Farmers market resources

• MU Extension publication G6223, Starting and Operating a Farmers Market: Frequently Asked Questions — Covers a wide variety of issues to make a market successful and legal

• MU Extension publication MP906, Community Gardening Toolkit — Resources to help those interested in starting a community garden

• MU Extension publication G6222, Selling Strategies for Local Food Producers

• MU Extension publication G6221, Marketing Vegetables in Missouri

• AgSquared — Record-keeping software tailor-made for small farms. See Missouri Beginning Farming's review of AgSquared.

• Small Farms and Alternative Enterprise Budgets — Know your costs for small-scale fresh-market farming. These budgets are based on 100-foot row gardening.

• USDA Farmers Marketing Fact Sheets — Many resources for growers wanting to direct-market their products

• Whole Animal Buying Guide for Consumers — This Iowa State University Extension and Outreach publication explains buying pork and beef as whole animals (or portions thereof) from local producers. Covers marketing terms, information on storage and handling, meat inspection, meat cut out weight, and includes color photos of common retail beef and pork cuts.

• Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food Program (PDF) — A USDA-wide effort with case studies about better connecting consumers with local producers.

• Farmers Market Terminal Prices — USDA listing of current wholesale prices for fruits and vegetables

• Missouri Alternatives Center — Information on alternative agriculture enterprises. Click on the “Link List - Extension Information on Alternatives” to search for a particular enterprise, or call 636-797-5391.

• Food Safety After a Flood (PDF) — Kansas State University

• Frequently-Asked Questions About Handling Flooded Produce (PDF) — Kansas State University

• MU Extension publication MP914, Food Defense: Protecting the Food Supply from Intentional Harm — This guide helps train food producers, processors and retailers to minimize the risk of intentional contamination of the food supply by developing a food defense plan for their operation. Food defense is not the same as food safety or biosecurity, which both mean protecting the food supply from unintentional contamination.

Food preservation resources

• FAQs for Sales by Farmers at Farmers Markets — Answers about sales taxes from Missouri Department of Revenue

• Guide to U.S. Organic Certifiers — Select and compare those who do organic certification and the kinds of services they provide

• Missouri Department of Revenue Form 149: Sales and Use Tax Exemption Certificate (PDF)

• Missouri Revised Statute 261-241: Sellers of honey — Health standards exemption and labeling requirements

• Missouri Farmers Market Report — Pricing information and market trends for food products around the state

• AgriMissouri Buyer's Guide — A Missouri Department of Agriculture outreach program that promotes Missouri-grown and Missouri-made items, representing food and non-food products, retailers, farmers markets, agritourism and agricultural experience destinations

• Mid-America Organic Association — Lists news, events, resources and a buyer's guide for organic products in Missouri

• Show Me Food — Search for the Missouri farmers market nearest you

• Missouri Produce Auctions — Search for the Missouri produce auction nearest you

• Farmers Market Online — Market your home-crafted and home-grown products online

• National Farmers Markets Directory — Searchable USDA listing of contact information for farmers' markets throughout the U.S.

• Identifying Diseases of Vegetables — Pennsylvania State University reference book that is applicable to Missouri

• Bugs and Other Insects from the State of Missouri — Insect identification database

• Insects in Kansas — Kansas Department of Agriculture reference book that is applicable to Missouri

• Japanese beetle management

• Midwest Vegetable Production Guide for Commercial Growers

• Midwest Fruit Pest Management Guide

• Spotted Wing Drosophila monitoring (PDF)

• Spotted Wing Drosophila detection and control (PDF)

• Stop Brown Marmorated Stink Bug — The site includes information on how to identify the stink bug, where it has been found, and steps to help manage this bug that damages a huge range of fruit, vegetable and ornamental crops.

• Produce Fact Sheets — Great resource from University of California on post-harvest handling of fruits, vegetables and flowers

• The Commercial Storage of Fruits, Vegetables, and Florist and Nursery Stocks (PDF) — USDA Ag Handbook #66 is a 130-page guide that discusses factors that affect the maintenance of quality during cold storage

• Small-Scale Cold Rooms for Perishable Commodities (PDF) — A 11-page design guide from the University of California-Davis

• On-Farm Cold Storage of Fall-Harvested Fruit and Vegetable Crops (PDF) — An 8-page overview of an 84-page University of Wisconsin handbook

• Build your own cooler — Resources from the makers of the Cool-Bot air conditioner controller