Small
Farms Update is intended as a resource for farmers and agricultural service
providers in New York, and is provided to you by Cornell’s Small Farms
Program. Our mission is to foster the sustainability of diverse, thriving small
farms that contribute to food security, healthy rural communities, and the environment.
Our work is made possible by a network of close partnerships among Cornell faculty
and staff, Cornell Cooperative Extension educators and staff, NYS agriculture
support agencies, non profit agriculture organizations and farmers.
Prefer to print out the update for easier reading? Download this month's Small Farms Update in Rich Text Format (RTF).
Small Farm Clusters in the Northeast: A Report on Research in Process
The SFQ Editorial Team is thrilled to announce that they will be joined by Laura Wollin-Wood of CCE-Broome County as the new Beginning Farmer Editor, and Gerard Monat of the Empire Farmer as the new Community/World Editor. A warm welcome to these two excellent additions to the team!
Last month we asked for your feedback on this monthly Small Farms Update. We really appreciate your responses and are glad to know that this is a useful publication for so many of you. As a result of your feedback, we will be pursuing better email formatting as well as adding direct links in the update to PDFs of articles from the Small Farm Quarterly.
As promised, we've selected 10 lucky respondents to win a free organic cotton "I Love Small Farms!" t-shirt. The winners are: Sharon Rader, Melissa Monty-Provost, Kathryn Evans, Karen Sullivan, James Alexander, Sharon Nagle, Sarah Watson, Jennifer Hashley, Lutie Batt, and Brian Luton. Congratulations and thank you to everyone who took the time to offer us your thoughts!
A new information and outreach center will provide support for farmers who are
increasing their sustainable practices to protect natural resources, enhance local economies, and improve farm viability. The Finger Lakes Sustainable Farming Center is an educational and applied research entity managed by Cornell Cooperative Extension in Ontario, Yates, and Seneca Counties. It has been established with a 3-year grant totaling more than $80,000 from the Director's Office of Cornell Cooperative Extension in Ithaca, NY.Sustainable agriculture is a system of cultivating land, harvesting and selling farm products, and enhancing rural land development in concert with community interests and environmental protection. Farms in the Finger Lakes region already practice good resource stewardship in the face of intense residential land development. Increased sustainability of local farms will protect water quality in the Finger Lakes, maintain the area's unique agriculture resources and tightly-knit communities, and
provide a dependable local food system for nearby cities like Rochester and Syracuse.The Finger Lakes Sustainable Farming Center will be a good resource for farm owners and anyone interested in agriculture issues. It will network Cornell University
faculty, CCE agriculture and natural resources specialists, and other collaborating organizations that are committed to developing sustainable principles and practices in the region. The six focal areas will be a farmer knowledge base, an online library of information, communications to residents and visitors, conferences, support for
progressive farmland preservation, and geographic information system (GIS)
applications around soil resources. Individuals and organizations should contact Jim Ochterski, Cornell Cooperative Extension of Ontario County, at (585) 394-3977 ext. 402, or jao14@cornell.edu for more information about the Center's upcoming activities.
The Small Farm Expo this Oct. 13-14 will have a sales board offering used equipment for sale by individuals. If you would like to post an ad, please supply an 8.5 x 11 page with description and picture(s) of what is for sale. Please include price and appropriate contact information and mail to:
Maire Ullrich, Cornell Cooperative Extension
1Asheley Ave.
Middletown NY 10940
or electronically to: mru2@cornell.edu
Questions? Call 845-344-1234The SF Expo organizers are also seeking farmers or other equipment gurus who would be willing to staff the table in 3-4 hour shifts to help potential buyers match the tool with the job. Please contact Maire Ullrich to volunteer.
Active farmers and producers are encouraged to use their agricultural knowledge and leadership to help the New York Farm Viability Institute (NYFVI) select proposals to fund under the Institute's grant programs. NYFVI seeks producers for the following grant application review panels: fruit, vegetables, livestock, dairy, organic dairy, green industry and field crops. Review panels are created as the volume of applications within that agricultural sector or commodity warrants them. Review panels will meet, in person or via phone conference, this fall. Applicants for review panels may be asked to participate in a selection interview. For more information about becoming a grant review panelist, contact New York Farm Viability Institute at (315) 453-3823.
