The key to success in farming is work that's done before a single seed is planted. That was the message from the state's top agriculture official in Augusta today.
Maine Agriculture Commissioner Walt Whitcomb says launching and maintaining a successful farming operation requires knowing the demand for your produce and being able to market it.
“Make sure you know where your products are going to go before - whether you are older or younger - you get into using the land to produce food," Whitcomb says. "We produce food very, very efficiently these days.”
Whitcomb says too often new or inexperienced farmers expect that there will be a market for what they produce and find out too late that there isn't. Whitcomb says farmers must identify and cultivate markets before they even start growing a crop or raising animals.
