Final report for LNC19-428
Project Information
The OSU CFAES Center for Cooperatives will collaborate with the Agriculture Business Management program at Ohio Valley Career and Technical Center (OVCTC) on the project, “Sustainable production and marketing using the cooperative model for a student-managed school farm cooperative,” to enhance and examine the impacts of a student cooperative learning program.
Rural communities need innovative young entrepreneurs and effective models to develop them. In rural, Appalachian communities, economic opportunities are limited. For example, Adams County, Ohio ranks in the worst 10% of U.S. counties on an index combining unemployment, per capita market income, and poverty rates. Adams County has approximately 1,350 farms with average cash receipts of $28,798 per farm. As of 2016, there were only 502 private sector employment opportunities and the county’s median household income was $34,709.
The goals of this hands-on cooperative approach are to:
- enhance students’ knowledge of
- business management, particularly co-op management;
- agricultural marketing and related concepts like regulatory compliance;
- sustainable farm production practices; and
- agricultural enterprises in their region.
- develop students’ skills in strategic planning, project management, and communication;
- improve the school farm’s financial health; and
- develop tools to implement similar training programs for young agricultural entrepreneurs.
Approximately 25-35 students will receive training annually.
Outreach activities will raise awareness of the model among educators and the agricultural community in Adams and surrounding counties.
The Center for Cooperatives will educate OVCTC students on the cooperative business model and best practices in co-op management, collaborating with a retired cooperative executive to provide real-world perspectives. Agricultural marketing experts will teach students about marketing concepts like pricing, packaging, and customer demographics. The Center will collaborate with local farmers and agricultural leaders to share their experiences using innovative marketing and environmentally sustainable production practices, exposing students to innovative approaches and developing their agricultural knowledge. Center staff will assist students in developing marketing and environmental plans for their enterprise, developing their planning and business management skills. Students will then implement these plans on their cooperatively managed school farm using seed funding from this project. Center staff will collaborate with students to monitor project activities and outcomes to determine successful strategies for teaching young people about the cooperative model and fostering entrepreneurship in rural communities. Team members will assess the success of these strategies on the school farm by tracking activities and examining the farm cooperative’s financial health. Team members will examine changes in students’ knowledge and attitudes and gather feedback on education techniques. Using this information, the team will develop a digital toolkit for cooperative developers, educators, and Extension professionals to create similar cooperative learning programs for youth farms, greenhouses, and gardens.
Cooperators
- (Educator)
- (Educator)
- (Educator)
Research
Generally, this project will begin with an intensive training and planning process that will be followed by an implementation effort to enhance existing and utilize new approaches in marketing and management on the school farm. The project team members hypothesize that student training and development of a marketing and environmental plan for their school farm cooperative will enhance the farm's financial health and environmental sustainability. The culmination of this project will also result in resources for other agricultural educators interested in hands-on youth entrepreneurship training.
The proposed project is a collaboration between the CFAES Center for Cooperatives and the OVCTC’s Agribusiness Management program to enhance, examine, and develop tools and best practices around a hands-on cooperative learning program. The nature of this project will be highly collaborative with Center staff working directly with Mr. Rhonemus, the instructor at OVCTC, and students at OVCTC. Two members of the Center staff will dedicate their time and expertise to the project; one of those staff members, Joy Bauman, will serve as the ‘cooperative coach’ for the students and Mr. Rhonemus. Joy will interface with the students and Mr. Rhonemus on a regular basis, facilitating trainings, providing technical assistance with plan development and implementation, and helping carry out outreach activities. The Center will also engage a network of cooperative leaders, Extension educators, and experts to provide valuable training and learning opportunities. Mr. Rhonemus and Center staff, in partnership with a farmer-leader in the community will engage networks of local farmers and agricultural leaders to provide learning opportunities for students.
Generally, this project will begin with an intensive training and planning process that will be followed by an implementation effort to enhance existing and utilize new approaches in marketing and management on the school farm. In the final phase of the project, the team will assess the success of implementation activities and build tools and resources that others can use to create hands-on cooperative learning programs based on the outcomes of this project. The following detailed approach will guide the project. Figure 1 provides a visual timeline of the approach.
Year 1
In Year 1, the project team, including Hannah Scott, Joy Bauman, and Luke Rhonemus will coordinate trainings and learning sessions for students centered on agricultural marketing, environmentally sustainable farm production practices, and cooperative business management. Specifically, students will complete Market Ready training with Christie Welch, the Direct Agricultural Marketing Specialist with Ohio State University Extension. Market Ready is a curriculum developed by Dr. Tim Woods at the University of Kentucky to help agricultural producers plan for direct marketing their farm products; the training examines concepts like pricing, understanding customer demographics, and thinking critically about product placement.
