Market Farming

["Rick Williams" <mrfarm AT frontiernet.net>]

Allison Wiediger wrote:
> I think this is a case of "it depends".  If the farmer lives close to a
> certifier and inspector, perhaps not.  In Kentucky, we were paying $10.00.
> Obviously, this was a ridiculously low figure.

Well it seems unlikely that this was the real cost. But for most people,
unless the certifying organization increased their fees, it seems that it
would not be that much different from before unless it takes a lot longer to
do the inspection.

> But certification cost is not the issue for
> us, record keeping is. As Chris Sawyer said earlier, many of us have very
> small sub-divisions of our growing areas, and to keep track of
> all of that,
> well....  And, for us, some of our growing beds might be planted
> 8-10 times
> in a year, with several different crops possible any or all of those
> planting times.

And you did not have to do this before with the old system?

Is it possible that other certifiers did require it but yours was more
liberal?


> But the worst is the sales record.  There is no logical,
> effective way to keep track of sales at a farmers' market using
> the form we
> have been provided where we have to record quantity sold, from what field
> (field?  we don't have fields of stuff, we have areas in growing beds - a
> box of lettuce might have come from several different areas), to
> whom sold,
> at what price.

They expect you to put down the name of the retail purchaser of each item?
Wouldn't that be impossible? We never ask the purchaser their name and quite
frankly it is not anyone's business in my view.

Sincerely,

Rick Williams
Misty Ridge Farm
Dairy heifers and dairy beef graziers
Viroqua, WI

www.mistyridgefarm.com