Binghamton Farm Share capacity building project

View the project final report

• 2015 annual report
• 2016 annual report

Commodities

• Fruits: melons
• Vegetables: artichokes, asparagus, beets, broccoli, cabbages, carrots, cauliflower, celery, cucurbits, eggplant, garlic, greens (leafy), leeks, onions, peas (culinary), peppers, radishes (culinary), rutabagas, sweet corn, tomatoes, turnips, brussel sprouts
• Additional Plants: herbs

Practices

• Education and Training: participatory research, workshop
• Farm Business Management: community-supported agriculture, marketing management, market study
• Sustainable Communities: local and regional food systems, community services, social networks, community development

Farmers in the Binghamton region are interested in expanding their direct to consumer sales to increase revenues. Fortunately, area consumers are increasingly interested in buying direct from producers. However, the traditional models for direct sales (CSAs, farmers’ markets, and farm stands) have not been as successful in serving the moderate and low income market in the area as compared to other regions. Given that the median household income in the City of Binghamton (the population center of South Central New York) is only $30,179, farmers in the area need a new model to gain access to a significant portion of the consumer market. Binghamton Farm Share (BFS) was created to address this need while also improving access to affordable, healthy foods in underserved neighborhoods. In the program’s second year of operation (2014), we have seen distinct challenges for some producers in meeting demand while maintaining a high level of quality.  

The goal of the Binghamton Farm Share Capacity Building Project is to further refine and expand Binghamton Farm Share to create a sustainable model that will continue to support area farmers in the long term and so that the model can be used in other regions. We will develop educational materials for consumers to improve customer retention, and we will provide technical assistance to farmers to help them meet the program’s growing demand for shares. Specifically, we will help producers develop stronger marketing skills, improve quality control, and address other challenges that they have identified.

• Question: How can we build a model for increasing direct sales in a low income area to support a more financially and environmentally sustainable local food system?
  

  1. Objective: Support BFS as it matures into a sustainable program that can best serve area CSA farms and provide a model for other communities
  2. Objective: Develop universal educational materials for customers to improve customer satisfaction and retention

• Question: How can we build the capacity of our local farming community to meet the increasing demand for local produce from a lower income demographic?
  

  1. Objective: Provide technical assistance that will improve producers’ marketing skills, quality control systems, share packing efficiency, and address other challenges
  2. Objective: Recruit additional producers to participate in BFS

PROJECT METHODS

In order to track our success toward achieving our objectives for this project, we will be tracking the following measurements through the outlined methods:

1. Increased sales: Our goal is to increase BFS sales by 30% in 2015 and 25% in 2016. We track this through detailed sales records kept in a customized Microsoft Access database. We know how many shares were sold each week of the season from each farm to what customers using which payment method.
2. Program sustainability: To make BFS sustainable and effective for farmers in the long run, we aim to reduce the overhead costs for delivering the program by increasing volunteer staffing of distribution sites and to reduce reliance on grant funds by increasing program income and building a dedicated donor base. We have worked with partner farms in the past and will continue to work with them in the future to identify creative ways to fund the operational costs of the program (i.e. encouraging early sign up customers to pay the full cost of their share and donate the early sign up discount portion to BFS). We anticipate generating $3,000+ in program income in 2015 from $1-$2 fees added to the cost of shares, depending on the cost of the share.  In our four year report (see question #6) we will provide an analysis of our progress toward these goals and share best practices.
3. Improved quality control: We will develop a quality control tracking system for the program that allows us to better track customer complaints over the season. We will work with partner farms to pinpoint sources of quality issues and to correct those problems through technical assistance. From experience to date, quality control problems arise primarily during packing and transport. We will compare the number and types of customer complaints and farmer feedback over the 2015 and 2016 seasons to track our progress.
4. Farmers increase knowledge of different marketing techniques: The majority of our partner farms have identified marketing as a specific challenge that they would like address through technical assistance. We will contract with Cornell Cooperative Extension of Broome County (CCE-BC) to provide trainings on using social media, developing CSA newsletters, creating print materials, and any other types of marketing materials requested by partner farms. CCE-BC will develop a pre and post survey for those who take the trainings to evaluate the success of the trainings.
5. Farmers are provided with other technical assistance trainings as needed: In addition to marketing and quality control trainings, other technical assistance needs identified by partner farms include: improving efficiency, refining produce selections for shares, and addressing labor needs. We anticipate that other needs may be identified over the course of the project. We will contract with CCE-BC to provide these trainings (up to a total of 7 over the course of the project, including the trainings on quality control and marketing), and CCE-BC will develop a pre and post survey for those who take the trainings to evaluate the success of the trainings.
6. Overall customer satisfaction, knowledge, and retention: This is important to developing a program that will be sustainable in the long term and that will provide the greatest benefit to our partner farms. Losing customers midseason can make it less cost effective for farms to deliver to Binghamton and also increases program costs due to the need to continue recruiting all season, which makes the program less cost effective and sustainable. Customer retention in the 2013 season was around 40%, but we have increased that to 60% in 2014. We will develop new, universal educational materials for CSA customers that will help customers to get the greatest value out of their share and to address educational needs identified by customers and farmers. Purchasing produce through a CSA and eating seasonally is a new concept for most consumers, and we can increase customer retention by providing customers with the information they need to make the most of their share so that the CSA option also becomes the most cost effective option for customers. We conduct pre and post surveys with customers and will continue to do so in the future to further improve the program.

