Final report for FW23-433
Project Information
Farmers face impacts of climate change including heat waves, wildfire, drought and flooding, diminishing farmer health, safety and well-being and farm economic viability. We need ways to adapt centering environmental stewardship, economic viability and farmer quality of life to avoid small-scale farmer attrition. We need multi-year studies of potential solutions. This project will be season two of this research and include a shift in the second research question based on year one trends. This research will explore the following questions: 1.) is growing long season storage crops for winter CSAs economically viable on small-scale diversified farms without undermining sustainable practices, 2) what are the most and least compelling aspects of a MONTHLY winter CSA model, for actual and potential customers, and hw do we overcome marketing hurdles and 3) can shifting to these crops and market channel support farmer well-being and farm economic viability? This research will be carried out through investigating economic, social, and environmental factors including: 1.) enterprise analysis and labor tracking 2.) customer surveying and 3.) qualitative field notes focused on on-farm practices related to stewardship, health and safety, and quality of life including ability to shift out of fieldwork in unsafe environmental scenarios, and overall satisfaction/well-being. This research will offer a case study of the viability of long season crops and winter CSAs on small, diversified farms to reveal if the crop and market channel shift facilitates health and well-being and adaptability to acute climate catastrophes, assess a new market niche for sustainable agriculture practitioners, reveal opportunities for farmers to collaborate through mutually beneficial CSA marketing center farmer well-being within diversified agriculture. Outcomes will be shared through a report, video and presentations for extension agents, agricultural professionals and farmers in collaboration with UC Cooperative Extension, Community Alliance with Family Farmers and Kitchen Table Advisors.
1. Determining the economic viability of diversified, long-season storage and dried
crop production on small-scale, high labor, diversified farms as an adaptation strategy
to climate extremes (heat waves, fires, and droughts) and the untenable work
conditions they create.
2. Determining the most and least compelling aspects of a MONTHLY winter CSA model, for actual and potential customers, to help ascertain and overcome marketing hurdles.
3. A look into farmer well-being - determining if a shift in crop focus to long-season
storage and dried crops in a diversified system truly facilitates a reduction in fieldwork
hours and physical labor during the increasing hot months of summer, and expanded
fire season. Is this a viable system for farmers facing climate extremes and weather
changes that mean where they farm today is a much different climate than when they
initially began this work? Do these labor patterns feel more manageable, thus reducing
farmer attrition as climate extremes worsen?
Timeline: October 1, 2023 - March 30, 2024: Primary Research conducted (CSA season 2 distribution + season 3 growing season begins)
December 2023 - March 2024: Season 2 year end records organized and documented. Historical comparisons analyzed.
March 30, 2024- December 15, 2024 : Primary Research conducted on CSA season 3 growing season
February/March 2024: California Small Farms Conference Presentation on Season 2 growing/distribution and early season 3 growing
November 2024: Research update/presentation for farmers - season 2 distribution/season 3 growing progress
December 2024 - January 2025: Year end records organized and documented. Historical comparisons analyzed.
December 2024 - March 2025: Primary Research conducted on CSA year 3 distribution
January 2025-March 2025: CSA full season 2 and growing season 3 research compilation, analysis & report writing; Zoom and/or in person presentations to farmers and organizational partners (UCCE, CAFF, KTA); CA Small Farms Conference Participation; social media video reporting
Cooperators
- - Technical Advisor
Research
This research continues the investigation into whether transitioning to a winter CSA model improves economic viability on small-scale, diversified farms while maintaining good environmental stewardship and increasing farmer health, safety, well-being and quality of life in the face of climate change impacts in northern California. This research is being conducted on-site at Red H Farm and with some collaboration from other CSA farms in northern California. It begins to look at the customer perceptions of a monthly winter CSA model, potential resulting marketing hurdles, and how to overcome them.
