Adding Value to the
Sustainable Farm
Learnings from a SARE
Appalachia Initiative Grant 2007
The Need
• Commodity agricultural production demands high
efficiency and high volume.
• Family living costs continue to increase.
• Farmers must grow their business to provide the
necessary return to owner’s labor and
management.
• Value added processing and marketing offers an
option for growers with limited acreage to grow
their business.
The Problem
• Value added production/processing provides the
opportunity for increased income and profit.
• Farmers are reluctant to invest, due to uncertainty
about their ability to sell a value-added product.
• Farmers never know if they can sell the product,
because they don’t have one to sell.
The Grant was the Solution
• $25,000 Grant awarded in Spring 2007
• 9 farmers received $1,200 towards the cost
of processing - $300 for jars and $900 for
labor to grow the crop.
• Additional funds used to provide marketing
assistance, education, and product ideas
from chefs.
The Players
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Collaborative for 21st Century Appalachia
Gourmet Central, Romney, WV
6 farmers in WV
3 farmers in PA
Brian Kelly, Penn State Extension
Products Made
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Somerset Sweet Onion and Garlic Jelly
Dilly Beans
Bloody Mary Mix
Spaghetti Sauce – two kinds
Blackberry Jelly
Jonagold Chunky Applesauce
Hot Sauce
Pumpkin Syrup
Results
• Unsold tomatoes were transformed from “pig
feed” into spaghetti sauce and production
was sold in a month.
• Un-harvested sweet onions were “rescued”
and processed!
• High school boy, with help from his
Grandmother, created Pumpkin Syrup
By the Numbers
Crop
Value
Product
Quantity
Cost
Selling $
Tomatoes
$4.00
Spaghetti
Sauce
169 qt.
$2.86
$6.00
Tomatoes & $175
Peppers
Hot Sauce
160
$3.46
$4.00
Tomatoes
$300
Bloody
Mary Mix
250 (25 oz)
$4.60
$8.00
Apples
$125
Chunky
Applesauce
437 qt.
$2.30
$4.95
Green
Beans
$101
Dilly Beans
125
$3.26
$6.00
Pumpkin
$150
Pumpkin
Syrup
293
$2.86
$4.00
Calvin – Bigg Rigg’s
• Original product a
Vodka Sauce
• Over $5 production
costs. Retail $8.
• Pasta Sauce
• $.50 Tomatoes +
$3.50 processing cost
= $8 Retail Price
Calvin’s Bank Account!
Laurel Vista Farm
Sell Everything
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Current market means grading for sale.
So, they have a lot of “less than first”
What do we do with the extras?
Value-Added Processing uses the good, but
not perfect.
For example…
Key Learnings
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Use over production or second quality
Growers with an established market
Price as a premium product; it is!
Make a unique or specialty product!
Product tastings and recipe ideas
7 of the 9 invested their own money in 2008
in Value Added Processing
Questions?
Brian Kelly
Extension Educator
Penn State Extension, Blair
County
301 Valley View Blvd., “E”
Wing
Altoona, PA 16602
bmk12@psu.edu
814-940-5989