The purpose of Employee Retention and Advancement Training is to provide occupational skills training, commensurate with regional priorities, to year-round, full time, incumbent workers who are currently in low and middle-skills occupations, leading to job advancement and retention.
Category: Business
Guide to Starting a Business in NYS: NY Business Express
One question that I get frequently is “what do I need to do to legally start my farm as a business?” While this can be a complex question, there is a pretty good resource at the state level to help guide you through a lot of the forms, licenses, and permits you need to operate a business of any type in New York. It is called NY Business Express.
Assessing the costs and returns of on-farm food safety improvements: A survey of Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) training participants.
The cost of implementation is often cited as a primary barrier to implementing food safety practices in the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) on the farm. Costs include infrastructure and equipment upgrades and time and labor to implement new practices and maintain recordkeeping systems. The benefits of compliance with FSMA include maintaining and expanding existing market channel sales, accessing new markets and buyers, and strengthening of their farm brand to prospective buyers due to their food safety improvements. The researchers found the food safety benefit cost ratio for all farm size categories was above 1, indicating that, on average, the benefits of food safety improvements exceeded the costs, regardless of farm size. The average across all farms was 4.61 implying that the benefits received were 4.61 times that of their annual cost. There was a big difference between the benefit cost ratio for farms with a third-party audit (13.33) and without a third-party audit (1.57).
Bottom Line No. 6
In this issue: Stop & Shop will be closing some stores in the Northeast focusing on reducing costs and prices to consumers. Consumers currently prefer fresh produce with longer shelf-lives and cabbage is having its moment! Learn about rice and honeyberry production – two new emerging crops for the region. Food safety investments tend to pay-off, especially if you have third party audits. Use NYS Business Express to identify what you need to start or expand a new venture and upcoming programs.
Crop Insurance Cost Estimator
USDA RMA has a tool to help you estimate what federal (RMA) crop insurance will cost. Here is the link to the estimator. It is not easy to find on their website and a little clunky to use, but you can compare different products head-to-head.
The NYS Ag and Markets Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure Grant is now open for applications through Friday, June 28 at 5pm!!!
The Department has been funded through the USDA RFSI program to expand statewide capacity and infrastructure for the aggregation, processing, manufacturing, storage, transporting, wholesaling, or distribution of targeted local and regional agricultural food products (excluding meat and poultry products).
USDA Now Accepting Applications for Available Funds to Help Cover Organic Certification Costs – Deadline October 31, 2024
Through the Organic Certification Cost Share Program (OCCSP), USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) will cover up to 75% of organic certification costs at a maximum of $750 per certification category. The application and instructions can be found at the program’s website.
The Bottom Line No. 5
In this issue: Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure Grant now open for applications. USDOL is focusing on heat-related hazards this season. Agritourism Survey. The US House and Senate have released versions of the Farm Bill. COVID-19 changes to tasting rooms can have lasting benefits on the bottom line. Crop Insurance premium estimator. Organic Certification Grant and Apple Marketing Order grant to increase sales and utilization of NYS apples. Upcoming programs.
Farm Provided Housing Guide
If you offer housing for your workers Cornell Ag Workforce Development has developed a guide to farm provided employee housing that can help you ensure that your housing is compliant with regulations. It also makes suggestions for effectively managing your employee housing.
Using Point of Sale Data from Markets to Improve Returns
Are you using point of sale (POS) technology, like Square, in your market? With some forethought you can set up your system to not only take credit card sales and track your revenues, but also to collect data that you can use to improve your returns. Grocery stores, with the adoption of barcode scanners, use Read More…
The Bottom Line No. 4
In this issue: DOL minimum salary increase for ‘exempt’ positions effective July 1! New federal Final Rule for H2A labor protections take effect on June 27. Point of Sale data can help you improve your returns at markets. Cornell Ag Workforce Farm-Provided Housing guide is available. USDA-FSA farm storage loans and upcoming programs
The Power of WHY
Explaining ‘WHY’ is one of the easiest ways to enhance productivity, increase trust, foster self-confidence, and improve your relationship with your employees.