MN Fruit & Vegetable IPM News - Vol. 5, No. 5

2008 is an exciting year for the Minnesota Grown Program and its members. Thanks to a funding increase (our first increase in our 20-year history) we are expanding our reach and adding some great new tools for growers. Here are some highlights……….

Advertising Campaign Expands Beyond Metro Area

The Minnesota Grown advertising campaign is making a major push beyond the Twin Cities metropolitan area this year. In the past three years, we’ve tried to reach as much of the state as possible through our partnership with our TV partners FOX9 and UPN29. While we can’t announce our 2008-2009 partners as this article is written because the contracts have yet to be signed, we are adding $20,000 of new greater Minnesota advertising beyond what we usually spend on TV stations.

We’re also excited about feedback from our new partnership with KAXE radio station in Brainerd, Bemidji, and Grand Rapids. To make a long story short, we traded 5,000 copies of a custom KAXE edition Minnesota Grown Directory for airtime on KAXE. The additional 5,000 Directories distributed in northern Minnesota and the airtime is a big boost for members in north central Minnesota and KAXE is happy to have a version of the Directory with KAXE advertising on the full-color cover pages. It also ties in nicely with their on-air focus of buying locally grown foods. It’s truly a win-win situation that we’re hoping to expand to other regions of the state next year.

Paid advertising is just one way we create awareness of Minnesota products and where to find them. We’re also experimenting with customizing press releases on a county-by-county basis. For example, instead of issuing a single statewide press release announcing the opening of the farmers’ market season, we issued a separate press release for each county that had at least one farmers’ market listed in the Directory. The headline was “Local Farmers’ Markets Featured in Statewide Directory” and it included a quote from one of the farmers’ markets in the county. We’re hoping that these releases result in more detailed local press for members. We are doing a similar custom release for berry growers and possibly for other products if we have success with the first releases.

New Marketing Materials Available!
One of the big advantages of joining the Minnesota Grown program is the FREE stickers, price cards and other promotional materials. We’re pleased to add two new items to the collection of stickers, price cards, and posters already available. The new items include:

Pricing Stickers. We acted on a request from members to provide a Minnesota Grown sticker with space for writing a price. The new 1-1/4” by 1-1/4” stickers with writing room come on rolls of 500.

Twist Ties. Another great suggestion from members was to make a twist tie with the Minnesota Grown logo that could be used to close bags of produce at farmers’ markets or retail stands. The new 6” x 7/16” twist ties with the Minnesota Grown logo on both sides and plenty of white space to write a price are shipped in bulk and may be ordered in any quantity.

For information on how to become a member of the Minnesota Grown Program, visit the “Members” section of www.minnesotagrown.com or call us at 651-201-6539.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Co-Editors: Bill Hutchison (hutch002@umn.edu), Department of Entomology, University of Minnesota, Jeanne Ciborowski, Minnesota Department of Agriculture, Ag. Resources Management and Development Division, and Suzanne Wold-Burkness (woldx018@umn.edu), Department of Entomology, University of Minnesota

The Newsletter is published weekly from May through August, cooperatively, by the Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) and the University of Minnesota (U of MN). Reports are posted on the U of MN and MDA web sites on Fridays. If you have suggestions and/or comments, please send your contributions by 4 p.m., Wednesday to Jeanne Ciborowski, 651-201-6217, jeanne.ciborowski@state.mn.us , MDA, 625 Robert St. North, St. Paul, MN 55155. You can access the Newsletter at the U of MN web site in htm format at: www.vegedge.umn.edu/MNFruit&VegNews/mnindex.htm and at the MDA web site in pdf format at: www.mda.state.mn.us/plants/pestmanagement/ipm/ipmnews.htm

Partial funding for this publication is provided through partnership agreements with the Minnesota Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association (MFVGA) and the United States Department of Agriculture – Risk Management Agency (RMA). These institutions are equal opportunity providers.

DISCLAIMER

Reference to products in this publication is not intended to be an endorsement to the exclusion of others which may have similar uses. Any person using products listed in this publication assumes full responsibility for their use in accordance with current manufacturer directions.

Last Revised May, 2008 by woldx018@umn.edu
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