UMaine Extension Featured at National Conference
Contact: Donna C. Lamb, 207-564-3301 or 800-287-1491 (in Maine), dlamb@umext.maine.edu
BUFFALO, N.Y.–Donna Lamb, University of Maine Cooperative Extension Educator in Piscataquis County, presented two well-received sessions during a recent national Extension conference. The National Association of County Agriculture Agents held its 90th Annual Meeting and Professional Improvement Conference July 17-21. in Buffalo, N.Y., with some 1,500 people in attendance.
Lamb’s first presentation, “Consumer Survey Assessing Direct Marketing Opportunities for Farmers in Urban vs. Rural Communities,” was based on a Penobscot-Piscataquis County survey conducted in the summer of 2003 with Hsaing-Tai Cheng, UMaine Department of Resource Economics and Policy and Lili Dang, a UMaine graduate student. The second presentation, “Wood Pellet Bedding for Equines Demonstration,” was based on a project conducted funded by the Maine Agricultural Center.
A new UMaine Extension publication “Why Consumers Buy – and Don’t Buy – Your Farm Direct Products,” has been released in conjunction with the direct marketing presentation. This session generated productive dialog on the relative success of self-serve farm stands, which depend on consumer honesty. In addition, the Maine Department of Agriculture is now interested in a similar survey conducted on a statewide basis.
The wood pellet presentation reported on a 2001 project in which fresh sawdust was compared with dried wood pellets, based on the amount of product used and the amount of manure produced from the stalls. The project was conducted with Richard Kersbergen, UMaine Cooperative Extension Educator in Waldo County.