BOARD OF DIRECTORS
GENERAL SESSION
Wednesday, August 15 2007– 10:08AM
I. WELCOME/INTRODUCTIONS
John Hall, president, opened the General Session at 10:08 am. In attendance were Board members Robert Bryan, George Esry, Joe Hickman, Rick Leader and George Mayo. Mark Newman, Phyllis Kilby, Mike Messix and John Sprinkle were unable to attend. Guests were: JoAnn Fairchild, Ann Wilmer Hoon, Tammi Ledley, John A. Mason, Jim Miller and Jack Steinmetz. Staff member Elizabeth Morris was present.
Ms. Ledley, of DBED, noted she is now working in central Maryland and introduced John Mason who has assumed her territory. Ms. Morris thanked Ms. Ledley for her work on behalf of CFI.
Mr. Hall welcomed Ms. Fairchild who was one of CFI’s original directors in 2000.
II. MINUTES
The minutes of the Wednesday, May 23, 2007 meeting were approved by the Executive Board on April 18 and posted on the website. Printed copies were distributed for review.
II. PROGRESS REPORTS
III. RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT
Grants & development strategy- Mr. Hall noted CFI needs to have an aggressive fund drive to meet its budget.
V. CORNELL CLUSTER STUDY
Mr. Hall shared a PowerPoint presentation (see July attachments) focused on the findings to date in a study CFI is participating in looking at why strongly supported farming areas/clusters develop. The project, called the Small Farm Clusters Project, is funded by the USDA/CSREES National Research Initiative, Agricultural Prosperity of Small- to Medium-Sized Farms and hosted by The Northeast Regional Center for Rural Development in partnership with universities located in six Northeastern states, including UMES. In July 2006, two-dozen individuals connected to CF were interviewed by a researcher from Cornell asking questions focused on how and why CF was started in this area, how it is organized, what makes it work or not work, what are its benefits and challenges, what the future holds for farming in the area. Surveys will be conducted this winter as the study’s last phase. Findings to date note CF is the most organized and formalized of the seven groups in the study.
IV. VISITOR/EDUCATION CENTER WEB STATION EXAMPLES
Mr. Esry noted a better name might be a “virtual education center”.
Mr. Hall reviewed the Howard + Revis Phase III final report pointing out several of the games suggested in the Gaming Café section focused on understanding agriculture, including:
-‘Deal or No Deal’ a land development game that dramatizes the choices farmers must make in their efforts to save the farm.
-‘Reality Check’ game modeled on smart growth workshops that ask player to decide where development should be placed
-‘Where did Delmarva go?’ that allows visitors to add, remove and modify various forms of development on the Eastern Shore
-‘Smart Growth’ looks at ramifications of subdividing land into 1 acre, 10 acre or 100 acre lots.
All of these games can be adapted for use on the web station.
He then shared several URLs of interactive websites that include:
Kellogg’s Fun Town game site www.kelloggs.com/funktown/default.html
Anti-smoking campaign www.whudafxup.com
California milk producers www.gettheglass.co
Is it worth developing the web station? Many people will benefit if agriculture is saved on Delmarva. The current strategy is to develop list of potential funders and decide what CFI will offer them. Discussion followed.
-Mr. Mayo suggested the site’s content should be tied to the public school’s curriculum so it meets those requirements. And it must be decided if using the site will require broadband connections or if dialup will work.
-Mr. Esry said to aim high when planning therefore its technology will be standard when launched. It will need a shopping cart section. Also, will having an excellent web station curb the desire to have a bricks and mortar center?
-Mr. Hickman suggested tying it to actual agriculture markets.
-Mr. Mayo says his organization is frequently asked why farming is not used as the classroom model when teaching economics. The Delaware History Museum uses a chicken in a poultry farming game model to learn if a player made the correct ‘farming’ decisions to make money. Don’t call it advertising, but sponsorship.
Mr. Esry suggested adding a person to Board with computer expertise.
Mr. Mayo said we always have mentality of ‘Can we do it on the cheap?” Maybe this is not the time to think that way. There are people who could fund the project completely.
IV. OTHER BUSINESS ¬
Mr. Miller gave an update on the Chesapeake Fields Farmers Cooperative. There are 18 members from Cecil County to Dorchester County. Members have 3,000 acres of food-grade soybeans in the ground – no idea yet of yield or quality. If food grade beans do not look good, customers will not buy them. Hans and Jennie Schmidt have found good Asian markets in Washington and Baltimore. One customer is buying two trailer loads a month of bagged, cleaned beans. However customers do not understand how CBOT works – they want a price quoted and to buy it at later time at that price. There are 600 acres of seed beans under contract for export. They will continue to lease Indian Point Farm for its storage. Mr. Mayo asked about the color sorter. One will be need for the exported beans, but the Cooperative does not have one. Mr. Hickman noted the CFFC Grower signs placed in fields are good advertising.
OTHER BUSINESS,
Chesapeake Fields Farmers LLC- Mr. Hall shared a PowerPoint presentation explaining the distributor-broker network and how their services operate. The LLC is seeking a broker focused on healthy food issues. Work continues on packaging design research—currently looking at package size. Should they be 100 calories, 5 ounces or 17-22 ounces? Ms. Ledley said it needs to have a catch phrase on it like you might see on a tee-shirt “Save the Farm”.
Chesapeake Field Farmers Cooperative Report- Mr. Miller gave an update on the Cooperative which now has 18 members from Cecil County to Dorchester County. Members have 3,000 acres of food-grade soybeans in the ground – no idea yet of yield or quality caused by lack of rain. If food grade beans do not look good, customers will not buy them. Hans and Jennie Schmidt have found good Asian markets in Washington and Baltimore. One customer is buying two trailer loads a month of bagged, cleaned beans. However customers do not understand how CBOT works – they want a price quoted and to buy it at later time at that price. There are 600 acres of seed beans under contract for export. They will continue to lease Indian Point Farm for its storage. Mr. Mayo asked about the color sorter. One will be need for the exported beans, but the Cooperative does not have one. Mr. Hickman noted the CFFC Grower signs placed in fields are good advertising.
OTHER BUSINESS
Mr. Stienmetz noted the 53 participants in the “Leadership Maryland” program will get CF snacks at a future program.
Mr. Esry and Joanne Richart-Young manned a small CF information exhibit at the Cecil County Fair where they distributed literature and samples.
Mr. Hall urged everyone to think about their contacts—is there anyone who can help with any of the projects discussed today
The CFI meeting was adjourned at 11:36.
Respectfully submitted,
Elizabeth H. Morris
Staff Associate
The next meeting will be Wednesday, November 21, at 10 am
, in the conference room on the first floor of the Public Works Building at 709 Morgnec Rd, Chestertown.
MINUTES ARCHIVE IN PDF FORMAT
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