UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Help is on the way for innovative Pennsylvania agricultural producers looking beyond the gates of their farms for increased revenue from "value-added" products and community-based local sales and marketing.

The Keystone Agricultural Innovation Center -- a joint program offered by Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences and the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture and funded by a $1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture -- is open for business. Pennsylvania was one of just 10 states selected by the federal agency for the initiative, which was announced in November and is part of the 2002 Farm Bill.

Satellite offices of the Pennsylvania center will be opened at Penn State Cooperative Extension offices in Blair, Cumberland and Lebanon counties, with each having a business management and marketing specialist, and a community agriculture specialist.

"This pulls together a number of efforts Penn State and the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture have been making in recent years," says Tim Kelsey, professor of agricultural economics and Keystone Ag Innovation Center project leader. "We will give farmers and producers access to the technical, business and marketing expertise to identify and take advantage of agricultural opportunities. We'll help them to explore alternatives to their agricultural business, help them perform an analysis to determine feasibility and then direct them to a funding source if one is available to launch a new business initiative."

The Keystone Agricultural Innovation Center will help the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture fulfill its mission to keep Pennsylvania farmers on the cutting edge of new opportunities, believes Agriculture Secretary Dennis Wolff. "If farmers can develop products that allow them to earn a larger share of consumers' food and energy dollars, then the whole rural economy will win," he says, "because farmers tend to spend their money locally."

The program also is available to people who are not already in an agricultural business, points out Michelle Rodgers, Penn State Cooperative Extension Capital Region director. "This is not limited to current agricultural producers -- but does focus on individuals interested in value-added agricultural options," she says. "The intent of this program is to help people identify alternative crops and marketing niches, and then help them create a business and marketing plan that will result in real income opportunities. We want to help people recognize these opportunities and help them through the planning and start-up phases of a business."

Kelsey uses the following example to show the way the program will work: "Someone might come in and say, 'I have a great idea for making and selling salsa, using some of the tomatoes I grow. What do I need to do to make sure this will work before I spend a lot of money?' We would help them analyze their idea and guide them through startup, business planning and marketing strategies. We also could help them with equipment selection, food safety and labeling issues."

Penn State and the state Department of Agriculture hope the agricultural innovation program leads to new products and marketing strategies for Pennsylvania farms. "We know many farmers are challenged by land use issues and low food prices, but people often will pay more for locally produced, specially labeled community agricultural products," Kelsey explains, "perhaps marketed through a co-op or a farmers market. We are prepared to help producers searching for alternative products to get more of the consumers' dollars."

The program will work in partnership with other efforts to link agriculture with economic development, notes Russ Montgomery, chairman of the Keystone Agricultural Innovation Center board of directors. "The program will help to preserve our farm communities by offering business and technical assistance that leads to the development of innovative ideas, creation of new markets and exploration of new entrepreneurial ventures," he says. "We want to keep the farmers and producers in the value-added chain as long as possible -- the higher the farmer is in the chain, the higher the return to the farmer."

Anyone interested in participating in the program should call the nearest Keystone Agricultural Innovation Center office toll-free: Altoona at 800-909-5242; Carlisle at 800-709-5242; or Lebanon at 800-690-5242.

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EDITORS: Contact Tim Kelsey at 814-865-9542 or by e-mail at tkelsey@psu.edu.

Jeff Mulhollem Office 814-863-2719 FAX 814-863-9877