Red H Farm's sales model is historically comprised of direct marketing through farmers market (75%) and restaurant or summer CSA sales (25%). Red H Farm is transitioning much of its growing space to longer season, lower value, diversified crops such as winter squash, potatoes, onions, shallots, garlic, dry beans, popcorn, drying peppers, herbs for drying, and tomatoes and strawberries for processing or freezing to be distributed through a monthly, winter storage crop CSA program. We are employing Google Suite (forms, sheets and docs) for tracking, data collection, field notes, and analysis, and are incorporating comparative analysis of historical farm records to determine if this is a viable business strategy that maintains or increases farm economic viability, decreases field labor during extreme climate conditions, supports good environmental stewardship practices and supports farmer health, safety and well-being.
Objective 1. Determining if growing lower-value, long season storage crops is economically viable on small-scale diversified farms without undermining ecological practices.
Methods and Materials: Mixed methods analysis will be used including enterpriseanalysis, literature review, recordkeeping via excel/google spreadsheets, comparative analysis with historical farm records (including outcomes from the first season of research), and qualitative field notes. This research question is being investigated through quantitative enterprise analysis taking into account existing, foundational research focused on cost of production including Northeast Organic Farming Association of Vermont’s Cost of Production Project, Pasa’s Financial Benchmarks for Direct-Market Vegetable Farms 2021 report, Know Your Cost to Grow and Oregon Tilth’s work supporting farmers using cost information for business decision-making. Most of this existing research does not take into account the added value that a CSA brings (community, farm connection, recipe sharing, newsletters, etc.) and how that added value can increase crop value when compared to wholesale or farmers market distribution. For this reason, these analyses do not directly translate to understanding if this crop selection and market channel is competitive. Overall year-end quantitative comparisons will bring tremendous value. Through careful record-keeping using excel spreadsheets and comparative analysis to years past of revenue, costs and labor-hours we will learn whether or not this business model is competitive with previous models focused on higher-labor and primarily spring-fall crops sold through farmers markets. We will ascertain if this model can pay a living wage. Through record-keeping, qualitative field notes and historical comparisons we will learn if we are able to maintain the same level of good environmental stewardship including using no-till methods, cover cropping, compost applications, straw mulching, ferment and compost tea applications, drip irrigation, dry farming and the integration of pollinator and beneficial habitat, despite the focus on lower-value crops.
Objective 2. Determining the most and least compelling aspects of a MONTHLY winter CSA model, for actual and potential customers, to help ascertain and overcome marketing hurdles.
Methods and Materials: Surveys (online using google forms and in person). These surveys will NOT gather personal, demographic, or other identifying information. Monthly CSA models can work in a winter context because the majority of crops are held in storage and can be given out in larger quantities. Furthermore, it supports a work-life balance for farmers who do not have to go to weekly markets or host a weekly CSA pickup. Using google forms and one-on-one interviews we will survey current CSA and farmers market customers through our existing regional networks to determine why someone may feel compelled or disinterested in this unique model. What assumptions are there? How then, can a farmer create a marketing strategy to address otherwise unspoken concerns? Survey questions will be formatted for narrative and numeric and/or Likert scale responses to facilitate data aggregation and trend analysis. This will help us determine if there is a market for winter CSAs and how a farmer might build their model with potential client interest in mind.
Objective 3. Determining if shifting to long season storage crops for winter CSA distribution supports farmer health, safety, well-being, and farm economic viability.
Methods and Materials: Qualitative field notes and farmer self-survey via google sheets, forms and/or docs, comparative analysis between research data points collected, and comparative analysis with years past. Central to this research is an investigation into whether this shift in model increases farmer health, safety, and well-being as well as farm economic viability. This assessment will be carried out through daily and weekly qualitative and quantitative field notes focused on climate conditions, hours and labor-type tracking, ability to shift out of fieldwork when environmental conditions become uncomfortable or unsafe, ability to take time off (measured against historical trends of the operation and standard holidays, vacation, and sick leave for the general public), ability to earn a living wage and overall satisfaction/well-being. Field notes will be recorded through google sheets. Farmer survey questions will be formatted for numeric and/or Likert scale responses to facilitate data aggregation and trend analysis. These records can be qualitatively coded for major themes as well as translated into comparative charts and graphs showing trends, relationships between different factors and the relationship between climate events and farmer health, safety and well-being.
