Regional food infrastructure network

Regional food infrastructure network

Summary

The Regional Food Infrastructure Project will assist livestock farmers in the development of value-added products and direct marketing opportunities. Utilizing the information collected during the research phase of this project, PASA will establish working groups, consisting of farmers, agricultural, and economic development specialists to develop business plans. PASA and its cooperators will provide on-going networking, consulting, and educational opportunities for farms developing products, creating direct marketing opportunities and seeking financing. We will also evaluate the successes of both our engagement activities and meat sales at marketing outlets.

In 2008, PASA began assembling the working groups, identifying farmers and operations interested in developing business plans for value-added processing, and also developed a protocol for effectively evaluating an existing farm enterprise. Two pilot studies were conducted to test the protocol and evaluate businesses that sought to create value-added livestock products. The protocol is now being prepared to be sent to the working group for further evaluation and amendment before launching the final outreach phase of the project.

A strong need for education around ‘record keeping’ has been identified as a critical component to the farmers use of the business plans that are produced under this grant into the future. We are currently forming partnerships within the working group to provide this education as part of the business planning process.

Objectives/Performance Targets

Working from our past experience, our role will be to establish the working groups, work with the farmers, agricultural and economic development specialists to develop business plans, and provide on-going networking, consulting, and educational opportunities for farms developing products, direct marketing opportunities and seeking financing. We will also evaluate both the successes of our engagement activities and sales at marketing outlets.

Task 1. Establish working groups. Host 8 regional meetings with advisory committee members, livestock farmers, businesses and community members and engage working group by June 2007. This task was completed in 2007.

Task 2. Develop business plans. Work with farmers and advisors to establish business plans for 20 farms by August 2008. This task is currently underway. Protocol testing and farmer availability during the growing season presented a significant hurdle to completing this task.

Task 3. Design and implement networking and learning opportunities for livestock farmers and potential buyers. These 3 events will feature livestock farmers, processors, and meat buyers and allow livestock farmers in the working groups to learn how successful relationships are formed. This will take place from December 2007 to November 2008. One of Three events has currently been hosted, a second event is scheduled to occur at the Farming for the Future conference in February of 2009. The third event will be hosted in the spring of 2009 and will feature additional opportunities for sales and marketing of new products during the 2009 growing season.

Task 4. Provide technical assistance. We hope to provide assistance to participants from their first deliveries and orders up to the point when 10 farmers have opened new markets by selling at least $20,000 of their products at 5 marketing outlets. This task will begin in December 2008 and end in December 2009.

Task 5. Evaluation. After each business plan and networking meeting, we will provide evaluation forms where we ask for feedback about the events. Additional evaluation will take place during the technical assistance period. We will track how many farmers sold at least $5,000 of their products, total amount of sales to the marketing outlets, how many farmers and buyers participated, and who tried but failed. This task will be completed by January 2010.

Performance Target: Of the 3,000 farmers who learn about the project, 10 of those will open new markets by selling at least $20,000 of their value-added meat products at 5 marketing outlets by 2009. This target has not been met at this time, but it is anticipated to be met during the 2009 growing season.

Accomplishments/Milestones

3000 farmers have learned about the project through newsletters, press releases and farmer surveys.

300 farmers have contacted us and explained their interest in adding value to their farm products.

170 farmers have agreed to participate in the project and attend regional meetings to discuss value-added opportunities. Of these 170, 75 farmers will be livestock farmers.

40 livestock farmers have agreed to participate in working groups to develop product ideas, identify processing facilities and distribution outlets. Of these 40, 20 have been identified to develop business plans.

To date, 2 farms have successfully completed the pilot protocol and have begun the business planning process.

Impacts and Contributions/Outcomes

Presently, the most valuable outcome has been farmer education and awareness that has been developed around the importance of business planning. Given this economic climate, farmers have welcomed the opportunity to learn more about their businesses performance and how to effectively continue monitoring progress over time.

Our working group partners have expressed a strong interest in more collaborative ventures and partnerships which will result in a greater impact of the Regional Food Infrastructure Network. Through the working group, we have been able to connect to several other states in the Northeast and Midwestern United States that are currently engaged in similar business planning activities. Communication channels have been opened and PASA is currently being positioned to assist in bridging the information from these innovative efforts to the farmers in Pennsylvania and the surrounding states.

Collaborators: