1. Sustainable Small Farming and Ranching Researching a Potential Small Acreage Enterprise

2. What type of information do you need?  Production information about your crop or livestock enterprise  Marketing information about your product  Income and expenses projections

3. Passive vs Active Information Gathering  Not all of the information you need will be available without asking, phoning, visiting  Secondary information  Primary is developed by your experience

4. Sources of Information  Books, publications (library, bookstore)  Journal articles (library, bookstore, subscribe)  Other farmers  Universities (Extension)  Agencies (NRCS, SBDC, FSA)  Non-profit organizations, farmer networks  Internet

5. Universities/Extension Service  WSU NWREC http://vegetables.wsu.edu/vegtble.htmlhttp://vegetables.wsu.edu/vegtble.html  WSU Crop Enterprise budgets http://ses.wsu.edu/extension/enterprise_budgets/ http://ses.wsu.edu/extension/enterprise_budgets/  British Columbia Production Guides http://www.agf.gov.bc.ca/cropprot/prodguide.htm http://www.agf.gov.bc.ca/cropprot/prodguide.htm  Missouri http://agebb.missouri.edu/mac/http://agebb.missouri.edu/mac/  Penn State http://agalternatives.aers.psu.edu/http://agalternatives.aers.psu.edu/  Oregon State University: http://smallfarms.oregonstate.eduhttp://smallfarms.oregonstate.edu  Texas A&M http://aggie- horticulture.tamu.edu/alternatives/alternativelinks.htmlhttp://aggie- horticulture.tamu.edu/alternatives/alternativelinks.html

6. Federal (USDA) sites - general ● SARE http://www.sare.org/http://www.sare.org/ ● Small Farm- USDA National Institute of Food & Ag http://nifa.usda.gov/program/family-small- farm-program http://nifa.usda.gov/program/family-small- farm-program ● Natural Resources Conservation Service http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/ http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/ ● National Ag Library http://www.nal.usda.gov http://www.nal.usda.gov

7. State Agency sites Washington Department of Ag http://agr.wa.gov/AgInWA/http://agr.wa.gov/AgInWA/  Marketing http://agr.wa.gov/marketing/http://agr.wa.gov/marketing/  Organic http://agr.wa.gov/Portals/Org/http://agr.wa.gov/Portals/Org/ Economic Development Association of Skagit County http://www.skagit.org/ http://www.skagit.org/ WA Natural Resources Conservation Service http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/site/wa/home/ http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/site/wa/home/

8. Agencies - Prices and statistical data  Economic Research Service http://www.ers.usda.gov/ http://www.ers.usda.gov/  National Ag Statistical Service http://www.usda.gov/nass/ http://www.usda.gov/nass/  Ag Marketing Service (AMS) http://www.ams.usda.gov/ http://www.ams.usda.gov/

9. Organizations  Appropriate Technology Transfer for Rural Areas http://www.attra.org http://www.attra.org  The New Farm http://www.newfarm.org/http://www.newfarm.org/  Northwest Agriculture Business Center http://www.agbizcenter.org/  Tilth Producers of Washington http://tilthproducers.org/ http://tilthproducers.org/  North American Farm Direct Marketing Association http://www.nafdma.com/ http://www.nafdma.com/  WA State Farmers Market Association http://www.wafarmersmarkets.com/

10. Periodicals/Journal publications  Growing for Market http://www.growingformarket.com/ http://www.growingformarket.com/  Small Farm Today http://www.smallfarmtoday.com/ http://www.smallfarmtoday.com/

11. Summary  Read  Attend conferences  Network

12. Credits Presentation developed by Cultivating Success TM : Sustainable Small Farms Education. Video segments taken from: “Meadowlark Farm: A Case Study of a Small-Acreage Farm” produced by Ben Troka, University of Idaho College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Copywrite 2005, University of Idaho.