Financially healthy agricultural enterprises require informed management and management skills can be valuable assets to young entrepreneurs. Because their student cooperative is in its infancy and almost half of the students in the program are new to the vocational school each year, students will receive cooperative management training throughout the entire project. The Center for Cooperatives staff will educate students on the basics of the cooperative business structure, including governance and finance, and introduce students to a variety of cooperative enterprises. The Center will use its online curriculum, Co-op Mastery: Beyond Cooperatives 101, and associated workbooks for these sessions. Dennis Bolling, former CEO of United Producers, Inc., will train students in cooperative management best practices based on his real world experiences. Mr. Bolling will provide training on co-op management topics four times in the first year of the project. Two sessions will be trainings for all student members of the co-op while two sessions will take the form of counseling sessions with the student board of directors.
Additionally, the project team will coordinate one learning session each year with a cooperative leader from the region who will share information about their cooperative, discuss cooperative model concepts, and provide insight into cooperative management issues. Although, the first and second year of the project did not include a cooperative leader learning session due to changes necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic, future years will include such sessions. Co-op leaders will also provide insights into the role that agricultural cooperatives play in agribusiness and opportunities for future careers. The project team will engage their networks of cooperative professionals for these learning sessions. Learning sessions with Mr. Bolling and cooperative leaders will be valuable opportunities for students to develop rich understandings of cooperative management, to spark ideas for improving their cooperative farm’s operation, and to expand students’ professional networks.
Throughout the life of the project, the project team will coordinate twelve learning sessions with farmers in Adams County and the surrounding region to discuss their own enterprises with students. These sessions will give students the opportunity to learn about real-world applications of the concepts they learn in trainings, to develop their awareness of agriculture in the region, and to expand their professional networks. The project team will engage farmers utilizing innovative approaches to marketing and environmentally sustainable production practices and farmers will be encourage to talk about both marketing and production practices. For example, the project team will engage farmers using direct marketing of niche products, cooperative marketing, or entering new markets with new products. The team will work with Bill Wickerham, a farmer in Adams County marketing grass-fed beef and Wildlife Specialist with the Adams Soil and Water Conservation District. During the first two years of the project, amid the COVID-19 pandemic and the busy schedule of the program, the timing of farmer learning sessions has been variable. Timelines for sessions have been adjusted accordingly and will continue to take place to ensure that a total of 12 learning sessions are held. Additionally, as opportunities for learning sessions that are pertinent to the school farm have presented themselves the project team has engaged agriculture experts, such as a University professor, rather than limiting learning sessions to only sessions led by active farmers.
Transfer of knowledge will be accomplished with classroom lessons, online lessons utilizing the Center for Cooperatives’ curriculum, Co-op Mastery: Beyond Cooperatives 101, and on-farm activities.
At the outset of the project, students will complete a survey assessing their understanding of and attitudes about agricultural marketing concepts, cooperative business concepts, environmentally sustainable production concepts, and other topics as appropriate. At the close of each project year, students will retake this assessment and the project team will track changes in students’ knowledge and attitudes. Additionally, in Year 1, the project team will measure the following items to assess outcomes and gather information for the toolkit they will develop based on the project.
- The number of trainings completed, the concepts explored in those trainings, and the number of students completing each training
- The effectiveness of training techniques and topics using short feedback forms collected after each learning session
- Whether the students utilize any new production or marketing practices on the school farm as a result of learning opportunities
Year 2 - Year 3
In Year 2 and Year 3 of the project, while students are completing learning sessions and trainings, the project team will work with students to research and write their own marketing and environmental management plans for their cooperative farm enterprise. This exercise will teach students skills in critical thinking, business planning, and communication. These plans will become the scope of work for the implementation activities of the project.
In addition to the trainings discussed in Year 1 that will be repeated in Year 2 and Year 3, students will also complete in-depth trainings on other topics closely associated with direct agricultural marketing as determined by the project team and the market planning process. These trainings may include such topics as sales best practices or regulatory compliance. The project team will use their extensive networks to identify appropriate trainers for these topics.
Building on the foundation of knowledge and skills they have established through the project, students will use the marketing and environmental plans developed for the co-op as a scope of work to implement new or enhance existing marketing practices for their farm enterprise in Year 2 and Year 3.
