Final report for FW24-009
Project Information
This proposal was originally submitted in the context of a new festival in Cottage Grove, Oregon called “The Cottage Grove Flower Festival”. The event was being designed as a way to promote and celebrate the area’s many small and micro flower farms and to educate the community about the benefits of supporting local farms. Unfortunately, due to circumstances beyond this writer’s control, the flower festival efforts came to a close. The event was not going to happen.
This SARE grant proposal was reworked to capture some important components of the original application. The time period went from two years to just six months. The focus of all activities became a market research study which gathered information from rural communities as potential customers from 11 flower farms. The goal was to help farmers understand their customer’s knowledge and desires while also gathering data that might help them sell, promote and grow their business in the future. We wanted to know if the general public knew that most flowers they find in florist shops and grocery stores were actually imported from other countries, and if meeting and developing a relationship with their local flower farmers would increase the likelihood of them buying from local farmers in the future.
This writer, Cindy Ingram, owner and farmer of The Happy Hill Homestead flower farm, set out to gather and coordinate the participation of 10 farmers who grew and sold flowers. Together they implemented a two month data gathering project (July and August, 2024) which focused on the completion of a one page, ten question, anonymous survey. As a result, 519 surveys were completed by customers from 10 Oregon counties.
11 Flower Farmers in Oregon asked their customers to complete a simple one page, 9 question survey. This survey asked no identifying info, just date and county. It was voluntary and not required. They answered each question by choosing yes, no or maybe. There was also room for optional comments.
The results of this survey was shared with the local, regional and national farming community via a webinar. The goal was to provide insight and opportunities for farmers to use this data when designing their future marketing and promotion strategies.
|
Date |
Activity |
Members |
|
April - May 2024 |
|
Cindy |
|
June 2024 |
|
Cindy and Melissa |
|
July-August 2024 |
|
Cindy and 10 other participating farmers |
|
Sept - November 2024 |
|
Cindy and Melissa |
|
December 2024 - January 2025 |
|
Cindy |
Cooperators
- - Technical Advisor
Research
11 Flower Farmers, including this writer, asked their customers to complete a survey. Customer, for the purpose of this projects was defined as: Anyone who we talked to about our flowers i.e., actual paying customers, potential customers, friends, family and neighbors.
The following text and photo were used to find Flower Farmers to participate:
About the farmers
Cindy posted calls for participation on social media including instagram and facebook, sent out personal e-mails, texts and phone calls, as well as submitted calls to our local farming advocacy and education groups. (Example attached). The project sought to pay each participating farmer a total of $500 for their participation. They would receive $100 once they completed an agreement and basic info sheet, and then the remaining $400 once their completed surveys were sent back following the two month gathering phase.
519 surveys
10 Oregon Counties
County- Total 519
Lane (359) 69%
Linn (76) 15%
Benton (63) 12%
Douglas (5) 1%
Unknown (11) 2%
Other (5) 1%
Clackamas (1)
Columbia (1)
Josephine (1)
Marion (1)
Multnomah (1)
A summary of the survey responses are pasted below:
A sample of written comments sorted by question:
1. Before today, have you ever purchased locally grown flowers?
I am a CSA supporter of a local flower grower.
Sunday Market
Usually flowers are out of my budget
grow my own
Love Local!
2. Before today, have you ever met a local flower farmer?
Just once or twice before
Have been to veggie farms just not to flower growers
Today is my first
3. Have you ever visited a local flower farm?
Just this once
First flower farm. The atmosphere is therapeutic too. Lovely!
No, but would love to
I would love to meet a local flower grower
would like to do
4. Does making a personal connection with your local flower grower make an impact on
your flower purchase decisions in the future?
Support local producers supports local pollinators. Increase local pollinator populations.
Every time, supporting our local growers is important!
Would prefer to buy local
Oh ya
absolutely
100%
We love the story behind what we buy!
5. Would you like to see locally grown flowers more available in your community?
I see them at Farmers markets so maybe more in grocery stores
Yes, very
Would love a subscription with delivery!
6. Before today, were you aware that the majority of flowers available for purchase in
grocery stores and florist shops have been imported into the United States?
Not surprised!
Would love to see more local
Never thought about it until now- tropical of course
7. Does it matter to you that the flowers are locally grown?
more and more
we have great environment for flowers
very
very much!
8. Is it important to you for florists to have locally grown flower options?
How would I tell?
Support local businesses
I love to support local business
I wish box stores would too
9. Is it important to you for grocery stores to have locally grown flower options?
Supporting local businesses is important for the area
Local growers should be subsidized and their crops purchased by
wholesalers/retailers/government to increase pollinator populations and increase food
supply
It would be ideal but corporate grocery stores tend to have low quality flowers as cheap
last minute purchases
Thank you!
Absolutely! Loved this experience.
These are the most accessible places to buy
Challenges
Water rights
In the state of Oregon there have been recent issues relating to the enforcement of water rights. The Water Master has been sending cease and desist letters to farms that may not have the appropriate water rights. As a result, it was difficult to find farmers willing to participate in this study because they were afraid it would draw attention to their farm resulting in a letter from the state's water marshal. Even though the farmers were informed that their information would not be provided to the state’s water marshal, many declined to participate.
Technology
Technology was a barrier that I was not expecting. When I asked farmers to complete a simple document with their contact info and a signature and then email it back, several struggled with how to complete this task.
The original plan was that each farmer would input their data from the surveys into a simple google spreadsheet. I would then compile them all and analyse the data. Due to farmer’s limited computer literacy I decided to purchase a bunch of three ring binders, print up 60 surveys for each participating farmer and mail them to with a self addressed, postage paid envelope. They could then simply place the binder inside the envelope and send back to me. Once this was completed, I then paid a young person to input the data into one spreadsheet for analysis.
Even with this accommodation, several farmers required multiple emails, phone calls and text reminders to get them in the mail back to me. In the end all 10 farmers completed their surveys as agreed and mailed them back.
Research Outcomes
- We now have evidence that people are more likely to buy flowers from farmers if they know them, personally. (74%)
- We now have evidence that people want there to be more local flowers available in their community such as in flower shops and grocery stores. (88%)
- We now have evidence that it matters to our customers that flowers are locally grown. (91%)
Now that we know this information, how will farmers implement this in their future marketing and promotion of their farm and products? It is this writer's opinion that farmers will find more success in repeat sales if they build relationships with their customers. It could mean simply adding photos and personal information about themselves in their social media messaging and websites or creating opportunities for customers to engage with them in person.
This information can also be helpful to Flower Farmers when they are trying to gain contracts and business opportunities with wholesale customers such as Florists and grocery stores. Perhaps sharing this data with them may prove to be helpful in convincing them to include local flowers in their work.
There is so much more that we can learn about the importance of local flowers. Perhaps future research activities could expand on our findings and explore specific ways that farmers can make these connections with their customers. Perhaps a more focused study on educating customers of the harmful impacts of imported flowers, or the benefits of buying local flowers.
Education and Outreach
Participation Summary:
On December 18 we held a webinar to share our findings with the flower farming community. Cindy presented a slide show with graphs and summaries of the projects findings. Then there was a short discussion with participants at the end.
57 participants registered. All received a recording of the event.
31 were currently growing and selling flowers. The median year selling is 3.5 but for some, it was their first season and others have been doing this for over 25 years.
3 were florists
5 were planning to grow flowers in the future
The rest were a combo of folks all growing flowers but may start selling in the future or are growing for their own enjoyment.
This is a link to the recorded webinar: https://media.oregonstate.edu/media/t/1_g38yqh6b
The general consensus from participants was that this study and the webinar was very helpful. They will use this information when deciding on how to market their products to customers next growing season.
One participating farmer e-mailed following the webinar with this message:
"I just wanted to thank you for organizing us crazy flower farmers. It was good to see the data consolidated. I did come away with a couple new marketing ideas."
another commented "Thanks for sharing the results of the flower farmer survey. I especially benefited from the discussion and your marketing tips."
Education and Outreach Outcomes
Farmers would like more support and help with marketing their products.
marketing