***
Variables that make it hard to compare
In addition to adding the winter CSA to the production model, several additional variables make seasons 1-3, from 2022-2025 of the Winter CSA a challenge to directly compare to previous seasons:
- After thirteen years of farming on two parcels, one of which had no irrigation and was dry farmed, a well was installed so that both parcels were irrigated. This means the land under active management for the entire season grew in 2022.
- In 2022 Caitlin farmed collaboratively with another grower and thus had twice the labor as previous seasons, making factors such as hours worked and vacation time difficult to directly compare.
- During the 2023/24 and 2024/25 seasons the farm was shifted to almost solely a winter CSA, with a very small farmstand offering during the summer. However, the health challenges that farmer Caiti Hachmyer faced, that in part prompted the shift to a winter CSA, persisted and got worse after pushing through the 2022/23 season. This meant that the same energy that had gone into previous seasons did not go into the 23/24 and 24/25 seasons of this research, and more funds were allocated to hired help that in previous years. While gross sales were comparable, net profit was thus reduced. However, it is critical to look at the overall hours worked, which indicate that the winter CSA requires fewer cumulative hours (which could be worked by either a farm owner(s) or staff) for similar sales.
Objective 1. Determining if growing lower-value, long season storage crops is economically viable on small-scale diversified farms without undermining ecological practices.
When farming on a small scale, numerous successions of high value crops like lettuce, arugula, spinach and carrots will generate the most profit per acre. A study conducted by the Northeast Organic Farming Association revealed that lettuce and carrots, two crops that can be succession planted throughout the growing season, have a higher per acre profit than long season crops like onions, potatoes and winter squash. However it is important to note that those high value crops also often require more labor hours for cultivation, harvest, washing and packing. (NOFA, 2016) This is critical to take into account when a farm/farmer is being heavily impacted by climate change and a farmers ability to work during increasing inclement weather is compromised.
Every farm has different economic outcomes. For the purpose of this research and for the sake of consistency comparisons will be made only to Red H Farm’s historical records. See Figure 1.
| Year | Acreage | Irrigation Status | Markets | Labor | Gross Sales | Net Income |
| 2016-2021 | 1.2 | Half dry-farmed | Farmers Market + Restaurants | 1 full time + 1 part time (total hours: unknown, roughly 2800-3300) | $40-45k | $30k |
| 2022/23 | 1.2 | All irrigated | Farmers Market + Monthly Winter CSA | 2 full time, 1 part time (Total 3300) | $55k | $40k |
| 2023/24 Scaled-down | 0.6 | All irrigated | Monthly Winter CSA + limited farmstand | 1 full time + 1 part time (Total hours: 1478) | $21.5k | $12k |
|
2024/25 |
0.6 | All irrigated | Monthly Winter CSA + limited farmstand | 1 full time + 1 part time (Total hours: 918) | $23k | $6k |
| Scaled-up Extrapolation | 1.2 | All irrigated | Mostly Winter CSA + limited farmstand | 1 full time + 1 part time | $45-54k | TBD |
As the farm has scaled down since year one, the goal gross revenue is adjusted so that the numbers are relative. Based on data from seasons one through three, (22/23, 23/24 and 24/25) and calculated extrapolations based on hypothetical crop planning and yield expectations coupled with crop trends experienced in our first three seasons, Red H Farm should be able to produce as much gross revenue relative to itself, under the Winter CSA model, as it did growing succession crops for farmers market. It is worth noting that because Red H Farm is located in lowlands, some of the fields are not usable all winter - a farm growing on hilltops or slopes could likely serve more members per acre, thus grossing more. It is also worth noting, as stated above, due to health struggles net profit decreased as hired hours increased. Noting gross sales compared to cumulative hours worked thus provides arguably more relevant information.
Hourly rates for the owner-operator increased in 2022/23 to $12.5/hour but went down to $10.5/hour in 2023/24 when farmers market was fully eliminated. These wages do not meet the very conservative living wage metric of $20.14/hour for Sonoma County, California (MIT, 2024). Hired labor hours were compensated at $18-$22/hour. It is worth noting that because Red H Farm is located in lowlands, some of the fields are not usable all winter - a farm growing on hilltops or slopes could likely serve more members per acre, or incorporate other sales models, like an on-farm self serve farmstand, thus grossing more.
Objective 2. Determining the most and least compelling aspects of a MONTHLY winter CSA model, for actual and potential customers, to help ascertain and overcome marketing hurdles.
During the research seasons, farmer Caiti received interesting feedback from both prospective and actual customers. Early surveys conveyed that prospective customers cared the most about the fresh vegetables they would receive during the CSA. They indicated less interest in things like added value products, add- ons from other farms (like cheese, eggs, or meat), and the experience in general. However, as the seasons unfolded the feedback from actual customers was quite the contrary. Red H Farm adopted a pickup party and market-style model. When members came to collect their shares they packed their own produce and stayed to enjoy a chat with the farm team, as well as hot cider, tea, and homemade snacks provided by the farm. Over the years the things members conveyed they loved the most about the CSA were dried chili powders and other specialty goods, the pickup party treats, add-ons from other farms, packing up their abundance, connecting with the farm team, and the monthly rhythm. While folks conveyed their excitement and appreciation for the produce staples, there was consistently emphasis on the delight of these aspects - notably, the overall experience - specifically.
Another benefit of the monthly model is that it becomes viable for people to join the CSA from slightly further away. We had members joining from Oakland and San Francisco, roughly one hour from the farm. This became more feasible when we connected folks geographically so they could coordinate sharing pickup responsibilities. This could support expanding the marketing reach and potential member base of the CSA.
The least compelling aspects of the CSA seemed to be what summer CSAs sometimes find - for some it felt like too much food, especially those with small households. Some would have appreciated a half share option. Additionally, winter squash seems to be the one crop folks indicate they can consistently take less of. Overcoming these barriers for folks might include very clear communication around the storage ability of many of their crops. For instance, rather than feeling pressure to get through 8 onions and 10 shallots from one pickup to the next, reminding that these alliums (along with winter squash, and refrigerated potatoes) will last several months past the last pickup. In other words the CSA might run from December through February or March, but the crops themselves might last until June. For crops that are less desirable, including ample and diverse recipes (another aspect of the CSA that consistently received positive feedback) is critical. Further, offering samples of recipes at the pickups garnered excitement for members as well.
Objective 3. Determining if shifting to long season storage crops for winter CSA distribution supports farmer health, safety, well-being, and farm economic viability.
When considering a farm’s holistic context, not only is it critical to balance the profit potential with the labor potential, but in the case that a farm or farmer is significantly impacted by the effects of climate change, different weight may be given to these factors. For instance, longer cultivation and harvest hours, inherently taking place out in the field throughout hot summer days, may be a more critical factor to take into account than the potential profitability. Further, according to the USDA ERS “In 2019, 96 percent of farm households derived some income from off-farm sources. On average, off-farm income contributed 82 percent of total income, or $101,638, for all family farms in 2019.” (https://www.ers.usda.gov/amber-waves/2021/september/off-farm-income-a-major-component-of-total-income-for-most-farm-households-in-2019/). In the case of a farmer suffering from climate impacts, the hours freed up by focusing on lower labor crops can assist in facilitating off farm income, helping off-set the loss in profitability from those crops. This is particularly useful to consider when those off-farm hours are required in most cases regardless of crops grown.
As the first three winter CSA seasons unfolded, farmer Caiti was able to take increasingly more total days away from the farm each year, compared to what she had taken over the last decade of farming: One hundred and one days away in 2022, one hundred and fifty days away in 2023, and one hundred and fifty five days away in 2024. This included long trips away from the farm in July and October/November, weekend days off throughout the season, some long weekend trips and the typical slow schedule in December, January and February.