The student co-op, along with Mr. Rhonemus, and with the assistance of Center staff and appropriate experts, will implement these plans in Year 3 and Year 4. The intentional exploration and planning process will determine the activities, ensuring that they are based on a solid foundation of information. Using their plans, students will create an implementation budget and scope of work using seed funding from this project. Seed funding will be used to purchase supplies and services for plan implementation. Because the detailed plans will be developed as a part of the project, specific supplies and services cannot be identified at this time, but may include such items as specialized packaging for meat products or greenhouse products, brand development services, or hosting fees for online management and markets. Students, with the help of project team members, will track these activities and associated financial information.
Students will complement their hands-on implementation activities with additional learning sessions with farmer and cooperative leaders and additional trainings in cooperative business management, as outlined previously. Additionally, students will complete an additional training in agricultural marketing concepts with the OSU Extension Direct Agricultural Marketing program, which will act as an introduction to new students entering the program and a refresher for students entering their second year with the cooperative.
Prior to the implementation phase of the project, the project team will gather baseline financial data from the school farm cooperative, including member investment, income statements, and balance sheets from the prior year. Throughout the project implementation, students and Mr. Rhonemus will collect information on costs and income for all implementation activities. At the close of the second and third years of the project, the project team will assess the economic viability of the farm and various marketing activities using indicators such as equity invested, profit generated, patronage refunds returned,
As with Year 1, at the close of Year 2, students will retake an assessment to track changes in their knowledge and attitudes. During Year 2, the project team will also measure the following items in order to assess outcomes and gather information for the toolkit that will be developed based on the project.
- The number of trainings completed, the concepts explored in those trainings, and the number of students completing each training
- The effectiveness of training techniques and topics using short feedback forms collected after each learning session
Year 3 - Year 4
In Year 3, students’ training in cooperative business management will continue, addressing new topics as students assess their implementation activities and make financial decisions for the farm business based on the impacts of those activities. For example, students may see revenue changes for the farm in Year 4 based on implementation activities undertaken in Years 3 and 4. These revenue changes would necessitate decision making about surplus allocation and distribution, which are important aspects of cooperative management.
Along with continuing marketing plan implementation, in Year 4, the project team will develop a toolkit that can be used to develop similar hands-on cooperative learning opportunities. The project team will gather tools and resources used throughout the project and will draft descriptions of activities completed as a part of the project. As appropriate and available, team members will analyze changes in student knowledge and attitudes from pre and post surveys, will aggregate and analyze feedback from learning sessions, and will review learning impacts with Mr. Rhonemus. These impacts will be incorporated into the toolkit as appropriate. Team members will analyze financial outcomes of marketing activities implemented during this project, including revenue generated and costs incurred, and any changes in the enterprise’s overall financial health. Results of these analyses will be included in the toolkit as appropriate. The project team will engage a graphic design service to format and package the toolkit in a visually appealing and accessible manner that will be available in a digital format. The digital toolkit will be made available through the OSU CFAES Center for Cooperatives webpage as well as to NCR-SARE for inclusion with resources on that webpage. Due to shifts in the implementation of marketing and environmental plans, the digital toolkit is expected to be released in late summer or early fall in Year 4 of the project.
As the toolkit is developed and outcomes assessed, the project team will work with students to propose, develop, and present outreach presentations in Year 4 as discussed in the Outreach section of this proposal. Finally, at the suggestion of Mr. Rhonemus, students will plan and execute a field night to share the practices they have implemented on the farm, including sustainable marketing and production techniques, with community members.
In Year 4, the project team will track the number of individuals reached by in-person outreach activities and the number of times the digital toolkit is accessed online following release. Team members will also gather evaluations at in-person presentations based on the NCR-SARE Research and Education Program Outreach Survey.
A major component of the project was increasing students’ knowledge of the cooperative business model, agribusiness marketing, and sustainable agricultural production. The project included 5 learning sessions with agricultural producers or production-related subject matter experts, 12 learning sessions about agribusiness marketing topics or environmental management, and 15 learning sessions focused on the co-op model or cooperative management/governance. Over the life of the project, 123 students were enrolled in the Agribusiness Management program at Ohio Valley Career & Technical Center a shown in the table below, with varying levels of engagement with project activities and the student-led cooperative.
|
School Year |
Students |
|
2019-2020 |
19 |
|
2020-2021 |
29 |
|
2021-2022 |
31 |
|
2022-2023 |
23 |
|
2023-2024 |
21 |
Table 1. Student figures by year.
