Minnesota Premium Garlic Project

Enhance the competitiveness of Minnesota Premium Garlic through increased sales

SFA intends to increase production of Minnesota Premium Garlic by adding 25 new producers, or expanding production by 50% from existing producers, with sales to existing or expanding markets.

SFA will teach producers how to grow and market Minnesota Premium Garlic, as distinguished from lower quality garlic. By teaching producers and consumers market differentiation and working with the Regional Sustainable Development Partnership to expand supply chain access and increase markets, SFA believes that the per pound can be increased by producers, especially in the more rural areas of the state.

Improve the competitiveness of Minnesota Premium Garlic through increased access.

This project will develop markets and supply chain networks in rural areas that presently have little access to premium Minnesota garlic.

SFA and RSDP will introduce the use of premium Minnesota garlic to rural groceries, institutions and restaurants, and will attempt to make it more available in rural communities so that more garlic will be consumed, and so that awareness of its availability from local growers is increased.

Increase the competitiveness of Minnesota Premium Garlic through the implementation of sustainable production practices, resulting in increased yield, reduced inputs, greater efficiency, higher economic return, and/or conservation of resources.

Workshops and presentations will be conducted at conferences and meetings, and as free-standing events. New growers will be recruited.

Enhance the competitiveness of this specialty crop with research into more sustainable, diverse and resilient cultivation and production practices.

Designated "Cooperating Farms" will conduct research on best practices for the cultivation of Minnesota Premium Garlic.  Research topics are still to be determined, but will likely include:

• timing of planting
• timing of harvest
• pest/disease management
• mulching/not mulching
• foliar festilization

The results can be see HERE.

Improve the competitiveness of Minnesota Premium Garlic through enhancing or improving the economic conditions as a result of specialty crop development.

The project will enhance the competitiveness of Minnesota Premium Garlic by measuring the number of new beginning farmers who go into the producing it, as well as the number of socially disadvantaged farmers who go into producing premium Minnesota garlic The project will also recruit growers to enroll in the "Minnesota Grown" program to expand marketing and competitiveness, and will measure new enrollees as a result of its workshops and outreach to producers.