One assumption is that as an increasing percentage of the farm is dedicated to long term crops, the main farmer can leave for longer stints (note the dips in hours shown in Figure 9 in the plain language report.) because the land under more rigorous daily management is smaller. This facilitates the same kind of breaks even without a second full time manager. The time needed for management and the tasks needing to be completed during slower months (mainly running irrigation, light cultivation, gopher trapping, and seeding) is supported with part time labor, from experienced farm assistants.See Figure 1, above. While this is critical, and marked an increase in farmer well-being, it is also important to weigh with the details shared above regarding hourly wage. Whether the time off and low hourly rate are viable for any particularly farmer will always depend on context.
Farmer well-being was tracked using qualitative data including a daily Likert scale score of 1- 4 and field notes. See Figure 10 in the plain language report attached. It is worth noting that comparing the Likert scores given to the daily notes taken, subjectively the scale ratings seem higher than the detailed descriptions would indicate.
Looking for trends in field notes, common themes for days rated 1 or 2 included:
Long hours
Farmers market days
Heat waves
Sense of depletion for periods of time following heat waves
Working alone
Trends noted for days with a rating of 3 or 4 included:
Days off
Days of feeling especially productive or caught up
Days when having two people clearly allowed one to rest
Cool, mild weather
Days with extra help
Days with shorter overall hours
CSA pickup days
Resources
2016. North East Farming Association. Cost of Production Project: Crop Profitability
Comparisons. https://www.nofavt.org/sites/default/files/files/resources/crop-comparison-cop-
factsheet_0.pdf
2024. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Living Wage Calculator.
https://livingwage.mit.edu/counties/06097
2023. Moyer, Brian F. Finding and Keeping Your CSA Members. Penn State Extension.
https://extension.psu.edu/finding-and-keeping-your-csa-members
2021. USDA ERS. Off-Farm Income a Major Component of Total Income for Most Farm
Households in 2019
https://www.ers.usda.gov/amber-waves/2021/september/off-farm-income-a-major-component-of-
total-income-for-most-farm-households-in-2019/
Research Outcomes
Conclusion
Data suggests that the winter CSA can generate a similar gross revenue to the farmers market model at Red H Farm while requiring fewer labor hours and facilitating much more time off, thus increasing farmer well-being. While profits are decreased, so are labor hours. Because everbearing crops like cooking greens have time to regrow between harvests, the monthly model allows you to serve more families on less land than a more frequent model might, while maintaining a work-life balance throughout the season. We also believe that considering coupling the winter CSA with a small number of low-labor summer crops with a low-maintenance outlet (wholesale or self-serve farmstead) can provide a different potential balance for some farmers that will create a degree of cash flow over the summer. It is also worth noting that because of reduced access to local produce in the late winter, excess crops are easy to sell to farmsteads, restaurants, local markets etc. for a premium. Data indicates that there is a market for winter CSAs in California. High retention rates of CSA customers and consistent positive feedback and higher-than-average retention rates indicate the model contains promise and holds high value for community members, particularly once they have experienced it.
To clearly assess the questions at hand with specific regard to the CSA model as a standalone, including economics and farmer well-being, a study with fewer additional variables would be helpful. Specifically, the increasing health struggles farmer Caiti faced during the three years of study meant that the energy and capacity that went into each farm season was not steady. Therefore, it is impossible to consider this a controlled study. However, considering said health struggles, it is clear that transitioning to the winter CSA, with its reduced labor hours, made continuing to farm possible. Maintaining the work necessary to sell through farmers markets would have been impossible with the health struggles faced (which only allowed for work in the morning and evening hours, at a fraction of the pace achieved in previous years). Three years into this study, farmer Caiti is confident that this model has promise to achieve a more balanced life for farmers whose physical capacity is reduced or for whom the impacts of climate change reduce the ability to perform intense manual labor at typical levels necessary for a market farm.
