William Russ, Russwood Farms
Storefront
Grant Award: $8,000
The Russ family has diversified their beef cattle and sweet corn business with the addition of U-pick blueberries and flowers. They intend to use their AgOptions grant award to finish transitioning a 50-year old barn into a store front where customers can purchase pre-picked produce or move to the U-pick fields.
The grant will pay for a concrete floor, electrical wiring and fixture upgrades, and a 72 cubic-foot refrigerator. Once their storefront is operational they plan to add value-added products and could include other farmers’ products for sale. The farm storefront will reduce the need to travel to farmers markets to sell their products and will position them to offer more agritourism opportunities.