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INVESTIGATOR: Coleman, K.

PERFORMING INSTITUTION:
Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture
1 Sugarloaf Street
South Deerfield, MASSACHUSETTS 01373

IMPROVING MASSACHUSETTS BEGINNING FARMERS SUCCESS RATES THROUGH COMPREHENSIVE, TAILORED TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND SUPPORT

NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY: This renewal Standard BFRDP project builds upon a successful BFRDP Grant (PD: Kelly Coleman, award 2016-03325-2009). Half (50%) of the budget will be dedicated to serving socially disadvantaged or limited resource farmers (0% for military veterans). The lead agency (CISA) will manage this state-wide project through an established network of three collaborating agricultural community-based organizations (CBOs): Berkshire Grown, Central Mass Grown, and Southeastern MA Agricultural Partnership. 94% of federal funds will go to CBOs.Our long-range goal for this project is to improve the sustainability of beginning farm businesses in Massachusetts by providing tailored technical assistance to at least 420 beginning farmers in the following topic areas: diversification and marketing strategies (Priority G), natural resource management (Priority F), entrepreneurship and business training (Priority C), and financial and risk management training (Priority E). Activities include 60 workshops, 18 networking events, and one-on-one assistance to 315 beginning farmers, plus detailed program evaluation. After participating, farmers will have access to on-going technical assistance and peer support through the collaborating organizations. Primary objectives are: 90% of participants (378/420) "moderately increase" knowledge and 65% (273/420) "substantially increase" knowledge in the areas of marketing, business planning, financial analysis, diversification, or natural resource management; 35% (147/420) implement a business change as a result of training; 35% (147/420) will meet or exceed their farm's financial goals; and 50% of participants (210/420) will confirm that participation contributed to their ability to keep farming. The success of these outcomes will improve the economy and food security of the region.

OBJECTIVES: Through this grant, CISA and our Buy Local partners will offer expanded and improved technical assistance services to beginning farmers throughout Massachusetts. We will target farmers who are starting or who already own or operate a farm business and have fewer than 10 years of farming experience. Our long-range goal for this project is to improve the sustainability of Massachusetts' beginning farm businesses in order to maintain farmland and farm businesses, as current farmers retire. Our primary objectives and outcomes are:378 participating farmers (90% of 420) will "moderately increase" knowledge and 273 (65% of 420) will "substantially increase" knowledge in the areas of marketing, business planning, financial analysis, diversification, and/or natural resource management.147 participating farmers (35% of 420) will implement a business change as a result of the training.147 participating farmers (35% of 420) farmers will meet or exceed their farm's financial goals.210 participating farmers (50% of 420) will confirm this program contributed to their ability to keep farming.

APPROACH: Proposed activities will take place over a three-year period starting September 15, 2020.1. Workshops, tours, and statewide webinars will reach 275 beginning farmers. CISA and collaborators will coordinate an average of 20 workshops, tours, and webinars each year for a total of 60 over three years. We project that an average of 10 beginning farmers will attend each workshop for a total of 600 duplicated farmers. An average of nine beginning farmers attended workshops through our previous grant and with new statewide webinars, we can reach a larger number of farmers who haven't taken advantage of previous workshops, due to time or travel constraints. Based on past experience, we expect half of participating farmers to attend more than one workshop a year. We will offer workshops that address the following main ideas, but many will be targeted even further to provide the most value. For instance, in addition to a general marketing strategies workshop, we are looking at a branding workshop geared towards meat producers or an enterprise analysis workshop focused on value-added products.Marketing strategies to enhance competitivenessThe marketing workshops will be adapted by CISA from our existing resources (these workshops have been honed over 15 years and build on the tremendous amount of material that has been developed by other BFRDP-funded projects). They will help farmers understand the value of a comprehensive marketing plan, including a review of best marketing strategies. Workshops and instructional material will address identifying and understanding a target audience, paid advertising, earned media, visibility, branding and marketing materials, website development, merchandising, and customer service.Natural resource management These workshops will teach farms about sustainable practices for climate resiliency and mitigation. Topics will include renewable energy, energy conservation, water and soil management, and production practices like no-till and silvo-pasture and will cover financing and implementation steps. FarmAnswers.org includes only one resource on conservation from the past three years and this is an important area of interest for our farmers.Business planning and decision making The financial planning workshops will be adapted by CISA from our existing resources (these workshops build on material that has been developed by other BFRDP-funded projects, including our previously funded grants). Workshops and material will cover: financial recordkeeping and decision making, enterprise analysis, partial budgeting, raising capital, and long-term planning and goal setting.Additional workshop topicsLabor workshops will help farmers understand regulatory requirements and their own management style, assess options, and become better communicators and managers. Labor is often a big issue for beginning farmers who want to expand their operations.Value-added production workshops will review the steps required to bring a value-added product to market as well as financial and marketing considerations that are unique to value-added products. This is important for beginning farms looking to diversify.Food safety standards workshops will review FSMA rules and regulations as well as best practices in training staff on record keeping and food handling. It will help beginning farmers come into compliance and review the costs and marketing benefits.2. One-on-one assistance for 315 beginning farmers through 210 meetings between farmers, experts, and staff. Our 2016 BFRDP project demonstrated the value of individualized support in helping farmers implement change. Through that grant we found that often two beginning farmers attend one-on-one sessions per farm. 1:1 assistance will be available year-round and aggressively promoted in the fall and winter. CISA and our collaborators maintain active lists of farmers and other experts qualified to provide mentoring and TA who have been vetted by staff and are evaluated by farmers after every meeting. New for this grant, over 25% (112 of 420) of farmers served will receive at least five hours of support. Topics for 1:1 assistance will depend on farm-identified needs and support will be available immediately unless otherwise noted.Individualized planning for marketing and paid advertising.Website and online communication planning and branding.QuickBooks training: getting started in using report data for effective decision-making.Land acquisition consultations to help farmers develop leases or prioritize new land.Farmers' market or farm stand evaluation to help farmers assess their displays for customer flow, fit with their farm brand, and customer appeal.Business planning and decision making.Market research support to identify farm's best customers and perform market research through surveys and/or focus groups (available June 2021, after research and training material developed).Natural resource management for extreme weather and climate change (available September 2021 after research and training material developed.)3. Fifteen networking meetings over three years which will serve 115 beginning farmers, plus three state-wide networking meetings serving 50 beginning farmers. Meetings will provide opportunities for resource sharing, informal training, and business development. At least five regional networking opportunities will be offered across the state per year. A new offering will be one statewide networking meeting a year, which will focus on a different subset of farmers (such as meat, fiber, or CSA farmers) and attract them from across the state to share, learn, and network.4. Written instructional materials available directly to farmers online will benefit 500 beginning farmers. CISA's existing online Tip Sheets for farmers landing page had over 2,500 views in 2019. New written material will be available starting in the summer of 2021 and additional material will be added on a regular basis for the remainder of the grant. CISA will create and host written materials online and share them directly with our collaborators. The online material will allow farmers to access content from workshops.5. Evaluation of our work will be performed annually. See Section 5 below for more details related to evaluation tools and methods.Note: The aggregate number of participants above exceeds the projected goal of 420 unduplicated participants. Based on past experience, we project that many farmers will take part in multiple offerings.