NYFVI is a nonprofit, farmer-led organization that directs and funds research projects that result in increased profits on New York farms. The Institute supports projects that focus on business management, marketing, production issues, technology adoption, outreach education and more across the diverse agricultural sectors, farm sizes and production practices in the state.
Projects are selected through a competitive application process. Proposals are reviewed and ranked by active producers within the related agricultural sector, then brought before the board of directors for approval and funding amount decisions. The Institute's seven-member volunteer board of directors is comprised of active agricultural producers. All funded projects must include farmer participation in identifying needs, developing the project, implementing research or evaluation success.
Governor Eliot Spitzer announced in May that he has signed an executive order establishing a New York State Council on Food Policy. The Council will coordinate state agriculture policy and make recommendations on developing food policy that will help ensure the availability of safe, fresh, nutritious and affordable food for all New Yorkers, especially low income residents, senior citizens and children. The Council will look at ways to increase sales of New York agricultural products to New York consumers, with a special emphasis on expanding the consumer market for organic food.
"Ensuring that all New Yorkers have access to safe, fresh and nutritious food is a top priority that the Council on Food Policy will be addressing head-on," said Governor Spitzer. "The Council will bring the public, producers and government together to explore ways in which we can improve our existing food production and delivery systems, expand capacity, and in particular, address the critical needs of children and low-income New Yorkers. Additionally, by expanding the sale of locally grown
products, we can help struggling farmers, and expand the local agriculture and
state economy."The New York State Council on Food Policy will include 21 representatives from all areas of the food system, including six agency heads. The State Agriculture Commissioner, Patrick Hooker, will serve as the Chairperson. He will be joined by the Commissioners of Health, Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance, Aging, Economic Development and the Consumer Protection Board. The other members will be appointed by the Governor and will include the Dean of the New York State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences; 1 farm organization representative; 1 school food administrator; 1 consumer representative; 2 food assistance organization representative; 1 nutritionist; 1 anti-hunger advocate; and 3 representatives from the food industry at large, which could include producers, distributors, processors or retailers with at least one involved in organic production.
There will also be four appointed positions for members with experience and
expertise related to agriculture, nutrition or food policy that will be recommended
by the Temporary President of the Senate, the Speaker of the Assembly, the Minority Leader of the Senate, and the Minority Leader of the Assembly.In addition to coordinating food policy, the Council will develop a strategic plan to ensure access to affordable, fresh, healthy, nutritious food and expand agricultural production, especially locally-grown and organically-grown food. The sale of organic food is an emerging market, with more than $13 billion spent on organic food in 2005. The Council will make recommendations to the Governor on state regulations,
legislation and budget proposals in the area of food policy to ensure a coordinated and comprehensive inter-agency approach to state food policy issues. The Council will deliver a written annual report to the Governor.
A copy of the executive order is at www.ny.gov/governor/executive_orders/exeorders/13.pdf
Rebecca Hargrave, a horticulture and natural resources educator with Cornell Cooperative Extension of Chenango County, was named Agriculture Advocate of the Year by the Chenango County Chamber of Commerce. Hargrave was presented the award during a luncheon on May 16 at Howard Johnson's in Norwich.
"Rebecca has been willing to take on a leadership role in an effort to increase awareness of the issues faced by the agriculture industry and influence future challenges in this industry,'' a Chamber of Commerce spokesperson said.
Hargrave, who has been with CCE Chenango County since October 2001, is
also chairperson of the Chenango County Agricultural Development Council. She is a graduate of the Agricultural Leadership Enhancement program of Chenango and Madison counties and was recently accepted into the LEAD New York program.Hargrave has been active in agricultural education in Chenango County. She helps to coordinate and teach at annual new-farmer workshops. She has worked to diversify the agricultural education programming in her community, including implementing new classes in agro-forestry, commercial horticulture, community horticulture and basic business skills for women in agriculture.
She helped revive a community garden in Norwich and bring the project under the auspices of the county Cooperative Extension office. Hargrave also helped the City of Norwich conduct an inventory of its trees and serves as an advisor on municipal tree and flower planting projects.
Hargrave has a 25 percent youth appointment and has taught workshops for 4-H clubs and youth in public schools, day camps and other settings. She initiated a junior forestry program; coordinates youth hikes; and is active in coordinating Headwaters Youth Conservation Corps, a three-county Americorps program to teach young adults job and environmental stewardship skills.
