NASA's Cross Promotion with Agritourism

Corn maze with Hubble Telescope
theme at Liberty Ridge Farm,
Schaghticoke, NY

Cross Promotion is an effective marketing tool and is actually quite common and useful in the produce business. You've seen it and probably not even thought about it. Buy Brand X cereal and get a coupon to buy Brand Y bananas, or "Don't forget to grab some Brand A dressing to go with this Brand B salad mix!" 

I hadn't thought about it in terms of the cross promotion technique as I was focusing on finding a niche and positioning when I wrote my American Vegetable Grower Marketing Matters column last fall. That story about a south Jersey corn maze operator working with the Philadelphia sports teams is a great example of agritourism cross promotion. Here's an interesting piece from the upstate NY Extension Vegetable program about NASA teaming up with agritourism operators across the country to celebrate (and educate about) space exploration. 

Effective cross promotion? I'd say so, for NASA and the farms involved!

Rick VanVranken

Updated: Microirrigation Pocket Guide

The California Microirrigation Pocket Guide has been updated and although billed as a resource for California Irrigators, contains how-to information in a "take-to-the-field" size for Irrigators in every state.
Part one explains how to manage and maintain a microirrigation system - irrigating at the right times, and with the right amount of water. Part two gives exceedingly detailed recommendations for maintaining pumps, motors, and engines.
Available through the NCAT Sustainable Agriculture Project: The California Microirrigation Pocket Guide
- Rick VanVranken

Time to get in Cover Crop

To say it's been a tough year for farmers, would be an understatement. The 2011 growing season has been marked by heavy rains, high winds, flooding, and extreme heat. Rob Shortell, former Rutgers grad student and now Assistant Professor at Cal Poly, got it right when he said, farming is about the details… "it's the weather, the timing, the attentiveness to details."

Click here for Image Gallery

Right now we've got a small window of opportunity to get in cover crops. There are only about 7 NJ fall seeding days for ideal establishment.

At RAREC, we had a perfect day on Thursday, September 22, and planted ...

New Postharvest Guide from GA

Precooling Fruits and Vegetables in Georgia by Changying "Charlie" Li, Extension Ag Engineer - This new guide from GA Cooperative Extension gives a good introduction and overview of postharvest precooling methods and requirements of common fruits and vegetables.
Rick VanVranken

Un-composted Leaves Improve Coastal Plains Soils & Save You Money

Yesterday Bob & Leda Muth kindly hosted the Rutgers Sustainable Ag students for a tour of their farm operation and soil practices. Bob’s farm has demonstrated profitable results from applying municipal collected un-composted waste leaves to Coastal Plain soils. The practice dramatically improves soil fertility, soil health, and cuts fertilizer and fungicide expenses.

Could this work for your operation? Multiple Soil Health & Economic Benefits Applying Municipal Collected Un-composted Leaves to Farmland

The Muth Family Farm is recognized as one of the leading regional farms in sustainable agriculture, soil husbandry, community supported agriculture, and organic methods that make money. 

Every visit to the Muth Farm is a learning experience. Check out the updated article on the Sustaining Farming on the Urban Fringe website, outlining his methods.

-Rabin

Clear packaging and light -- not so good for potatoes, but enhances nutrients in spinach

Potatoes turn green when exposed to light, even the artificial light in a supermarket produce department. Clear packaging is usually not the best choice for spuds. Research published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry by Lester, Makus and Hodges (2010) shows just the opposite for spinach. Vitamins C, K, E, and folate increased significantly in spinach leaves stored in clear plastic containers for 3 days under continuous light and refrigeration simulating supermarket conditions, while those stored in continuous darkness showed declining or no change in levels of nutrients. After 9 days in the lighted storage, some vitamins levels had doubled, and all had higher levels of bioactive compounds.
Rick VanVranken
References:   

• King, A. G. 2010. Research Advances: Spinach Nutrient Levels; Steering Oil Droplets; Possible Explanation of Left-Handed Preference? J. Chem. Educ., 2010, 87 (8), pp 766–769
• Lester, G. E., D. J. Makus and D. M. Hodges. 2010. Relationship between Fresh-Packaged Spinach Leaves Exposed to Continuous Light or Dark and Bioactive Contents: Effects of Cultivar, Leaf Size, and Storage DurationJ. Agric. Food Chem., 2010, 58 (5), pp 2980–2987.

 

Birds Eye on a mission

Birds Eye® Declares "It's Always Vegetable Season™" and Unveils Its "Discover the Wonder of Vegetables™" Campaign

Top Chef Marcus Samuelsson, Cornell Researcher Dr. Brian Wansink and Share Our Strength® Join Birds Eye for Its Vegetable Snow Farm in Union Square to Announce a Donation Commitment of Vegetables for 1 Million Meals to Help Feed Kids Better

By Pinnacle Foods Group LLC
Published: Thursday, Sep. 15, 2011 - 4:08 am

MOUNTAIN LAKES, N.J., Sept. 15, 2011 -- /PRNewswire/ -- Birds Eye®, a portfolio brand of Pinnacle Foods Group, is on a mission to help America "Discover the Wonder of Vegetables™" and announced today the launch of its new campaign with a kick-off event in New York City's Union Square, featuring an unexpected vegetable farm in the snow.

Read the entire story at: http://www.sacbee.com/2011/09/15/3912105/birds-eye-declares-its-always.html