Originally, project partners anticipated using student “knowledge” assessments to measure students’ knowledge of the cooperative model, agribusiness management, and other project concepts to measure the impact of learning activities. However, challenges with collecting anonymous assessments after a complete school year, particularly due to the need to complete all project activities virtually during the pandemic, made this approach infeasible. Students were still asked to provide their feedback about learning opportunities following a portion of learning sessions. The table below presents a summary of student feedback data from learning sessions.
|
The educational materials and content helped me better understand the issue surrounding the topic. |
The educational materials and content were easy to understand. |
The instructor related program content to real-life situations. |
The instructor presented information that will help me. |
|
|
Strongly agree |
63% |
54% |
54% |
51% |
|
Somewhat agree |
20% |
13% |
15% |
14% |
|
Neither agree nor disagree |
16% |
17% |
15% |
18% |
|
Somewhat disagree |
0% |
0% |
0% |
1% |
|
Strongly disagree |
0% |
0% |
0% |
0% |
Table 2. Select student feedback from a portion of project learning sessions (n=123).
Student qualitative feedback highlighted the importance of learning sessions that included hands-on or practical application of concepts, of collaboration or group activities, and the challenges that repetition of content created for student engagement. The following select statements from learning session feedback demonstrate such insights.
When asked about their favorite part of a learning session, students shared such select statements as:
- “I liked learning about how to run the board better and what we need to do to improve or help better our board.”
- “Talking about future plans.”
- “Discussion.”
- “[T]alking about everyday life situations.”
- “Working together with a group.”
- “Discussing why we believed the issues were relevant.”
When asked what advice students would give to make future sessions better, students shared such select statements as:
- “[W]e would do more partner activities.”
- “Listen to the experts and build on it.”
- “Make it more entertaining.”
When asked about their least favorite part of a learning session, students shared such select statements as:
- “Repetitive from previous sessions.”
- “The team activity.”
One of the unanticipated challenges with the learning and development activities in this project was the role that student matriculation played in continuity of learning and development activities. Some examples include developing the cooperative’s marketing plan, activities to implement marketing approaches, and developing co-op board skills. The nature of the OVCTC program is that students are enrolled in for two years. Thus, some learning activities were repeated so new students could build their foundational knowledge. However, this was repetitive and not as useful for returning students. Additionally, working within the timing of an academic year contributed to challenges these continuity challenges.
During the project period, annual financial reports for the school farm enterprise were collected with the goal of understanding financial impacts of project activities, and particularly marketing activities. Summary financial information for the enterprise is presented below. Although the trend in the farm’s net income over the life of the project is positive, additional information and analysis would be necessary to fully understand the impact that individual farm enterprises, and thus marketing activities, contributed to these trends. Additional data would be needed to conduct an enterprise analysis and could offer a future opportunity for development of the enterprise and the impact of certain production and/or marketing activities.
It should be noted that one of the challenges with fully understanding these trends, is the seasonal nature of the production cycles of the farm enterprise and the coinciding timing, or lack thereof, of marketing activities. For example, livestock production on the farm and resulting meat sales are seasonal and much of the meat sales activity occurs early in the calendar year. However, much of the promotion and marketing activity with the public and customers took place in the spring and subsequent months.
|
|
2020 |
2021 |
2022 |
2023 |
|
Gross Revenue |
$60,212.64 |
$81,568.27 |
$86,620.55 |
$101,636.83 |
|
Total Expenses |
$66,931.39 |
$68,159.71 |
$74,200.09 |
$62,491.52 |
|
Net Income |
$(6,718.75) |
$13,408.56 |
$12,420.46 |
$39,145.31 |
Table 3. Summary of farm enterprise data over the project period.
As discussed in the project activities section of the report, various marketing and promotion activities were developed, purchased, and utilized as a part of this project. Some of these materials were free and others had a cost. The total expenses for marketing materials were $10,762.
Although Mr. Rhonemus and students worked with a local Extension professional and USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service to develop an NRCS conservation plan as part of this project, Mr. Rhonemus reports that they have not made changes to production practices based on this plan as of this writing. One unanticipated challenge associated with development of the conservation plan was the school farm’s status with USDA as an institutionally based program. Educators considering a similar approach at their school or other institutions may need to consider and navigate similar issues.
Mr. Rhonemus, the instructor at OVCTC, summarized his view on the project activities that had the greatest impact for student learning as those activities that were hands-on and collaborative. He explained that when students could interact directly with hands-on materials or work together, or in connection with an expert, those were the best learning activities of the project. Christie Welch, the project partner who worked with students to learn about agribusiness marketing and develop their marketing plan, felt it was highly beneficial for students to go from conceptual learning to doing by developing their own plan to implementation activities where they could see and hold marketing materials to apply the concepts they first learned. If others developing similar student-led co-op approaches have the ability to dedicate at least some resources to tangible products, project partners think this would be beneficial.
Based on this feedback, those considering a similar approach to growing new or young cooperator farmers should consider a continuous “learning and doing” approach. The toolkit developed as a part of this project was organized with such an approach – it is split into two sections: “learn” and “develop and do.” Depending on the structure of other student cooperative approaches, more continuity could be built into activities with additional planning or alternative timing than a school year (such as activities affiliated non-school based groups).
The school farm at OVCTC offers a unique learning laboratory that few other schools or community organizations working with youth may be able to access feasibly. However, Mr. Rhonemus shared following the project that he would encourage other educators to consider ways they can implement cooperative approaches with various types of activities, like FFA Supervised Agricultural Experience (SAE) projects where students simply build more collaborative approaches. Project partners worked to draft the “Student Cooperative Start-Up Toolkit: A Guide to Creating Your Own Student-Led Agricultural Co-op,” in a way that considered programs or groups with varying resource levels.
One of the key pieces of feedback Mr. Rhonemus shared following all project activities was the importance for others interested in similar models to realistically understand the time and capacity needed for such an approach and to develop relationships with local resource partners and subject matter experts. As Mr. Rhonemus reported, coordination of varying partners is difficult, but there are a variety of service providers who could help with a student-led cooperative approach. The “Student Cooperative Start-Up Toolkit: A Guide to Creating Your Own Student-Led Agricultural Co-op,” developed as part of this project includes the kinds of resources providers that may offer helpful subject matter expertise and online links to help locate those providers.
Education
Student education is a major component of this project. Project partners are focused on developing learning opportunities that allow students to gain knowledge based on the real-world expertise of industry experts. Learning opportunities, which include sessions led by university experts and industry stakeholders, are focused on topics that are relevant and directly applicable to the students’ farm enterprise. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the team had to alter training plans to convert many activities to virtual formats in compliance with state, local, University, and school district requirements while such restrictions applied. As such restrictions lifted, activities transitioned back to in-person approaches. Project team members have focused on making educational sessions as engaging as possible, regardless of their format.
Project Activities
Educational & Outreach Activities
Participation Summary:
The project was featured in an article in the OSU South Centers Connections newsletter, "Center for Cooperatives kicks off 3-year student cooperative project," released January 23, 2020. The article can be found on pages 22 and 23 of the newsletter. This newsletter is shared by direct email with a list of OSU South Centers stakeholders and is hosted online for public access on the OSU South Centers website.
On April 16, 2021, the project was featured in an email newsletter/update from the CFAES Center for Cooperatives. The article featured the hands-on meat processing learning sessions conducted by Ohio State Meat Extension Specialist, Dr. Lyda Garcia as a part of the project. The newsletter is shared by direct email with a list of approximately 815 stakeholders across the state and region.
A staff member of the CFAES Center for Cooperatives presented, "First steps toward forming a youth-led cooperative for a school farm, greenhouse, or other enterprise,” at the 2021 Ohio Farm Science Review hosted by the Ohio State College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences. While the session was not completely focused on the project, it did include information about and learnings from the project. One agriculture educator participated in the program.
In early 2023, two of the project’s collaborators shared brief information about the project and their role with stakeholders. Hannah Scott, CFAES Center for Cooperatives Program Director shared brief comments about the project at a small gathering of cooperative educators at the 2023 National Council of Farmer Cooperatives annual meeting.
On August 17, 2023, two student leaders from the OVCTC Agribusiness Co-op and Mr. Luke Rhonemus shared their work to develop a student-run cooperative and grow the co-op’s farm enterprise with the staff of elected officials serving across Ohio as part of a “Congressional Assistants Tour” hosted by the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES) at Ohio State University South Centers as well as staff members of both OSU South Centers and other parts of CFAES. In addition to Mr. Rhonemus and the student leaders, approximately 60 attendees participated in the event.
On October 24, 2023, the project team hosted the “OVCTC Agribusiness Co-op Field Night” at Ohio Valley Career Technical Center for attendees to “learn about OVCTC’s Agribusiness Cooperative and School Farm, including touring the farm to see how students are growing their marketing and sustainable management.” The evening included a meal for attendees prepared by the Culinary Arts program at Ohio Valley CTC, a presentation by student leaders about their cooperative approach and efforts to market the school farm and their products, as well as a tour of the school farm operation. OSU team members had an informational table as part of the event and provided attendees with hard copy and digital education materials about cooperative farming frameworks, information about conversation planning with USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, and marketing locally raised meat products.