We are highlighting these events because of the importance of grazing to our dairy and livestock audience. Please see the Graze NY! Website for a complete listing of pasture walks and grazing workshops.
A sampling of regional/statewide events that may be of interest to small farmers. Details on the following events and many more can be found in the NY Farms! Calendar of Agricultural Events, which is produced by NY Farms! in cooperation with the Cornell Small Farms Program; Cornell Community, Food and Agriculture Program; Regional Farm and Food Project, and other organizations.
Ag Economic Development Specialist will develop programs for farmers which create market opportunities and encourage value-added enterprises through market
development and farm enterprise diversification. Competitive salary & benefits package. For complete position information, see
//hosts.cce.cornell.edu/admin/careerops/pa437.htm. Send letter of intent, resume, & transcript by 06/04/07 to PA#437, Box 26 Kennedy Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853.
The Cornell Agricultural Outreach and Education program is searching for a dynamic
person to fill the position of Youth Program Specialist. The person will provide
program management support for the state agricultural education program as State
Executive Coordinator of the New York FFA Association. For details on job responsibilities and required qualifications, please visit the Cornell University job site
located at www.ohr.cornell.edu/jobs/. The requisition number for this posting is 06964.For questions, please contact: Perry Dewey, Director of Agriculture Outreach and Education
Office: 607-255-7381
Cell: 716-753-0224
ptd7@cornell.edu
Provide educational, technical, work and life skills to underserved youth through in-school, after school and summer venues, with the focus on horticulture and gardening. Some supervisory responsibilities; experience in gardening required.
Full time position; full benefits; grant-funded program. For a full job description, visit: www.greenteen.org/programs.htm or call 845-677-8223, Ext. 116 Gail Grove OR Ext. 109 Linda BysterSend resume and cover letter to:
FCS Issue Leader
Cornell Cooperative Extension Dutchess County
2715 Rte. 44 Suite 1
Millbrook, NY 12545Application Deadline:
June 15, 2007 or until sufficient applications are received.
Innovative attempts to promote business planning, marketing, value-added product development and other opportunities to help New York farmers increase profits are the target of the New York Farm Viability Institute's Agricultural Innovation Center grant program. The Institute is accepting requests for funding through July 1. Award decisions will be announced after Sept. 19.
The New York Farm Viability Institute is a nonprofit, farmer-led organization dedicated to directing research projects that result in increased profits on New York farms. The Institute supports projects that focus on business management, marketing, production issues, technology adoption, outreach education and more across the diverse agricultural sectors, farm sizes and production practices in the state.
Projects are selected for funding through a competitive application process. Proposals are reviewed and ranked by active producers representing a cross section of the state's agricultural sectors, commodities and regions. The volunteer board of directors makes funding decisions for all grants.
All funded projects must include farmer participation in identifying needs, developing the project, implementing the research or evaluation the success of the project.Grants may not exceed $300,000 over two years.
Funded projects must include outreach education components and opportunities to provide templates for successful farm practices for producers across the state.
Funding is from a legislative appropriation to the Institute through the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets.For more information, contact the New York Farm Viability Institute at (315) 453-3823 or www.nyfarmviability.org. Apply for grants online at db.nyfarmviability.org.
Four times a year the Small Farms Program--in partnership with Country Folks--publishes the Small Farm Quarterly. This magazine is full of articles written by farmers, Extension Educators, and others passionate about supporting the success of small farm operations. Every issue is posted on the Small Farms website, where you can directly download PDFs of any article. Visit www.smallfarms.cornell.edu/pages/quarterly/archive/spring07.cfm to see the latest issue, which includes dozens of articles like "Natural Hogs: To Certify or Not to Certify," "Graze or Die," "How Will Global Warming Affect Your Farm?", and "Grow Your Farm with Agritourism." You can also use the "search" feature on our website to locate more information on a specific topic: www.smallfarms.cornell.edu/pages/about/search.cfm
ATTRA (Appropriate Technology Transfer to Rural Areas) is a part of the National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service. ATTRAnews features events and opportunities in sustainable agriculture, information on funding and financing, and it keeps you current on programs and policies that can affect your future. In ATTRAnews you'll read about what's happening with Farm Bill implementations and what readers like you want to know about production practices and the National Organic Standards. There's all that and much more--and it's all free.
