Progress 09/01/23 to 08/31/24

Outputs
Target Audience: The target audience for this project are 30+ small-scale, direct market, diversified specialty crop growers who have participated in an incubator farm training program (recruitment partners are 7 incubator farm programs in CA, WA, CO, IA, KS, MO, and MA). Additional small-scale producers have also been recruited in the service areas surrounding the incubator farm programs. Producers must have a minimum of 1 full growing season and associated financials, with a preferred 3 years' of growing and selling experience and who are motivated to improve their financial management practices. These small-scale diversified vegetable producers who are participating in these incubator programs may be transitioning from less than an acre of crop production to future five- or ten-acre or even larger scale operations. Our aim is to recruit targeted participants to set up similar farm size cohorts and benchmark these ratios at very small scale (<1 acre); small-scale (1-5 acres); and mid-scale (6-20 acres). Changes/Problems: There are no major changes to the project approach. However, we encountered several "small" challenges. The first one relates to participant recruitment. Because we work with small-scale, beginning, and underserved farmers, many of them do not have the financial literacy required to participate in the study. In addition, many of them do not keep sufficient financial records, making complete data entry challenging. To address this problem, we have increased our reach and contacted several additional partners to help us recruit more farmers that have the financial data to participate in the project. The second challenge has been regarding the quality of the data. Because of the challenges mentioned above, some of the surveys revealed incomplete data as well as inconsistencies. We have worked with KTC to review the data carefully to identify any missing or outlier data, and we then individually follow up with farmers to complete the data. Finally, our last challenge has been linked to entering the data into the national FINBIN database. As we started entering the data into FINPACK, we identified that the survey instruments did not collect all the data necessary. It therefore took several months of discussion with FINPACK experts and our team to identify what needed to be changed about the surveys. We have now updated the surveys and developed an automated report to organize the survey data into the FINPACK format to make data entry more streamlined and efficient. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? As noted above in Objective 3, the project provided multiple avenues for training and professional development throughout the year. Monthly partner calls offered continuous coaching on essential topics like data collection, financial recordkeeping, and farm business management. These consistent sessions ensured that project leads and partners had access to expert guidance and could regularly discuss challenges and share solutions. Kitchen Table Consulting (KTC) played a pivotal role in training efforts by organizing targeted sessions that focused on data interpretation, reviewing balance sheet ratios, and understanding their significance for farm operations. These sessions aimed to enhance partners' abilities to assist producers effectively by deepening their comprehension of key financial metrics and how to apply them. The UWisc subawardee, J. Hendrickson, utilized online video tutorials and engaged in individual coaching sessions with FINPACK experts to gain proficiency in proper data entry and cleaning. These one-on-one sessions were instrumental in improving the quality of data submitted to FINPACK, ensuring it met benchmarking standards and could effectively contribute to the project's objectives. Additionally, the New Entry team actively participated in key agricultural conferences, such as the National Farm Viability Conference in Charlestown, WVA and the National ERME conference in Salt Lake City, UT. At the National Farm Viability Conference, we led workshops to introduce the project, share preliminary data, and facilitate discussions on the use of benchmarking to improve the viability of small-scale farms. These conferences not only provided an opportunity to share project insights but also served as a platform for valuable networking and collaboration with other agricultural professionals. The ERME conference, facilitated deeper engagements with two project advisors and allowed for connections to be formed with other organizations working on similar projects. Internal resources were also expanded and made available to all project partners via an updated project website and an internal Google site. This centralized access allowed partners to easily retrieve the tools needed to support their farmers more effectively. Finally, we organized an Advisory Board meeting, which served as a critical forum for exchanging ideas, reflecting on challenges, and identifying solutions related to data cleaning and farmer recruitment. The Advisory Board provided constructive feedback, which has been instrumental in refining the project's methods and approaches. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? After completing all the surveys for 2023, the raw data was analyzed and sent to Kitchen Table Consulting (KTC). KTC took on the task of reviewing and cleaning the data, organizing it into a digestible format. They then hosted an end-of-year project data session with partners, presenting key highlights from the data to foster better understanding and engagement. Year-end benchmarking individual reports for 2023 were also made available to participating producers. These reports highlighted how each producer's financial performance compared to peers of similar size and operations. The reports were designed to be accessible, combining visuals and text to help farmers easily understand and reflect on their data. Partners were encouraged to organize follow-up sessions with farmers to encourage them to use these insights for making data-driven improvements to their operations. Additionally, project results were shared at key agricultural conferences. The New Entry team conducted workshops and presentations at the National Farm Viability Conference in Charlestown, WVA in April 2024. Preliminary results were presented, and discussions were facilitated to foster collaboration and broader dissemination of the project's findings. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? During the next reporting period, we will continue outreach and recruitment of farmer participants for the 2023 and 2024 calendar year studies. This will be accomplished through individual program outreach and engagement with other incubator programs at the 2024 National FIELD School and the 2025 NOFA (Northeast Organic Farming Association) winter conference in Massachusetts, aiming to increase the dataset of participating small-scale producers. We will support enrolled producers in completing data entries for the last quarters of 2024 and assist new producers in completing all surveys if they have the available data. Additionally, we will share individual reports with enrolled producers to motivate them to continue submitting data through the remainder of the 2024 calendar year. We will then assess, clean, and analyze the 2024 annual data submitted by participating producers to prepare it for submission to FINPACK and the national financial management database. By the end of the reporting period, we will ensure all data is entered into the national database and meets quality standards. We will provide necessary stipends to producers who completed the 2024 dataset. We will also organize additional "train-the-trainer" sessions for service providers, focusing on data analysis techniques, financial benchmarking insights, and best practices for supporting diverse groups of farmers. This initiative will help ensure that all partners are well-equipped to guide farmers effectively through data submission and applying financial insights. We will continue to develop training materials in collaboration with Kitchen Table Consulting (KTC) to support partners in effectively helping their farmers. Furthermore, we will develop documentation of our experiences with the project to share with future partners who may want to lead similar initiatives. This documentation will include lessons learned, best practices, and challenges faced, serving as a resource for other organizations embarking on similar benchmarking projects. A final Advisory Board meeting will be organized to review recent updates and provide guidance as we approach the end of the project, ensuring that the final phases are aligned with the overall goals and that the gathered insights are effectively utilized. Lastly, we will create a comprehensive report for the study, which will include an introduction to the project, the approach and methods used, the data collected, as well as conclusions and discussions on the findings. This report will be shared with a broader audience to highlight the project's impact and share best practices with the community.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Obj 1: Convene and Engage a Diversified Vegetable Benchmarking Working Group. During the first year of the grant, we successfully established this working group. In the second year, we maintained regular engagement through monthly partner meetings. These meetings served as an avenue to provide project updates, conduct trainings, and collaboratively discuss challenges faced by the partners. We also utilized these sessions to gather feedback from partners on emerging issues and adjusted our approaches accordingly. Obj 2: Identify Key Farm Financial Performance Metrics and Data Collection Tools. In the last reporting period, the project team developed two survey instruments to collect financial data from participants. The instruments include: a) an Initial Producer Intake survey, which gathers baseline financial data to create a balance sheet (required for FINPACK input) for all new farm participants, and b) a quarterly farm financial survey, designed to collect data on income, expenses, labor hours, market channels, and other capital, grant, and loan information. During the second year, we identified gaps in the data needed for FINPACK entry and updated the survey accordingly. To streamline data collection for 2024, we implemented a process to pre-fill survey data for farmers who completed all surveys for 2023. Although this facilitated data entry significantly, it required us to amend our university IRB protocol. Obj 3: Support Professional Development and Collaboration among Ag Service Providers. Professional development for partners was supported through monthly calls and scheduled "office hours," where project leads received coaching on best practices for supporting producers with data collection, financial recordkeeping, and business management. Kitchen Table Consulting (KTC) organized multiple sessions to review project data, guiding partners on interpreting the data. Additionally, KTC held a training on balance sheet ratios, emphasizing the significance of these ratios for farmers. The UWisc subawardee, J. Hendrickson, who manages FINPACK data entry, accessed online video tutorials and met with a local data entry expert in Wisconsin for additional coaching on cleaning and compiling data. Furthermore, the New Entry team led workshops at key conferences in 2024. They hosted a session on the project at the National Farm Viability Conference in Charlestown, WVA in April 2024, sharing preliminary data and facilitating discussions on using benchmarking to enhance the viability of small-scale farms. This workshop provided valuable opportunities for networking and fostering new research collaborations, further extending the reach of our project and encouraging knowledge sharing among stakeholders. Obj 4: Improve Farm Financial Management Skills of Beginning Producers. Each of the eight collaborating incubator farm programs (in CA, WA, CO, KS, MO, and MA) recruited and enrolled farmers for the benchmarking project. Outreach was done using culturally and linguistically appropriate methods, with materials translated into Spanish, Falam Chin, Burmese, Kirundi, and Swahili, in addition to English. The "Why Benchmark" worksheet was translated into all these languages to ensure accessibility. We expanded our recruitment efforts by partnering with additional organizations to increase farmer participation. After collecting 2023 data, we created individualized reports for farmers who completed all surveys. Feedback from farmers and partners indicated the importance of comparing individual farm data to group data. Therefore, we designed a simple, visual report comparing each farmer's data against the group. Highlights were added to ensure clarity, and service providers were encouraged to work with farmers to reflect on these insights. We also conducted follow-up sessions with service providers to guide them in supporting farmers to interpret and utilize these reports, thus enhancing their financial management skills and encouraging informed decision-making. Obj 5: Contribute Diversified Vegetable Farm Financial Data to the National Database. We finalized data collection for 27 farms from 2023. Although we continue efforts to gather more data, we have started cleaning and formatting the existing data to streamline FINPACK entry. An automated report was developed to pull data from surveys and arrange it in the correct sequence for FINPACK entry, improving efficiency. Some farm data has already been entered, but since two balance sheets are required, full data entry will only be possible once 2024 data is also collected. We have also worked with KTC to review the raw data, ensuring that all data meets the standards for inclusion in the FINPACK database, and minimizing the risk of errors that could impact benchmark accuracy. This has helped identify missing or outlier data that will required follow up with the farmers. Obj 6: Support Producers to Analyze and Apply Financial Benchmarks to Inform Decisions. After collecting data for 2023, we produced individual reports for farmers who completed all surveys. Based on discussions with farmers and partners, we understood that comparing their financials with peers would be beneficial. Hence, we created visual, easy-to-understand reports that compared each farmer's data against group data. Each data point was highlighted with insights to facilitate understanding. Service providers were encouraged to use these reports with farmers to foster reflection and action based on the data. Obj 7: Disseminate Project Results to Inform Policy and Build New Research Collaborations. In April 2024, the New Entry team attended the National Farm Viability Conference in Charlestown, WVA leading a workshop on the project. We introduced the project, shared preliminary data, and facilitated discussions on leveraging benchmarking to improve the viability of small-scale farmers. This workshop was instrumental in fostering dialogue among farmers, service providers, encouraging them to consider the role of benchmarking in agricultural policy and practice. We also initiated discussions on future collaborations, aiming to build a broader network of research partners interested in financial benchmarking for small-scale agriculture.

Publications

Progress 09/01/22 to 08/31/23

Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience for this project are 20+ small-scale, direct market, diversified specialty crop growers who have participated in an incubator farm training program (national incubator farm recruitment partners are 7 incubator farm programs in CA, WA, CO, IA, KS, MO, and MA). Additional small-scale producers may be recruited in the service areas surrounding the incubator farm programs. Producers must have a minimum of 1 full growing season, with a preferred 3 years' of growing and selling experience and who are motivated to improve their financial management practices. These small-scale diversified vegetable producers who are participating in these incubator programs may be transitioning from less than an acre of crop production to future five- or ten-acre or even larger scale operations. Our aim is to recruit targeted participants to set up similar farm size cohorts and benchmark these ratios at very small scale (<1 acre); small-scale (1-5 acres); and mid-scale (6-10 acres). If there are sufficient producers above the 10-acre threshold, an additional cohort can be added for comparison. Changes/Problems:There are no major changes to the project approach. The only challenge encountered in the program delivery was the delays in outreach/recruitment of project participants (farmers) to the program. After meeting with the project team to design the study, financial performance measures, criteria for participation, and then designing and creating the surveys, testing them, and finalizing all of the outreach materials, the project team submitted the IRB study protocol to the Tufts University IRB Board for approval and review in early January 2023. It was determined that translation of the consent forms for participation was required, so this was completed. After additional study protocol review and back and forth edits with Tufts IRB, it was determined that the University of Wisconsin needed to conduct its own IRB review, which was submitted in March 2023. The final approvals by both institutional review boards was finally approved in April 2023 which is the date that projects could start outreach and recruitment of participating farmers. Unfortunately, this was rather late in the spring to gain the interest, availability, and participation levels of the incubator farmers in the programs (we had all been expecting to onboard and support producers in the Jan - March window, off-season), so the delays in outreach until mid-April significantly curtailed the expected number of producers who were able to complete the intake forms and Q1 surveys timely. The staff of the programs have worked hard to outreach and recruit participants, and many anticipate they will achieve their desired participation levels as we get closer to the end of the 2023 season. They have committed to supporting the producers to complete the surveys as planned so we have the full contingent of contributing data points needed to add data to the national database. We expect to have a full roster of participating farmers starting in 2024. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?As noted above in Objective 3, through the monthly calls and scheduled "office hours", the project leads have been receiving coaching and professional development in best practices for supporting producers with data collection, producer financial recordkeeping and management, and opportunities for individual support as needed through our consultant, Kitchen Table Consulting. Each program shared their templates, resources and producer requirements which were shared across all projects for comparison. The project website established for internal coordination contains additional training resources, record-keeping and data tracking templates, and training videos for staff to access to improve their technical assistance to producers. Additionally, the PD and subawardee (UWisc staff) both attended the UMN Center for Farm Financial Management Project Leader meeting November 30-December 1, 2022 to gain additional skills in benchmarking across cohorts, how to use FINPACK software, and to gain connections to other programs supporting producers with data management. These staff also participated in UMN CFFM's ongoing lunch and learns that were held following the annual meeting on topics such as market channel analysis, enterprise analysis and other topics covered during the 2022 FINPACK Educator Trainings. All the professional development resources are posted to the FINPACK Google site for educators and contains resources, webinar recordings, and associated documents. Additionally, the UWisc subawardee (J. Hendrickson) who will be responsible for entering producer data into FINPACK is accessing the online video tutorials and plans to meet 1:1 with a data entry expert locally in Wisconsin to receive additional coaching on entering/cleaning the data once it is compiled at year-end. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?As noted above in Objective 6, the project team is in the process of developing mid-year project data to share with producers who have completed Q1 and Q2 financial reporting in 2023 (as of August 2023; the end date for Q1 (Jan - Mar) and Q2 (Apr-June). The aim of this mid-season report is to provide data back to participants with key data points that may continue to motivate and inform producers of how their businesses are performing compared to producers of a similar size. The year-end benchmarking report for 2023 calendar year will be available to producers by February 2024 (the next reporting period). As noted in Objective 7 above, this outreach and dissemination effort will be conducted after we have a 2023 initial benchmarking report to share with other incubator farm programs in the national FIELD network. We will present the results to date and share information about the financial benchmarking project at our 12th Annual National FIELD School (conference) that will be held in Kansas City, MO during October 23-25, 2023. The goal is to recruit additional incubator farm projects who may wish to enroll other small-scale producers in the study. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?During the next reporting period (Sept 2023 - Aug 2024), we aim to continue to outreach and recruit farmer participants to the 2023 and 2024 calendar year studies both through individual program outreach and through engagement with other incubator programs at the 2023 national FIELD School to work to increase the data set of participating small-scale producers. We will also be supporting enrolled 2023 producers to complete data entries with producers of Q3 and Q4 financial reporting. We will also be disseminating the mid-year benchmark "mini-report" to enrolled producers to continue to motivate them to continue submitting data to the study through the remainder of the 2023 calendar year. Any new participants will receive the intake / baseline / enrollment survey and be asked to complete the 2023 data for each quarter of the year with the intent to develop some understanding of the seasonality of producer income/expenses in the final year-end benchmarking report. We will also be assessing, cleaning, and analyzing the 2023 annual data submitted by participating producers to prepare to submit to FINPACK to submit to the national financial management database. We will provide the necessary stipends to the producers who completed the 2023 data set. We will prepare the 2023 report and share broadly with producers and program staff of incubator programs to determine if there are any additional metrics, changes, or modifications to make to the 2024 surveys and data sets to be more meaningful to producers. During winter 2024 (Jan-March), we will also determine any additional producer-oriented trainings or staff professional development that need to occur to support producers to interpret and analyze their own individual financial reports and how they compare to their peers through the benchmarking analysis and any farm business management decisions that require additional technical assistance as part of the analysis. We will also continue to recruit and onboard new farmer participants for the 2024 study.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Obj 1: At initiation of the project, subawards, consulting agreements, and partner honoraria protocols and scopes of work were established with project partners. A monthly meeting scheduled was established, a project management listserv created, and a Financial Benchmark Project internal Google Site was established to facilitate project planning (see: https://sites.google.com/tufts.edu/usdafinancialbenchmark/home). A project sponsorship from Farm Credit East was procured to supplement the federal budget and to allow for the working group to convene in person to launch the planning and formation of the working group. The working group of 14 members representing the 9 organizations and Project Advisors convened in Seattle, WA October 26 - 27, 2022. The goals of the convening were to: build the project collaboration team and develop working agreements for the project; to develop a shared understanding of the project objectives and activities and timeline; to decide on the metrics we want to track and any local/regional/project-specific objectives; to determine the number, characteristics, and balance of farmers in the cohorts; to develop strategies to secure clear, consistent