Enhancing Cooperative Extension capacity to support the advancement of adding value and direct marketing by farmers in the Northeast

Enhancing Cooperative Extension capacity to support the advancement of adding value and direct marketing by farmers in the Northeast

Summary

Once a summer venture, direct marketing of farm-fresh products has now become a year-round activity. In November 2012, USDA Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan announced a 52% increase in winter farmers’ markets (i.e., those with year-round operation), citing advancement from 1,225 such establishments in 2011 to 1,864 in 2012. Participating in the national trend were four NE Region states (New York, Maryland, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania)– listed among the 2012 top ten states for numbers of winter farmers markets. By expanding their operation between November and March, these direct marketing venues both support the increased interest in buying fresh, buying locally, and bolster a consumer reliance on farm-fresh products beyond the traditional “growing season.”

Even though the increasing demand signals opportunity for farmers, setting up an enterprise to direct market and/or add value to their farm-fresh products presents a challenge. Many farmers – who may be very skilled at growing and harvesting a variety of products – need to gain education in food safety, marketing and pricing, and risk mitigation, to effectively launch and grow a food venture.

Since 1992, Penn State Extension has offered a one-day workshop, “Food for Profit” (FFP), targeting farmers and local food entrepreneurs. At its most basic level, this class provides an overview of the many aspects of food business start-up and development, affording participants the opportunity to decide whether having such a venture is right for them. In 2011, a second one-day workshop, “Managing Risk for Food Businesses” (MRFB) was offered to compliment FFP, providing more comprehensive training about the unique risks of food businesses, and to respond to the increasing food safety regulation that impacts on even the smallest of ventures. Over the past two years, the demand for these workshops has grown dramatically – of the twenty-four sessions offered across Pennsylvania and Maryland, 19 were filled to capacity (average classroom limits run from 30 to 45), with active wait lists. There is also documented demand for these workshops in Tennessee, West Virginia and Vermont. To date, the largest limitation to more frequent class offerings has been the number of Extension personnel with the in-depth knowledge about food business start-up and management, to teach sessions and offer post-workshop individualized support; at present, there are five individuals across Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Maryland who have the depth of knowledge necessary to teach the classes.

To respond to this challenge, this project will make available professional development training for at least 23 Extension personnel and agricultural professionals in the target states of Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Maryland and Vermont. Using a suite of resources – the “Food for Profit On-line” course (a self-paced version of the workshop, partially funded through a NE SARE Sustainable Community grant), a series of webinars, and field trips to the facilities of successful direct-marketing farmers and food entrepreneurs – the project team will provide activities and education leading to trainees being certified to plan and deliver “Food for Profit” and “Managing Risk for Food Businesses” workshops in their communities and regions, as well as provide customized follow-on support to farmers.

Once personnel have been certified and empowered to deliver programming (in year two of the project), it is anticipated that at least twelve workshops will be taught; 135 farmers will attend these sessions, resulting in a minimum of 20 attendees starting a food venture and another 20 reporting adoption of at least one recommended risk management strategy. Additional impact targets are set for individuals who continue to research (but delay starting) a food venture and those who decide not to start a food business (having saved time and resources by redirecting their focus to another venture better suited to their person goals and needs).

Objectives/Performance Targets

During the first year of the project, the collaborative Pennsylvania, Maryland and West Virginia team will:

Distribute invitation letters and verbally recruit Extension and agricultural professionals who have (either through a previously-conducted needs assessment survey or by conversation) indicated interest in becoming certified to conduct “Food for Profit” workshops; this will lead to twenty-three people being selected for the training project.

Introduce trainees to the subject matter through an initial, welcome webinar and self-instruction by participation in the “Food for Profit On-line” course.

Plan and teach at least eight additional webinar sessions for all trainees, between February and July 2013; these sessions will be available synchronously (when delivered) and asynchronously (recordings available after the presentation) to accommodate trainee schedules. The topics covered will include entrepreneurial traits, regulations and inspections, farmstead-based versus commercial facility-based businesses, niche marketing strategies, packaging and labeling, pricing for break-even and profit, product liability and insurance, and proactive risk management.

Plan and conduct five field trips to farmstead and share-kitchen-based dairy, meat, fruit/vegetable and baked goods production enterprises and direct-marketing venues including farm markets, CSAs, and farm-to-institution ventures; these trips will take place from May to August 2013.

During the second year, the team will:

Develop and distribute sets of comprehensive teaching resources, including a set of “Food for Profit” fact sheets, food business plan workbooks, food risk management workbooks, and sets of the power point presentations and handouts for FFP and MRFB workshops.

Serve as mentors and guest presenters as the trainees apprentice, planning and delivering initial sessions of the FFP and MRFB workshops in their own communities; provide telephone, e-mail or in-person educational support for one-to-one sessions with farmers.

Offer on-going assistance to the trainees through an Internet site, on which will be posted actual documents and links to emerging reference and support materials (keeping them on the cutting edge of a quickly evolving marketplace).

During the third year, the team will:

Continue to support the trainees by providing updated information on the Internet site and serving as guest speakers/resource people for workshops and individualized counseling sessions.

Gather impact data related to:
• trainees’ activities (educational programs conducted and individual consultations with farmers and food entrepreneurs) and
• impact of the trainees’ activities (numbers of value-added businesses started and risk management strategies adopted; intent to start a business in the future and decisions NOT to start a business as a result of the educational assistance provided).

Accomplishments/Milestones

Upon notification of the award of the NE SARE Professional Development Program Grant, the collaborative team began to recruit their Extension peers and other agricultural professionals with whom they had had contact related to “Food for Profit” sessions. Many of the individuals reached had facilitated sessions of the workshop in the past, and were eager to be equipped to deliver the training themselves.

Throughout the fall, the project team met by telephone and email correspondence to review resources and build the timeline for activities. The team conducted an analysis of the pilot “Food for Profit On-line” class to determine any updates or changes necessary (this resource having been launched in September 2012). The team also identified areas beyond the content of the on-line class that will need to be covered by the webinars that will be made available to the trainees in 2013.

A letter of invitation and an on-line trainee application site (using the survey monkey application) were developed by the team leader and reviewed by the team for deployment in December/January.

An Adobe Connect classroom was created on-line to serve as the “home” for the webinars to be delivered in winter/spring 2013.

This work sets the stage for class recruitment in January/February 2013, so that webinars and other educational activities can commence on schedule, with a goal of preparing all trainees to begin actual program delivery to farmers in fall 2013/winter 2014.

Impacts and Contributions/Outcomes

In the six months after receiving the NE SARE Professional Development Program Grant, the tri-state project team has, as described above, reviewed the “Food for Profit On-line” course for use by trainees, identified additional topics to be addressed through webinars (and begun to identify guest speakers for some topics), and launched recruitment of Extension and other agricultural professionals.

In anticipation of the upcoming training sessions, a recruitment letter, a survey monkey application site, and an Adobe Connect classroom were created. The team begam compiling a list of hosts for the field trips (i.e., farmers who have successfully direct-marketed or added value; shared-kitchens, farmers’ markets, CSAs, etc.) with the goal of having the event schedule firm by mid-February 2013.

Upon request to expand this project to Tennessee, the project leader corresponded with applicable personnel in that state; one potential trainee from this alliance attended the “Food for Profit” workshop in Gettysburg PA in November to gain a better appreciation of the value of the professional development opportunity. This expansion will be funded by money provided by Tennessee (allowing NE SARE dollars to leverage additional support).

Collaborators: