A new publication, the Game-Bird Preserve Business Development Guide, is available for Iowa landowners interested in establishing a profitable hunting preserve.

Registration is open for the 2013 National Value-added Agriculture Conference in Rogers, Arkansas. Agriculture service providers are encouraged to attend sessions on rural entrepreneurship, adding value to agricultural products, agritourism and rural economic development.

The Agricultural Marketing Resource Center (AgMRC) offers a free, new curriculum to educate youth on opportunities for rural development through value-added agriculture.

The Agricultural Marketing Resource Center (AgMRC) provides producer groups with information for use in applying for the USDA Rural Business and Cooperative Service (RBCS) value-added producer grants, announced in the Federal Register August 15, 2012.

AgMRC hires MSU professor to provide insight into the blueberry sector.

The Agricultural Marketing Resource Center (AgMRC) is assisting producer groups in gathering information for use in applying for the USDA Rural Business and Cooperative Service (RBCS) value-added producer grants, announced in the Federal Register June 28, 2011.

MarketMaker on the web offers a free new tool to connect family shoppers with farmers – and with everyone in between – including restaurants and grocery stores. That’s good for consumers who wonder where to find fresh local products and good for small farms with no marketing budget.

Buying local often times means buying locally grown food, but in December, it can also mean buying a Christmas tree from a local grower. Christmas trees are grown in all 50 states, including Alaska and Hawaii.

As fall turkey, deer, pheasant and duck hunting seasons open, the Agricultural Marketing Resource Center (AgMRC) at Iowa State University reminds value-added agriculture producers that leased hunting may be a way to gain additional income off the land.

Grants can be an important resource in developing a new agricultural business. A grant can provide seed money for exploring a business opportunity, supply working capital for a business plan or provide assistance in other ways.

And now AgMRC.org can join your value-added agriculture journey, thanks to the launch of a new Facebook fan page!

Economic downturns spark innovation and entrepreneurship. However, entrepreneurship in an economic downtown is not easy.  Information from the Agricultural Marketing Resource Center (AgMRC) at Iowa State University can help.

Agriculture Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan unveiled a new pilot project under the 'Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food' initiative for farmers to establish high tunnels - also known as hoop houses - to increase the availability of locally grown produce. USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) will provide financial assistance for the project through the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), the EQIP Organic Initiative, and the Agricultural Management Assistance program. Signup deadline is January 29, 2010.

This holiday season, buying a local Christmas tree helps stimulate your local economy.

Proponents of indirect land use change want new indirect emission calculations added to existing production calculations, threatening the future of biofuels production.

The growth of small and mid-sized, locally-owned wineries has been taking off in the Midwest and Midsouth, as well as several other “non-traditional” wine-producing states.

With the U.S. Senate due to tackle contentious climate change legislation when it returns September 8th, an Iowa State University assessment concludes that while cap-and-trade legislation “introduces uncertainty,” failing to act now could lead to even more uncertainty, more downside risk and “a much greater technological challenge.”

Plans to shift American drivers from gasoline to less polluting ethanol have run into a wall – the “blending wall” created by the federal 10% (E-10) limit on how much ethanol can be blended with gasoline for conventional vehicles.

In the race to get greener, expect corn ethanol’s lead over petroleum to keep getting bigger.

As part of celebrating National Farmers’ Market Week August 2-8, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack is urging consumers to benefit from the nation’s rapidly growing network of some 4,900 farmers’ markets now operating in every state.

Once upon a time, corn prices and farm-belt profitability depended largely on weather and government support programs that cushioned weather-driven price shifts. The arrival of corn-based ethanol has changed that picture dramatically.

As wind energy grows, so grows North Dakota’s economy.

Three big question marks hang over ethanol, raising doubts about whether the industry can snap back from the current wave of idled plants, losses, and bankruptcies.

Ethanol is getting greener as a new industry benefiting from steadily improving technology. In contrast, petroleum is a mature industry mining crude oil which gets harder to recover and requires more refining.

With Congress, the Obama administration and industry clashing over biofuels policy, Iowa State University Biofuels Economist Dr. Robert Wisner warns that today’s contradictory mandates “could slow or halt the growth of some parts of the biofuels industry.”