SBDC Co-Sponsors Small Farm Tour in Maryland, Delaware

SALISBURY, MD---The public is invited to tour some of the most successful and innovative small farms in Maryland and Delaware starting 8:30 a.m. Thursday, September 4.

Sponsored by the Small Business Development Center at Salisbury University, the Maryland Cooperative Extension and Delaware State University, the tour includes farms in Dorchester County, MD, and Sussex County, DE. Tour stops focus on successful marketing strategies, meat processing obstacles and opportunities, and production to meet local demand. Topics addressed include tackling the restaurant industry with local produce and succeeding as an Eastern Shore winery.

The tour’s first stop is Davoncrest Farms, a 95-acre farm in Hurlock, MD. Launched as a vegetable farm in 1983, it is one of the largest vegetable, fruit and vine crop transplant suppliers east of the Mississippi River.

From there, the tour stops at Sam Yoder and Sons in Greenwood, DE. This farm provides the area with beef, pork, chicken and eggs. Participants see the farm’s feedlot operation, as well as its store.

The final stop on the tour is the Nassau Valley Winery in Lewes, DE. The business produces 3,000 cases of wine per year. Its stock includes two medal winners, a Cape Rose and Delaware White. Participants view grape production, as well as marketing efforts.

Registration begins at 8 a.m. in the parking lot of Tyndall’s Casual Furniture on U.S. 13 in Laurel, DE, just north of the Rt. 9 intersection. Cost is $5 per person to cover lunch expenses. The air-conditioned bus returns between 4 and 4:30 p.m.

For more information call Laura Romaneo at the Worcester County Extension Office at 410-632-1972 or Dean Purnell at Delaware State University at 302-857-6439, or visit the SU Web site at www.salisbury.edu.