Record keeping is a tedious task that many producers try to avoid.  However, for an agricultural production endeavor to succeed, business records are vital.  Reviewing and comparing the information can provide the producer with valuable insight as to whether or not a practice has been successful and potential areas for improvement. Good records lead to better decisions and, ultimately, higher returns.

Record keeping practices are discussed and highly recommended during all of my production meetings at the Laurel County Extension Office.   To help our farmers market vendors maximize their production, sales, and profits, I designed and presented a series of three workshops entitled, “Farmers Market 101.”  These workshops cover topics such as GAP certification; marketing through social media; KDA and health regulations; and other tools for success.  

During one of my workshops in March 2016, I discussed the importance of keeping records and offered the participants some simple ideas for keeping them current.  I shared with the producers how my father keeps records of what he accomplishes daily with a simple pocket calendar that he keeps beside his chair.  He enters his notes every day as he sits down for lunch and dinner.  Farmers Market vendors, Wayne and Sylvia Hibbard of Goatmilk Country Soaps, took particular interest in the idea and decided to give this method a try.  

I spoke with Wayne and Sylvia at the Farmers Market in October and they told me about a life changing business opportunity they were working on and stated that the information I presented had helped them achieve this success.  Being members of the Handcrafted Soap and Cosmetic Guild, the Hibbards read an article in their spring newsletter asking members to submit soap samples to the parent business of Costco for product consideration.   Wayne explained that he had been utilizing my dad’s recordkeeping method to keep track of milk production on a daily basis.  He used these records to determine the amount of milk produced by the herd in the year and the product yield.  Based on these results, they decided to submit samples of their products for consideration.  Subsequently, they were contacted by company executives.  After several telephone conferences, Costco sent a private jet to London to transport Wayne, Sylvia and their lawyer to the corporate headquarters in the state of Washington.

            At the beginning of the 2019 Farmers Market season this year, Wayne and Sylvia were still in negotiations with Costco for a contract of 75,000 bars of soap in five scents to be purchased in a variety multipack.  Utilizing the production records they have been keeping, they have determined that they will need to add fifty goats, five new employees and a new building to their business if a contract can be negotiated and signed.  Wayne stated that he would not have even considered submitting the soap samples for consideration had it not been for me sharing my dad’s simple method of maintaining production records.