and uniform data to enter into FINPACK; to learn/share what we all already do in terms of recordkeeping/data collection with farmers; to discuss perceived challenges and opportunities; to determine professional development/training/coaching needs, and to develop shared communication tools and performance expectations (reporting, communicating, attending meetings, etc.). The group established the parameters for the project and key next steps. The group then continued to meet monthly during the project period; regular meetings are held the third Wednesday at 4pm EST. Obj 2. The project team convened in October 2023 to develop realistic financial performance measures, frequency of data collection, and recommended data collection tools to be developed. The core team (subawardees, consultants, and advisors) met monthly after that to develop the three survey instruments that are being used to collect financial data form participants. The three survey instruments (Qualtrics) developed to collect data include: a) Initial Producer Intake survey to capture baseline financial data and information that can be used to create a balance sheet (required for input to FINPACK) for all incoming farm participants; b) a quarterly farm financial survey to collect quarterly financial reporting of income and expenses; labor hours; market channels; and other capital, grant and loan information; and c) an annual "update" survey to collect year-end changes, market/business updates, and any other business information for year-end data analysis. The data collection tools were tested and vetted by 4 project partners and their feedback, edits, and updates were incorporated into the final data collection tools. All the data collection tools, outreach and recruitment processes, and overall study design and protocols were submitted to the Tufts University Institutional Review Board (IRB) and the University of Wisconsin Madison IRB for review, feedback, and approval. The research study received approval as exempt research, though the study is being monitored by both IRBs per their established protocols for exempt research. Obj 3: Through the monthly calls and scheduled "office hours", the project leads have been receiving coaching and professional development in best practices for supporting producers with data collection, producer financial recordkeeping and management, and opportunities for individual support as needed through our consultant, Kitchen Table Consulting. Each program shared their templates, resources and producer requirements which were shared across all projects for comparison. The project website established for internal coordination contains additional training resources, record-keeping and data tracking templates, and training videos for staff to access to improve their technical assistance to producers. Additionally, the PD and subawardee (UWisc staff) both attended the UMN Center for Farm Financial Management Project Leader meeting November 30-December 1, 2022 to gain additional skills in benchmarking across cohorts, how to use FINPACK software, and to gain connections to other programs supporting producers with data management. These staff also participated in UMN CFFM's ongoing lunch and learns that were held following the annual meeting on topics such as market channel analysis, enterprise analysis and other topics covered during the 2022 FINPACK Educator Trainings. All the professional development resources are posted to the FINPACK Google site for educators and contains resources, webinar recordings, and associated documents. Additionally, the UWisc subawardee (J. Hendrickson) who will be responsible for entering producer data into FINPACK is accessing the online video tutorials and plans to meet 1:1 with a data entry expert locally in Wisconsin to receive additional coaching on entering/cleaning the data once it is compiled at year-end. Obj 4. Each of the collaborating incubator farm programs (9 national programs in CA, WA, CO, IA, KS, MO, and MA) have each conducted outreach and recruitment to enroll participating incubator farmers to the benchmarking project. Project staff have used culturally preferred and linguistically appropriate outreach strategies and have provided 1:1 technical support and assistance to producers who require help to complete the intake surveys and quarterly financial surveys. The outreach and recruitment flyers were translated into five languages in addition to English, they include: Spanish, Falam Chin, Burmese, Trkrundi, and Swahili. The "Why Benchmark" worksheet was also translated into these same languages(except Trkrundi) to support producer access to the type of data that will be compiled and shared as a result of the project. Obj 5: The initial data collected by producers will be cleaned, analyzed, and normed and entered into the National Database during January/February 2024. We will need a full year (2023) of reported data from producers participating in the project in order to create producer profiles and report 2023 financial into the database. This will be performed during the next project period. Obj 6: The project team is in the process of developing mid-year project data to share with producers who have completed Q1 and Q2 financial reporting in 2023 (as of August 2023; the end date for Q1 (Jan - Mar) and Q2 (Apr-June). The aim of this mid-season report is to provide data back to participants with key data points that may continue to motivate and inform producers of how their businesses are performing compared to producers of a similar size. The year-end benchmarking report for 2023 calendar year will be available to producers by February 2024 (the next reporting period). Obj 7: This outreach and dissemination effort will be conducted after we have a 2023 initial benchmarking report to share with other incubator farm programs in the national FIELD network. We will present the results to date and share information about the financial benchmarking project at our 12th Annual National FIELD School (conference) that will be held in Kansas City, MO during October 23-25, 2023. The goal is to recruit additional incubator farm projects who may wish to enroll other small-scale producers in the study.

Publications