Marketing Monday with Matt LeRoux and Sarah Blacklin

The Livestock Conservancy

In 2022, Marketing Monday is focusing on how to turn your audience into a community. Today, Special Guests Matt LeRoux Extension Associate at Cornell University & Marketing Specialist at NC Choices (https://ncchoices.org/), and Sarah Blacklin, NC Choices Program Director, chat about their new Marketing Channel Assessment Tool for produce growers and the Cornell Meat Price Calculator (https://www.meatsuite.com/calculator/).

Matt has over 20 years’ experience serving farms through Cornell Cooperative Extension, non-profits, and consulting. Specializing in market strategy, Matt works with a diverse mix of produce and livestock farmers and food businesses. Career highlights include developing the Marketing Channel Assessment Tool for produce growers and the Cornell Meat Price Calculator.

Sarah Blacklin is a NC Cooperative Extension educator and Program Director at NC Choices, a program of the Center for Environmental Farming Systems. Sarah helps small farmers in NC maximize direct and wholesale marketing efforts to enhance profitability. She deals directly with livestock farms and local meat businesses along the entire local meat supply chain including commercial meat processors, restaurants and butcher shops, regulatory agents and various allied businesses.

Sarah’s work of extending educational programming, networking opportunities and technical training to sustainable food businesses has gained attention on the local and national scale and in 2016 Sarah was honored among the “top 100 national agricultural leaders shaping rural America” by National Farm Credit. Among other activities, Sarah serves on the board of the National Niche Meat Processor Assistance Network. Before working with meat, Sarah served as Market Manager for the Carrboro Farmers’ Market for 5 years, originally getting her start as a farmhand for local farmers.

Big thank you to Manna Pro for sponsoring Marketing Mondays this year! Learn more about how Manna Pro is Nurturing Life at https://www.mannapro.com/promotions/nurturing-life-2022