We will provide participating farms with a stipend of $100 per season, which will be paid in September each year, to help defray the cost of travel to trainings. We will provide up to $300 to each farm over the life of the grant to help incentivize the implementation of the ideas generated through technical assistance trainings. Partner farms will need to develop brief proposals and will sign agreements outlining the allowed use of the funds.

VINES and CCE-BC staff will conduct 1-2 visits to each partner farm over the season to develop stronger relationships with the farmers and to learn more about farm operations in order to best customize technical assistance trainings.

PROJECT TIMETABLE

March 2015:
• Drafting contract with CCE-BC
• Convene team of VINES, United Way, and CCE-BC staff to begin scheduling trainings and ensure that data tracking systems are in place.
April-May 2015:
• Contract with CCE-BC is finalized
• 1-2 Technical Assistance trainings for partner farms are held
• BFS sign-ups begin for customers
• Educational materials for customers are designed
June-September 2015:
• Customer pre-surveys are collected
• 1 on-farm training for partner farms is held
• Educational materials for customers are distributed
• VINES/CCE-BC farm visits conducted
October-November 2015:
• Customer post-surveys are collected and analyzed
• Post season meeting is held with partner farms to debrief on the season, provide feedback from customer surveys, and discuss opportunities for improvement
November 2015-April 2016:
• 2-3 Technical Assistance trainings for partner farms are held
• Presentation made at NOFA-NY Winter Conference
• Yearly program report posted on VINES website
• Article published in Cornell Small Farms Quarterly Newsletter
April-May 2015:
• Educational materials for customers are refined
• BFS sign-ups begin for customers
June-September 2016:
• Customer pre-surveys are collected
• 1 on-farm training for partner farms is held
• Educational materials for customers are distributed
• VINES/CCE-BC farm visits conducted
October-December 2016:
• Customer post-surveys are collected and analyzed
• Post season meeting is held with partner farms to debrief on the season, provide feedback from customer surveys, and discuss opportunities for improvement
• Article published in Cornell Small Farms Quarterly Newsletter
• Yearly program report posted on VINES website
• Four year program report posted on VINES website

DISSEMINATING PROJECT RESULTS

We will share our project results and resources through the following ways:
1. A presentation at the 2016 New York National Organic Farming Association Winter Conference by VINES staff and 1-2 BFS participating farms (pending approval of presentation) and at other appropriate conferences, for example the Empire State Fruit and Vegetable Expo, North East Sustainable Agriculture Working Group Conference, or the Food and Health Network’s Growing Health Conference.
2. 2-3 articles in the Cornell Small Farms Quarterly publication, NOFA NY’s quarterly news magazine, and/or Edible Fingerlakes.
3. Universal educational materials for CSA customers made available on VINES’ website.
4. Yearly program evaluation reports made available on VINES’ website.
5. A program report at the end of year four (2016) providing an overview of the program, challenges and successes, and best practice tips for producers. The audience for this publication will be producers and organizations looking to replicate BFS, and it will be made available on VINES’ website