The field night engaged 26 attendees and 14 students and project team members/support staff from five counties in southern Ohio. Attendees included students/educators, community members/farmers, and other service providers. Of the attendees providing demographic information: 1 was Hispanic or Latino and 12 were not Hispanic or Latino; 12 were white and 1 was two or more races; 7 were female and 6 were male; 1 was a veteran and 12 were not a veteran; 1 had a disability and 12 did not have a disability; 4 were under age 29, 6 were between age 30-49, and 3 were 50 years old or older.
Of 14 attendees providing evaluation feedback, 11 indicated they had no knowledge or some knowledge of the information presented in the program before the program while 3 were fairly knowledgeable or very knowledgeable. On a 5-point Likert Scale, this represented an average level of 2.14 (or some knowledge) before the program. After the program, 4 attendees indicated they were fairly knowledgeable while 10 attendees indicated they were very or extremely knowledgeable, representing an average level of 3.93 (or fairly/very knowledgeable). All 14 attendees providing evaluation feedback rated the program as “excellent” and 12 indicated they would “definitely” use the information presented in the program with another attendee indicating they would “probably” use the information.
On November 8, 2023, Hannah Scott recorded a telecast program as part of an initiative of the OSU South Centers focused on the student led cooperative model, including a discussion of the ways that educators could help agriculture students learn about cooperatives, what student-led cooperatives are, and how to connect with the Center to learn more about the model, which was being further developed as part of this project. The video telecast was shared via a digital newsletter/email update from the CFAES Center for Cooperatives in December 2023 and is also housed along with an article about the approach and project at Ohio Valley CTC on the CFAES Center for Cooperatives blog website, Collaboration Nation. An article highlighting the project called “SARE Project Helps Student Co-op Market Products” was also published in the CFAES Center for Cooperatives on July 10, 2023. The CFAES Center for Cooperatives newsletter/email updates are shared by direct email with a list of approximately 830 stakeholders across the state and region as of this writing.
Project team member Christie Welch wrote an article highlighting the project, “What ARE they teaching kids these days? At the OVCTC, a lot” that was published in the OSU South Centers Connections Newsletter Fall 2023. The article can be found on pages 9-10 of the newsletter. This newsletter is shared by direct email and is hosted online for public access on the OSU South Centers website.
Finally, the primary outreach component of this project was a digital toolkit to help others interested in developing their own agricultural student-led cooperative based on the learnings of the project. The toolkit called, “Student Cooperative Start-Up Toolkit: A Guide to Creating Your Own Student-Led Agricultural Co-op,” was developed by Hannah Scott, Christie Welch, and Bradford Sherman and is discussed further in the report under “Project Outcomes.” A copy of the digital toolkit is also shared in this report.
Learning Outcomes
- Sustainable livestock production
- Environmental management practices
- Soil erosion reduction
- Cooperative finance
- Cooperative governance
- Cooperative management roles and responsibilities
- Cooperative business model
- Agribusiness marketing (product pricing, understanding target consumers, etc.)
- Agribusiness marketing planning
- Agribusiness marketing costs
Project Outcomes
Following the close of the project period, the CFAES Center for Cooperatives shared a direct email update with its email list of approximately 830 stakeholders about the availability of the “Student Cooperative Start-Up Toolkit: A Guide to Creating Your Own Student-Led Agricultural Co-op.” Following this email, the Center had the opportunity to share the resource as part of a session at the College Conference on Cooperatives in Minneapolis, Minnesota, with students and attendees from around the country. Dr. Tom Worley, Director of the CFAES Center for Cooperatives attended the conference and shared the resource in person.
The CFAES Center for Cooperatives connected in the fall of 2023 with a county Soil and Water Conservation District in eastern Ohio who plans to help develop agriculture education programs at their local high schools that include high tunnel production components. A goal of the initiative will be to develop a multi-program cooperative with elements of marketing and student leadership. Center staff plan to provide support to the initiative and have shared the “Student Cooperative Start-Up Toolkit: A Guide to Creating Your Own Student-Led Agricultural Co-op,” as a useful starting point for the work.
2023
The major focus areas for the project in 2023 were marketing plan implementation, outreach, and development of a digital toolkit for others interested in creating a student-led cooperative in agriculture. As discussed in the Project Activities section of the report, marketing plan implementation included development, selection, and dissemination of marketing and promotional materials to help the student-led cooperative enterprise build customer and public awareness. The original goal of the project had been to measure how these activities translated to revenue or other financial changes for the enterprise, which are discussed further in the Results/Discussion and Conclusions sections of this report.
