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Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Get Profitable With Diversified Small Farming & Alternative Enterprises

With today's economy, it has become commonplace for farmers to inquire about alternative enterprises to either diversify or replace existing farm operations. Farmers are looking to these alternative enterprises that make use of existing resources to generate additional income and provide sustainability to their operations.

Florida has many opportunities that can mean profitable small farming for agricultural entrepreneurs. For example, many farms are in close proximity to metropolitan areas that offer a vast and diverse marketing opportunity for farm products, in addition to recreation and agri-tourism businesses. Urban residents have a rapidly growing demand for high quality locally grown products. The farmers markets boom over the past five years in an indication of this opportunity. An increasing amount of producers have already adopted innovative alternative enterprises that have capitalized on these markets. However, there are many farmers who have yet to develop new or alternative enterprises, and the task of choosing these opportunities can be overwhelming for several reasons.

These alternative enterprises come in an unlimited number of shapes and sizes. However, a producer trying to identify potential profitable enterprises can easily find themselves overwhelmed. The process is also compounded by the fact that these types of enterprises typically have little data on production practices, input costs and revenue. When information is available, it may not be comparable across enterprises because it was developed in a different geographical area or with different assumption.

In addressing these challenges, we are proud to present the 2010 Small Farms & Alternatives Enterprises Conference with the theme of "Sustaining Small Farms; Strengthening Florida's Communities". This Conference is set for July 31st- Aug 1st 2010, and an Alternative Enterprise session has been scheduled to present topics on the Aquaculture and Aquaponics, Minor Fruit Crops, and Agri-Tourism. If you would like more information on this session or additional sessions please visit the conference Web site link at http://smallfarms.ifas.ufl.edu.

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