In addition, the ATTRAnews site contains the Weekly Harvest archives. Published every Wednesday, the Weekly Harvest e-newsletter is a Web digest of sustainable agriculture news, resources, events and funding opportunities gleaned from the Internet. Spend some time perusing the archives by visiting //attra.ncat.org/newsletter/archives.html#attranews
"High Tunnels: Using Low-Cost Technology to Increase Yields, Improve Quality, and Extend the Growing Season," is a 43-minute DVD that features six farmers from five northeastern states explaining how and why they constructed their high-tunnel system, what they grow in it, and how it helps sustain their farming operation. The DVD was produced by Ted Blomgren of Cornell Cooperative Extension and Tracy Frisch of the Regional Farm and Food Project, and was funded by the Northeast SARE Professional Development Program.
Free copies of the DVD are available until September 15 2007 - or until supplies run out - to people who conduct agricultural education programs, including Cooperative Extension and nonprofit staff, teachers, or farmers who give presentations to others. If you qualify for a free copy, please send an e-mail to sustainable.agriculture@uvm.edu containing the following information: Your name, your organization, your main professional role, postal mailing address with zip, telephone(s), briefly describe how you plan to use the video, and estimate the number of people that will view it in one year.
By accepting a free video you agree to respond to a brief e-mail survey that will take place in 2008 to evaluation how the video was utilized.
Copies of the DVD are also available to people generally interested in the topic but not in a teaching or service role as described above. The cost is $15, including postage, and the order form is at: www.uvm.edu/vtvegandberry/Videos/hightunnelvideo.html; credit card orders can be placed by calling (802) 656-5459.
A free companion High Tunnel Manual is available on line at www.uvm.edu/sustainableagriculture/hightunnels.php. This manual can also be requested in print for an additional $15, including postage. If placing an order by mail for the manual or DVD please make checks payable to 'UVM' and mail to:
Center for Sustainable Agriculture
University of Vermont
63 Carrigan Drive
Burlington VT 05405-0004
The document is posted as individual chapters in PDF format. Download any of these for free from: www.nysaes.cornell.edu/hp/2007vegetableguide/index.html
The Farm Bill is a behemoth legislative tangle that should more accurately be called the "Food Bill," as author Michael Pollan has pointed out, since it impacts everyone, not just farmers. Trying to understand and follow the progress of the Farm Bill is a major challenge. But now there's an easier way to know what's happening, who the players are, and when your input can have the greatest impact.
The National Campaign for Sustainable Agriculture has started producing a free online weekly update on Farm Bill happenings. To receive the Digest, visit the Farm Bill Hero site at www.sustainableagriculture.net/farm_bill_signup.php?id0. Voila - digestible packets of information delivered to your inbox each week.
Silicon Valley. Napa Valley. Nashville. When we hear these names, we immediately have visions of specific places known for specific industries. These locations represent centers of excellence based upon their products, their support networks and their reputations. In the business world, these areas are referred to as "Industry Clusters." Research shows that clusters of firms often have higher profits, greater productivity and faster rates of innovation. A hallmark of effective clusters is that the firms making up the cluster simultaneously compete and cooperate with one another.
Over the past year the Cornell Small Farms Program has been collaborating with researchers at Penn State and other institutions on the Small Farms Cluster Project, a study of small farm clusters in the Northeast region. In this project we ask: How and under what conditions do regionally recognized clusters of small and mid-sized farms develop? How do these clusters enhance the viability and profitability of individual farms? How can we nurture the development of small farm clusters?
In the first phase of research our team conducted 56 interviews across seven
agricultural clusters in the Northeast. These groups include:
While it is still too early in our analysis to discuss conclusive findings, several important themes and important cluster characteristics have begun to emerge from the data collected during these interviews. In the next phase of research will be examining whether these characteristics have an impact on the effectiveness of clusters in achieving their goals.
Key Characteristics of Small Farm Clusters
Cluster membership. There is considerable variability in both cluster membership and geographic scope in the clusters we are studying. Membership ranges from women farmers, agri-business representatives and university staff and faculty across an entire state to members of the same ethnic background working on a single farm. Other examples include organic farmers in a somewhat localized cooperative; a largely Hispanic group of new farmers; a regional collective of organic farmers, grain operators, and related agribusiness and university representatives; a consortium of regional producers, agricultural agencies and interests; and dairy industry representatives across a six-county area.