In December 2023, Hannah Scott, Christie Welch, and Bradford Sherman, developed and released the “Student Cooperative Start-Up Toolkit: A Guide to Creating Your Own Student-Led Agricultural Co-op,” as a key outcome of this project. The digital toolkit, which is publicly available on the OSU South Centers website as well as the CFAES Center for Cooperatives website and Collaboration Nation blog includes two major sections focused on “learning” and “developing and doing,” as discussed in the Results/Discussion and Conclusions section of this report. The toolkit is approximately 20 pages of content that shares 13 learning activity ideas about cooperatives, agricultural marketing, and sustainable production and 10 ideas or approaches to “developing and doing” to create a strong student-led agricultural cooperative enterprise. Of pride to the authors is that embedded in the toolkit are about 15-18 Ohio State University South Centers developed resources and tools as well as about 5 external public resources, including videos, worksheets, presentations, and publications that can help support the activities and approaches shared in the toolkit.
Team Transition
In the spring of 2023, a key collaborator who had been assisting locally with the project transitioned to a new role and was no longer available to support project activities. This created challenges related to time and capacity to assist with marketing plan implementation and outreach activities. Rather than bring on a new collaborator at such a late point in the project, current collaborators focused on key project efforts. As discussed in the Conclusions section of this report, key considerations in development of a similar approach should include the capacity of key stakeholders and the ability to engage local subject matter experts and supporters.
2022 Progress
In 2022, the project team continued to provide educational activities for students in the school farm cooperative, particularly new students joining the program and new to the school farm co-op. As detailed in the “Project Activities” section, students were trained in cooperative business and agribusiness marketing topics including: cooperative business model, effective cooperative governance, and basic agribusiness marketing concepts.
In the spring of 2022, the project team collaborated to complete final reviews of the school farm cooperative marketing plan and environmental plan.
The marketing plan, which totals approximately 10 pages, identified areas for growth and improvement to help students meet their overall business goals of teaching students how to raise their own agricultural products while successfully marketing them. For example, students identified working with a branding professional to develop a logo and branding materials for the school farm that could be utilized on product labels, online platforms, and promotional items as an opportunity for improvement. Students identified basic marketing strategies like using Facebook and radio. The marketing plan identifies target customer groups, sales outlets, competitive advantages for the enterprise, and measures of success relative to marketing strategies, among other key areas of consideration. The plan was reviewed by Christie Welch, Direct Food and Agricultural Marketing Specialist with OSU Extension who is a member of the project team. Following finalization of the plan, Ms. Welch, Mr. Rhonemus, and other team members helped to identify strategies and steps for implementation of the plan. Key implementation activities in 2022 included engagement of a branding professional to develop a logo and branding assets and beginning work on a website, as discussed below.
Mr. Richard Purdin, the Agriculture and Natural Resources/Community Development educator with OSU Extension in Adams County, Ohio assisted Mr. Rhonemus and students to complete an environmental plan for the school farm with assistance from the local USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service conservationist. The plan is intended to assist Mr. Rhonemus and students to identify areas for improving their environmental practices on the farm. As a part of this review, Mr. Purdin and Mr. Rhonemus have been exploring the school farm’s eligibility for conservation programming and resources such as the NRCS EQIP program.
Market Plan Implementation Activities
In the spring of 2022, the project team identified a branding and marketing consultant to help develop a logo and branding assets for the school farm cooperative, a key step in implementing the marketing plan discussed above. Prior to this, the program had a single, low quality digital file of a logo they used for their school program. The team worked with the consultant to develop a scope of work, gather input from students and Mr. Rhonemus, and review assets once developed. In August 2022, the consultant provided an approximately 7-page brand identity summary for the school farm co-op, detailing tips for using new branding assets developed by the consultant, including a primary and secondary logos in various color schemes and high-quality digital formats, icons, patterns, and recommendations for color palettes and fonts.
In the summer of 2022, Mr. Rhonemus connected with a local community member with a professional background in agribusiness marketing, including online marketing. The individual volunteered to assist the school farm cooperative to develop a website, including a visit to the classroom to begin this process on September 26, 2022. The website will utilize the school farm cooperative’s new branding assets.
As the project continues in Year 4, the team will continue to identify and carry out implementation activities relating to marketing as identified in the marketing plan.