Recommendations
Adding a winter CSA into a farm’s business plan could be a way to modestly increase sales without exponentially increasing labor, because many of crops distributed through the winter CSA are storage crops that go in the ground in the spring, don’t require much management throughout the season, and are harvested in the fall. Winter CSAs do, however, require adequate storage facilities for those crops, which could be a limiting factor for some farmers. For farmers wishing to continue feeding their community while adding modest additional income to their portfolio, transitioning to a winter CSA is a way to continue growing that requires less hours, and provides produce during a time of year when it is otherwise scant.
Education and Outreach
Participation Summary:
| Event | Date | Attendees | Notes |
|
English Language Zoom Webinar |
2022 | 21 | |
| Spanish Language Zoom Webinar | 2022 | 13 | |
| Agroecology Commons 2022 |
July 2022 |
25 | |
| Climate Farm School 2023 | June + July 2023 | 17 | |
| Civil Eats Article | June 2023 | Most read article of the week! | |
| Sonoma State University | Spring 2023, Fall 2023, Spring 2024 | 30 | |
| Year One Plain Language Report | January 2024 | Distributed via KTA, UCCE, CAFF | |
| Small Farms Conference | February 2024 | 71 registered | 22 live participants, recorded |
| Agroecology Commons | July 2024 | 35 | Aspiring Farmers attended an all day workshop on the farm. |
| Sonoma State University Agroecology Course | Spring 2024, Fall 2024, Spring 2025 | 46 | College Students |
| Climate Farm School | October 2024, March 2025 | 17 | Mid-career professional seeking to learn about the intersection of agriculture and climate change, intending to switch careers |
| Agroecology Commons Apprenticeship | 2025 Farm Season | 1 | One participant from the July workshop intends to start a winter crop farm near Fresno. She is apprenticing with me for the 2025 season to learn more. |
| Santa Rosa Junior College Cool Season Crops class Fall 2025, pending | pending | TBD | I have been asked to guest lecture and host a farm tour to discuss the winter CSA model with sustainable agriculture students. |
| 3-season cumulative report | pending | pending | Will be shared with and distributed through partner organizations (Community Alliance with Family Farmers, Kitchen Table Advisors, UC Cooperative Extension |
I find the best way to engage farmers and community members is to talk to them directly and with transparency. At the small farms conference I was joined by other Winter CSA growers from Winter Sister Farm, and participants conveyed a lot of appreciation for how transparent we were about our finances and the different goals we have for our similar farming systems. For agency partners, creating a clean, simple, plain language pdf report that is simple for them to share and distribute via social media and list servs seems to be the most effective way to collaborate.
Education and Outreach Outcomes
Critical to reaching farmers across communities is ensuring that materials are translated into multiple languages, and that as researchers we work with organizations and agencies who have relationships within diverse networks of farmers. Materials and information need to be made available through multiple avenues (plain language written documents, in person conversations, webinars/conferences, etc.), in multiple languages.
Stakeholders are curious and excited to learn about a unique farm model - it was particularly interesting at the small farm conference to hear from both Red H Farm and Winter Sister Farm. We both have winter CSAs, but we structure them quite differently and have different goals for farming in this way. This gives stakeholders - both farmers and advocates - a broader understanding of possibilities within the field, and how we can build sustainable farm models that are context-dependent. It is also clear to me that determining venues (like the Small Farms Conference or EcoFarm) where farmers are convening, is particularly important for information dissemination. Farmers were able to sign up and attend in real time, and those who couldn't received recordings. It is also useful to provide contact information for people to reach you afterwards.
Working with organizations that support new and young farmers is also a critical way to help support the next generation of land stewards in making informed decisions, and building off of historical learning. This helps new farmers avoid unnecessary mistakes and pitfalls.
Unfortunately I find it hard to get participants to fill out feedback surveys, and I did not gather robust or accurate data. But I received generally positive feedback from the Agroecology Commons community of aspiring farmers and at least one is choosing to work with me to learn more.