Cultivating Cooperation: Building Capacity for Indiana's Collaborative Food and Farm Systems

Commodities

Practices

• Education and Training: farmer to farmer, networking, technical assistance, workshop
• Farm Business Management: agricultural finance, business planning, community-supported agriculture, cooperatives, land access, new enterprise development
• Sustainable Communities: leadership development, local and regional food systems, new business opportunities, public participation, social networks, values-based supply chains

Indiana's farmers and agricultural professionals are ready to advance shared ownership and collaborative business models across the food system but lack the technical assistance infrastructure to realize these goals. This project addresses this critical gap in technical knowledge by implementing a train-the-trainer model with 20-25 farmer leaders and food system professionals. By the project's end, this cohort will be equipped with proven curricula, practical tools, and deep expertise to support collaborative and cooperative development and integrate these ideas statewide.

This cohort will serve as a professional development model for agricultural professionals and farmer-leaders who are advancing collaborative farming solutions. These include educators, farmers actively developing collaborative projects, and technical assistance providers working directly with farmers.

Participants will complete a four-day, in-person intensive, attend a virtual training series, and co-host 3-5 field days featuring examples of collaborative farms and food businesses and projects. All cohort members will be trained as facilitators, gaining skills and materials to lead workshops, host field days, and offer technical assistance in their regions.

Additionally, Partners IN Food and Farming (PIFF), with support from the Indiana Cooperative Development Center (ICDC), will develop an online resource library including case studies, training materials, templates, and curated references for farmers and advisors.

Through regionally balanced recruitment, accessibility-centered engagement, peer support, and applied learning, this project ensures that Indiana food system professionals interested in collaborative farming models have access to skilled technical assistance and peer communities to successfully realize their goals.

• Collaborative Farming Development Curriculum

• • Development of a modular collaborative farming education curriculum and accompanying facilitator toolkit.

• Toolkit and Online Resource Library
  • Online Collaborative Farming Resource Library hosted on PIFF's website featuring a minimum of 30 curated resources including links, videos, a core set of templates for workshops, key definitions and foundational principles, and developed case studies based on existing collaborative farming projects in Indiana This resource will be maintained and updated regularly by PIFF staff as part of the organization's larger resource library

• Case Studies:
  • Develop 3-5 case studies of collaborative food and farming projects featured during field days. These case studies will include question and answers to a set list of questions relating to the project's governance model, structures, key lessons learned, successes and failures. These case studies will be included in the online resource library and will be distributed via social media to showcase peer learning and applied models of cooperation. They also serve to advertise these projects.

• Participation Targets

• • 20-25 trained facilitators completing full professional development
  • 3-5 field days hosted statewide reach 75+ non-cohort attendees
  • 10-12 cohort members apply these tools and knowledge in their role as trainers, mentors, or professionals engaged as speakers and resource providers within 1 year of completing the training

Recruitment outcomes are grounded in intentional outreach and selection strategy. The project's open call and targeted recruitment approach will ensure diverse representation across Indiana's regions, production scales, and professional sectors.