The traditional agricultural economy is changing. There is a growing trend among consumers to know the person or family producing their next meal. What does this mean for the family farm?

The increasing demand for fresh products raised locally provides opportunities for family farms to develop small, part-time agricultural enterprises that have the potential to provide additional income. Fresh, healthy beef and chickens, farm eggs straight from the chicken, and organic fruits and vegetables top the list for the consumer looking for fresh, local products.

So what's involved in creating and sustaining a profitable enterprise to meet consumer demand? To help answer this question, Penn State Cooperative Extension is hosting a workshop on "Income Opportunities in Agriculture" on March 10 at Giannilli's II Restaurant in Greensburg. The program will run from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The morning program will include discussion on business planning, marketing, recordkeeping, and financing your business. Following lunch, program participants will have the opportunity to choose from breakout sessions on a wide range of topics including meat goat production, labor issues, organic regulations, grass-fed beef production, alternative vegetable production methods, pastured poultry production, produce marketing, and animal housing.

Registration for this program is required. Registration deadline is March 1. The registration fee of $50 per person includes a continental breakfast, lunch, and all program materials. Additional individuals from the same family or farm may attend for $35 per person.

Copies of the brochure and registration form are available by contacting the Butler County Extension Office at 724-287-4761 or by e-mailing ButlerExt@psu.edu.

Do you have captive or farmed deer? If so, please note the following information regarding the regulations for these animals.The authority for regulating captive or farmed deer has been transferred from the state Game Commission to the state Department of Agriculture.If you have one or more deer behind a fence, you need to have a Cervid Livestock Operators License from the Department of Agriculture.If the deer are of the following species: white-tailed, black-tailed, elk, sika, mule deer, red deer, moose or hybrids of these, then you also need to be enrolled in either the Chronic Wasting Disease Herd Certification Program or the Herd Monitoring Program. The deadline for registering for these programs is March 1, so don't delay.Additional information regarding the regulation and applications can be found at the state Department of Agriculture's Web site at www.agriculture.state.pa.us under the Business and Industry link. You may also contact Mary Martin at 717-783-5309 for applications and additional information.

All individuals with pesticide applicator licenses are required to participate in update training programs to maintain their licensed applicator status.A variety of programs are offered throughout the winter months to assist applicators with this process. A listing of programs, including update credits offered, is available through the Butler County Extension Office. Please contact us at 724-287-4761 or by e-mailing ButlerExt@psu.edu.This material is submitted by Donna Zang, Extension director, and the staff of the Penn State Extension office at the Sunnyview complex.