A key part of any farm business is its infrastructure — including infrastructure used for washing, storage, transportation and more. Below are some resources on each of these topics, but to get started in your thinking this is a useful article about general principles of building infrastructure on your farm.
Cold Storage
Cold storage is a vital element of maintaining product quality and there are many different ways of going about it with varying level of cost. Here are some resources to springboard your research.
- This is a useful article on storing produce with limited to no electricity. https://growingformarket.com/articles/Storing-vegetables-without-electricity
- This is a guide on how to build a low cost walk-in cooler using a Cool-Bot. https://agriculture.sc.gov/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/How-to-Build-a-Walk-In-Cooler-for-Your-Small-Farm-3.17.pdf
- The USDA offers loans specifically for storage facilities. FSA Farm Storage Facility Loan.
- This is a very thorough website all about storing produce for shorter and longer term periods from the University of Wisconsin. It includes information about the economics of storing produce, how to build on-site cold storage and what kinds of conditions you need for various types of produce.
- This is a quick description from Chelsea Green of best storage conditions for various crops.
- This is a very detailed video that explains some of the science behind produce storage and also discusses infrastructure options.
Washing and Packing
Designing a good wash-pack station is essential to the efficiency of your farm, as well as the food safety and quality of your product. . The University of Vermont has a solid overview of what to think about when designing your own wash/pack station. And it is also helpful to think about how to design your post-harvest process with food safety in mind. Finally, here’s a useful resource for tools for washing produce, and a video that shows some tools in action.
There are a ton of great videos that show different farms’ wash stations Here are a few that show the gamut of what a wash-pack station can look like. The first video is a great budget set up, with the following two being more and more deluxe.
Tools for Farming
Every farmer has their “can’t live without” tools. Here are a few resources that list a broad array:
This is a list of 30 “must have” tools for small farms.
This is a somewhat tedious but useful video presentation that helps you figure out where and how to buy farming equipment, particularly mechanized equipment.
Packing/Packaging
Packing your product well is essential for keeping it in good shape during transport from farm to the consumer. If you’re selling straight to the consumer at a market or CSA, this may be less important, but if you’re selling wholesale, this becomes a critical step in maintaining product quality. This is a very comprehensive (but easy to understand) guide to packing for wholesale.
Vehicles
Depending on where you decide to market your products (farmers’ markets, CSA, food hubs, producer cooperatives, wholesale to schools/institutions/retail/restaurants), you will need certain supplies to get it there.
- This is a quite extensive facebook post regarding vehicles used during harvest, with people’s actual vehicles ranging from a cargo van to a golf cart to a prius towing a small trailer.
- This is another extensive facebook post in which farmers share their solutions for vehicles to transport their produce to market.
- This is a useful video on how to use a Cool-Bot to make a refrigerated trailer, which would be useful for long transport times or for meat, dairy or other products that must be kept to temp during transport.
- farming/harvest supplies
farming equipment
post-harvest storage/packaging
wholesale packaging guide
post-harvest equipment & supplies for washing and packing
Sanitation–video on tools, postharvest equipment, greens & root washers, labelling
Fencing
- Good publication of the importance of farm fencing, planning, and installation
- 8-part video series on building a farm fence (embed instead?)
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