Take a look at some of the KCARD staff's favorite holiday recipes - such as Logan’s pumpkin roll! And don't forget to give the gift of local this holiday season.
Check out some favorite holiday recipes from the KCARD staff! Remember to also give the gift of local this holiday season.
Farming is a risky business with significant costs, and one of the most expensive mistakes is failing to plan or oversimplifying the transition of the farm. At its core, successful transition planning boils down to clear, honest communication and planning ahead. When communicating across generations, consider addressing key issues early to build mutual understanding and ensure a smoother transition.
A well-hosted class or workshop can be one of the more profitable (and fun!) ways to engage visitors on your farm and offer agritourism opportunities. However, they can be quite labor-intensive and require lots of planning and thoughtfulness. Check out these tips to get you started!
KCARD works specifically with farmers markets on a wide range of topics, including where to find funding, how to structure the market, and how to think of the farmers market as a business entity. In this post, Terryn Varney, KCARD Business Development Specialist who specializes in farmers market assistance, answers questions about how and when KCARD can help your farmers market.
KCARD provides a lot of different services, but key to each one is our mission of Business Development for Kentucky farmers and agricultural businesses. While some businesses may not see the need for a business plan, here are three reasons that smart businesses put time into business planning.
Did you know that if you offer your customers too many options that it decreases the chances that they make a purchase? A lot of food businesses we work with want to have 20+ varieties of the value-added food product that they are making. The problem: having too many choices in a food category causes our brain to go a little haywire. In this post, we discuss what you can do to prevent choice overload in your customers.
Launched in 2020, KCARD’s Kentucky Local Food Expansion Initiative connects local farmers to buyers and seeks to grow a strong and diverse buyer-producer network across the state. One aspect of the initiative includes visualizing where local food production and sales are already occurring and where they are not to inform the work.
Please join the AgVets team on March 19th at 10am-4pm at the Robinson Center for Appalachian Resource Sustainability (RCARS) in Jackson, KY for QPR training in the morning, followed by a catered lunch, and a high tunnel workshop in the afternoon.
Woodstock Lavender Co. Is a family-operated lavender farm located in Somerset, KY, owned by Allison Horseman and her mother, Mary Ann May. The business offers handcrafted and natural lavender products. Woodstock Lavender Co. utilized KCARD’s services to turn their idea of a lavender farm into a successful business.
Adding value to your farm product can bring more of that food dollar back home to the farm. Many Kentucky farmers transform their raw agricultural commodity into a different product with higher market value (milk to cheese, fruit to jam, etc.) This may seem like an obvious way to increase revenue, but it’s important to understand all of the costs associated with launching a value-added product. Understanding your costs will help you price your product at the right level and ensure that you can make a profit off the finished product.
It is important to understand the cash flow needs of your business and the potential threat of not having enough cash on hand. One of the most common challenges we see in businesses with whom we work is cash management.
The Kentucky Center for Agriculture and Rural Development has two openings: 1) full-time Business Development Assistant/Specialist (designated as either Assistant or Specialist depending on level of experience and expertise) and 2) part-time Administrative Assistant.
Mark it down as a problem that businesses had before COVID that has only gotten worse in the pandemic: finding and retaining workers. As a result, a lot of businesses are having to think creatively about their operations from start to finish to figure out how to handle this challenge. We were recently asked about how to do just that. Check out this blog post to learn more.
The cooperative business structure can be an effective organization, but it is not appropriate for everyone or every business idea. When deciding whether to develop a business as cooperative, there are four key factors that need to be present for the cooperative structure to be the right choice.
The Kentucky Center for Agriculture and Rural Development is a non-profit organization established to facilitate agricultural and rural businesses in Kentucky. We are supported primarily through grants provided by the USDA Rural Cooperative Development Program and the Kentucky Agricultural Development Board. Additional support is provided through our work with partners around the state and through fees charged for select client services.