Team Transition
In late-February 2022, a key team member helping to lead this project left her role and transitioned to a new position, which removed her from this project. The project’s collaborators and leaders worked in the spring of 2022 to transition project activities and key team members to ensure continuity and progress on the project. Mr. Richard Purdin, the Agriculture and Natural Resources/Community Development Educator with OSU Extension in the county where the Ohio Valley Career & Technical Center and school farm is located joined the project as a key collaborator.
As discussed previously, project team experienced challenges with gathering information on learning outcomes of educational activities of the project due to lengthy periods between information collection and effective ways of gather feedback. As the project team moves into assessment of activities and development of the toolkit deliverable for the project in 2023, the team will explore alternative ways of gathering project impact information.
2021 Progress
In total, students engaged in 15 learning sessions from January – December 2021. Evaluations of these activities were collected on an ongoing basis. Students were trained in various topics in cooperative business, agribusiness marketing, and relevant agricultural production and management areas, including among others:
- Cooperative business model and management
-
- Cooperative roles and responsibilities
- Cooperative governance
- Agribusiness marketing and sales
- Agribusiness marketing planning
- Sales, including prospecting, selling, and customer service
- Sustainable farm management
- Rotational grazing and forage management
- Soil erosion reduction
As in 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic and shifts to the project due to changes in 2020 continued to impact the project. Some of the originally planned Year 2 activities had to be delayed due to the continued-Covid 19 pandemic, with some planned speakers – especially those from government entities – unable to travel. During times when the school would be closed, the student’s instructor advised waiting until activities could be done in-person rather than virtually, due to lack of student engagement in online activities and a lack of adequate internet access at home for several students. Once our team was once again permitted in-person access to the school, program activities were held that engaged students in meaningful ways and project team members made periodic visits to the classroom to encourage students to continue work on the marketing plan, answer any questions, and serve as a resource.
A staff member with the CFAES Center for Cooperatives worked with students during the 2021 project year to develop a marketing plan to improve the marketing operations of the school farm enterprise. The plan is currently being reviewed by the Direct Food & Agriculture Marketing Specialist with OSU Extension prior to implementation.
In early 2022, students began developing the environmental plan for improving resource management on the school farm in conjunction with a OSU Extension Agriculture & Natural Resource Educator who has joined as a collaborator on the project. The plan will inform future resource management decisions in the operation.
Project team members gathered baseline financial data from the Ohio Valley Career & Technical Center school farm for 2020 and 2021. This information will provide a baseline to measure impact of the implementation of the marketing and environmental plans. Prior to the implementation of the marketing and environmental plans, team members will develop a baseline balance sheet for the school farm. Financial information will be tracked throughout the implementation phase of the project.
The project team is currently actively planning for the implementation phase of the marketing and environmental plans in line with updates to the project timeline based no an approved no-cost extension through October 2023.
The project team experienced challenges with gathering information on learning outcomes of the educational activities of the project due to lengthy periods between information collection, challenges with the effectiveness of online platforms, and other factors. The project team will reassess how and when evaluations and information are collected to inform assessment of learning outcomes and make changes to as needed.
2020 Progress
During the first year of the project, team members hosted various educational sessions with students training them on the following topics, among others:
- Cooperative business model and management
-
- Cooperative roles and responsibilities
- Cooperative finance
- Cooperative governance
- Agribusiness marketing
- Agribusiness marketing planning
- Agribusiness marketing costs
- General agribusiness marketing concepts
- Sustainable farm management
- Rotational grazing and forage management
- Soil erosion reduction
In total, students engaged in 12 learning sessions from the beginning of the project through December 2020.
Students also completed a general pre-project survey and pre-tests to assess their knowledge of the topics listed above. Students completed a post-test for the cooperative business model and marketing topics following the end of the 2019-2020 school year in the summer of 2020. Project team members will assess this data to understand changes in student’s knowledge.
Project team members gathered baseline financial data from the Ohio Valley Career & Technical Center school farm. Project team members reviewed and categorized the farm’s income and expenses for 2019. Prior to the implementation of the marketing and environmental plans, team members will develop a baseline balance sheet for the school farm. Financial information will then be tracked throughout the implementation phase of this project to measure changes in the financial situation of the farm.
Some of the activities planned for Year 1 have been delayed to Year 2 due to delays caused by the COVID-19 public health emergency. Specifically, the development of the marketing and environmental plans will take place in Year 2 and Year 3 with implementation occurring in Year 3 and Year 4. Additionally, the ability to engage outside speakers was limited, so the cooperative leader trainings and farmer training sessions. Finally, the specialized consultation in marketing was delayed and will now take place in Year 2 and 3 as students develop and implement their marketing and environmental plans.