Cluster activities. Cluster activities tend to focus on networking in
order to share information, knowledge, training, increasing public awareness,
and mutual support related to farming practices, management, and operations.
Strengthening and expanding their market base and product development are also
important goals most of these groups share. Only two clusters have expressly
established formal marketing and/or purchasing agreements at the core of their
collective objectives.
Cluster start-up. Of the seven, three were initiated by an agency or
university (in one case with a community partner), three were started by farmers,
and one by a group of industry and manufacturing representatives. Six out of
seven of our clusters appear to have formed primarily in response to what were
perceived as opportunities for working together. Only one started in response
to an overt threat, in this case a market-driven threat.
Value chain/ market context. Of the seven clusters, six have been developed with a primary focus on capturing more of the market for 'alternative' and often diverse crops, produce, and products. The degree of competitiveness across the seven clusters varies somewhat, but there appears to be fairly limited direct competition among individual members in a majority (5) of our clusters. This may be due to the fact that their markets are expanding rapidly. In two clusters, however, the level of competition was noted as at least one factor affecting relationships within the group and is an issue they attempt to manage as respectfully as they can with varying levels of success.
Group culture and values. There are a number of differences across the clusters in the norms of behavior and the values expressed within the group, for example in the degree of cooperation versus self-interest expressed by members; positive versus negative attitudes about the future; level of openness and trust among members. Although all seven clusters indicate that they strive to achieve trusting and open relationships among all their members, two clusters note an occasionally less than mutually-supportive environment to work within.
Group leadership. All seven clusters recognize the importance of sharing power, with consensus among all the members is an important goal. While the majority of our clusters clearly have a relatively informal organizational and leadership structure, there are number of important dissimilarities. Strong leaders exist or have emerged within all but one cluster, and six out of seven rely fairly heavily on one or two charismatic leaders - often those who have had a significant role in initiating that cluster's development. In some cases the leaders are farmers themselves, in others leadership is provided an Extension educator, agency, NGO or University staff. Growing leadership from within appears to be challenge in most of these clusters and is likely crucial to each group's sustainability.
Staff and volunteers. Five of seven clusters retain some paid staff. Generally between 1 and 4 individuals manage the daily operations and communications of the cluster with support from a wide range of volunteers within the cluster structure. In three of the cases where a member receives compensation, strong charismatic leaders with relatively long-lived tenure with the group are those that were reimbursed (if only partially) for their efforts.
In general, farmer-members played very different roles across the spectrum of clusters in our study, from active decision-making and direct contribution to cluster activities to a fairly passive involvement. For most clusters, however, volunteers have in the past, and continue to play a vital role in cluster activities and accomplishments.
Benefits to farmers from participating in cluster. We have found three primary
types of benefits that small farmers may receive through being part of a cluster:
Most clusters provide one or two of these types of benefits. Only one or two
of our clusters appear to provide all three types on benefits. One cluster was
not able to provide small farmers with any of these benefits, and consequently
small farm participation dropped off over time.
Engagement with the wider community. While linkages with supporting organizations
exist for all of the clusters in our study, they are usually limited to a few
organizations or individuals within an organization or agency, and with very
limited engagement with more general economic development entities and others.
Increasing engagement with additional agencies, organizations and/or the public
appears to be a challenge that all of these clusters share. Most appear to recognize
this fact, however, and have made efforts to address this issue.
How does the cluster promote or inhibit innovation? All seven of the clusters in our study report that membership in the cluster generally promotes innovation via the dissemination and sharing of new ideas, opportunities, production techniques, risk reduction strategies and business planning practices. In all of these cases, clusters noted a generally supportive climate for experimentation and innovation. In only one case was it noted that cluster activities might have inhibited innovation and this was apparently due to a divergence of interests between manufacturers and farmers.
For more information about the Small Farms Cluster Project, visit www.nercrd.psu.edu/SFIC/SFIC.htm
or contact Anu Rangarajan, Cornell Small Farms Program, 607-255-1780, ar47@cornell.edu.
For additional ag-related news and events by email:
