation); and one youth session. Our keynote speaker for this year will be Marlene Eick of Herdmark Media.

We hope to see you there!

Register online with credit card at www.regonline.com/womeninageast or complete and send this registration form 2017 East Ohio WIA Registration Flyer

Does negotiating a farmland rental lease make you anxious?

Few words can cause more anxiety than “negotiating a farmland rental lease.” Some people think little about it, but others may agonize over discussing details.

In a 2014 Census of Agriculture Survey over 2.1 million landowners rented out 353.8 million acres of agricultural land. This works out to be nearly 40 percent of US farmland that is rented or leased. The average age of principal landlords in 2014 was 66.5 years, which is older than principal farm operators (58.3 years in 2012). Nearly 60 percent of principal landlords were 65 years or older in 2014.

Last year OSU Extension Agricultural Law Field Specialist, Peggy Hall, developed a great resource to see if your farmland lease meets Ohio’s legal requirements for a legally enforceable lease. It and many other helpful resources can be found on the OSU Ag Law Website .

Here are some steps that Hall identifies to create a legally enforceable farm lease in Ohio:

  1. Put the agreement in writing.
  2. Identify the land parcel by legal description, address and acreage.
  3. Don’t leave out a spouse or other co-owner of the land; all owners must be included in the lease and listed properly.
  4. Have all parties sign the lease.
  5. For businesses, make sure the person signing has legal authority to represent the business.
  6. For a lease over three years, have a notary or official certify the parties’ signatures.
  7. Take a shortened “memorandum of lease” to the county recorder’s office for recording.

One of the main conversations about budgets for corn and beans over the past year has been the need to negotiate a fair lease price for rented ground. As commodity prices remain low and input prices are slow to come down, the amount of money paid for land is a critical piece in profitability. However, taxes on land continue to increase as well. So there is much to discuss.

If you are interested in learning more, consider attending a Lady Landlord meeting on February 11 in either Coshocton or Ottawa. You can learn more about it here . This day is designed to give women more confidence in having a meaningful and productive conversation. Topics for the day will include addressing the risks of leasing, verbal versus written leases, nuts and bolts of a lease, communicating with your tenant, negotiation process and skills, factors that affect the rental rate and more.

Today I will leave you with this great quote from John F. Kennedy, “Let us never negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate.”

Portions of this first appeared in the Coshocton Tribune on January 14, 2017. 

Registration Open for 2017 East Ohio Women in Agriculture Conference

It is once again our pleasure to announce that registration is open for the 2017 East Ohio Women in Agriculture Conference. This year’s conference will be Friday, March 24 from 9:00 am – 3:45 pm. This year the event will be held at R. G. Drage Career Technical Center, 2800 Richville Drive SE, Massillon, OH 44646.

This year’s program will feature 18 break-out sessions presented by OSU Extension educators, farmers, and partner agencies including: Business & Finance; Plants & Animals; Communication; Home & Family; Special Interest (energy, beekeeping and farmland preservation); and one youth session. Our keynote speaker for this year will be Marlene Eick of Herdmark Media.

Also, this year the Northeast Ohio Small Farm Conference will be held the very next day at the same location, Saturday, March 25 at R. G. Drage Career Technical Center. You can find more information about that conference at OSU Extension Small Farm Conferences

We hope to see you there!

Register online with credit card at www.regonline.com/womeninageast or complete and send this registration form 2017 Registration East OH Women in Ag Conference