September 2022 - 14

TRADE SHOWS
CREATING A
BRIGHTER FUTURE
FOR GENERATIONS OF FARMERS
AND CONSUMERS ALIKE
BY MADI JONES
A
s the business of farming continues to change, growers are faced
with a number of challenges, such as succession planning and
product sales. During the 2022 Great Lakes Fruit, Vegetable and
Farm Market EXPO, growers will get a chance to learn more about these
issues in two different presentations.
Founder and president of AgriStrategies
LLC, Steve Kluemper, helps people
communicate their company's vision, manage
their business and finances, and facilitate
discussions with customers, vendors, lenders,
and investors.
During Kluemper's presentation at the Great
entire United States and the world - through applied research, education
and outreach to develop regionally integrated, sustainable food systems.
Matts will be working at the 2022 Great Lakes Expo alongside
teammates from Michigan Farm to School, the 10 Cents Program and the
Michigan Farm to Institution Network, delivering training to producers
about how to access and sell to school markets.
Using a curriculum developed by the United States Department of
Lakes EXPO, " Transitioning your Business, "
attendees will gain insight and direction to help make positive business
changes. He discusses business goals, key stakeholders, commitments
and how to measure success.
Kluemper's expertise includes vast knowledge of farm succession. In
Steve Kluemper
order to have successful farm succession planning, businesses must map
out their plan from start to finish and be proactive.
" Successful farm succession plans start with a successful business.
Successful businesses have short, medium and long-range business
plans, robust decision-making processes and data that is used to make
decisions and monitor results, " Kluemper said.
He has seen many challenges within farm succession such as rushing
plans, not understanding the needs and desires of stakeholders, and not
having a sufficient plan to balance competing interests.
Kluemper's tips for farmers who are in the process of succession
planning are to be transparent and clearly define all expectations. He
also advises to " use third-party advisers to help address items such as
the viability of the business, fair versus equal distributions, personality
conflicts and more. "
Kluemper's session take place on Thursday, Dec. 8.
FARM TO SCHOOL
Colleen Matts, director of Farm to Institution
Programs and coordinator for Michigan Farm
to Institution Network, helps institutions such
as schools, hospitals and universities with
more Michigan-grown foods and foods that fit
people's values. She also helps farmers and
other food vendors connect with institutional
food buyers.
Additionally, Matts works for the Michigan State University Center for
Regional Food Systems, working to engage not only Michigan - but also the
Colleen Matts
14 SEPTEMBER 2022 GPNMAG.COM
Agriculture (USDA), Bringing the Farm to the School, Matts and her team will
use their Michigan experience to deliver an interactive and helpful experience.
Learning from practitioners and various programs in Michigan, Matts
and her team successfully make local food purchasing work for both
buyers and sellers while taking advantage of the diverse agricultural
products Michigan has to offer.
Matts offers some advice and best practices to growers looking to get
involved with selling produce to local school districts.
" If growers are new to school sales, starting small is a good idea, " she
said. " Start the conversation with a few products that you could sell in
decent volume, ideally products you enjoy growing, that might work well
in school meals. You could also start by working with a smaller school
district or even an early childhood site before you grow into larger school
districts that will require greater quantities of products. "
Programs like Farm to School are important for local economies -
more local food procurement by school districts means more money
funded toward local communities and the Michigan economy.
Matts mentions the 10 Cents program and how it provides extra funding
for schools to purchase Michigan-grown foods from local farmers and
food vendors.
" The Michigan Legislature has been steadily increasing funding for [the
10 Cents Program], which started out as a pilot in just a couple of regions
of the state but is now statewide, because of the impact it can have on
kids and their healthy eating habits and on local agriculture and the
related food business economy, " she said.
These programs are helpful for not only farmers but also children. While
schools may not be able to pay a high price for some food products, they
can offer farmers a stable, steady market, according to Matts.
When farmers supply schools with local foods, it can influence the
tastes of school children and introduce them to new foods.
The Farm to School session will take place on Thursday, Dec. 8.
Learn more about these sessions and others at www.glexpo.com. The
2022 Great Lakes EXPO will be held Dec. 6-8 at DeVos Place in Grand
Rapids, Michigan.
Madi Jones is custom marketing specialist at Great American Media Services.
She can be reached at mjones@greatamericanpublish.com.
Great Lakes EXPO sessions
to look at how to effectively
plan greenhouse, farm
succession and the benefits
of Farm to School.
http://www.glexpo.com http://www.GPNMAG.COM
September 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of September 2022
