Sustainable production and marketing using the cooperative model for a student-managed school farm cooperative

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.