From buying clubs to supermarkets accounts, the surge in demand for locally grown products invites new wholesaling opportunities for Maine farmers during a time when the prices of foods “from away” have reached historical highs.

Consumers want to buy locally grown. But wholesaling can present significant challenges and risks that many farmers are unprepared for.

“Harvesting Maine’s New Wholesale Opportunities” is a free workshop that will help farmers decide how and when to add wholesale to their operation. There will be plenty of discussion and participants will have the time to crunch some numbers relevant to their farm and use the tools they'll need to continue working when they return home.

Participants will receive a free copy of Family Farmed’s 300-page “Wholesale Success: A Farmer’s Guide to Food Safety, Selling, Postharvest Handling, and Packing Produce.”

After each session participants can follow up with specialists throughout the upcoming growing season and apply to attend a free two-day intensive wholesale workshop in fall 2015.

“Harvesting Maine’s New Wholesale Opportunities” workshops will help farmers: figure out costs, pricing for profit, and calculating break-even points; integrate wholesale into the overall farm plan; understand and implement food safety requirements; plug into distribution options; and create and maintain relationships with wholesale customers.

Workshops will be held around the state. In southern Maine: Lewiston/Auburn at Bates College (2 Andrews Road, Lewiston) Saturday, Feb. 7, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., snow date is Sunday, Feb. 8.

For Midcoast Maine, the workshops will be in Belfast at the Hutchinson Center (80 Belmont Avenue), Saturday, Feb. 21, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., snow date, Sunday, Feb. 22.

These workshops are offered free of charge, but pre-registration is required for these small group sessions.

Apply no later than the Monday prior to each session. For southern Maine, that date is Monday, Feb. 2 and Monday, Feb. 16 for the midcoast workshops.

Applications are available online at www.mainefarmlandtrust.org or for a paper application call Maine Farmland Trust at 207-338-6575.

“Harvesting Maine's New Wholesale Opportunities” is a collaboration of Maine Farmland Trust, MOFGA, CEI, Farm to Institution New England, Cultivating Community, Environment Maine, and Conservation Law Foundation.