Progress 07/01/06 to 06/30/09
Outputs
OUTPUTS: A survey of more than 400 Vermont farmers on local land use issues and pressures was conducted, and analysis was completed with publications pending. Financial support for community processes toward rural broadband solutions funded activities in more than 50 communities. In 2006 alone, the broadband project distributed over 6,000 Broadband Interest surveys and recorded nearly 1,700 requests for broadband. The broadband project maintains a database of over 4,800 households and businesses across the state that want broadband, and information on new broadband services is regularly distributed. This project supported fifteen fledging farming operations over three years of a farm business incubation program. A study of the feasibility of a local food e-commerce portal was completed. A March 2009 workshop on e-commerce and the Internet for woman farmers was attended by 12 participants representing a wide range of businesses, including diversified family farms, agritourism, fiber, farm cheese and specialty food, and equestrian education. Updates, enhancements and maintenance were performed to the Center for Rural Studies' "flagship" data website Vermont Indicators Online at http://crs.uvm.edu/indicators. During the project period, website visits totaled 24,000, with 60,000 page and file accesses. Updates and maintenance were performed to the Vermont Housing Data website at www.housingdata.org. Under its Census Bureau State Data Center status, CRS updated the Census Bureau's records of group quarters locations in Vermont for the first time since the 2000 Census. The VT SDC also held workshops on the 2010 Census, attended by more than 50 local officials and Vermont data-users. The Vermont SDC website at http://crs.uvm.edu/census received 24,000 visits and 177,000 page and file accesses during this project period. More than 100 local officials attended workshops on municipal data security during the project period. CRS staff continued to provide leadership on the Vermont Land Use Education and Training Collaborative. Updates, enhancements and maintenance were performed for the Vermont Planning Information Center (VPIC) at www.vpic.info, which is a widely-used clearinghouse of information for municipal land use officials. VPIC totaled 31,000 visits and 195,000 page and file accesses during this project period. CRS began a community-based participatory research partnership with Smart Growth Vermont to determine indicators of health for Vermont downtowns, including food systems and regional landscape data. More than 230 general data requests were fulfilled for Vermont data-users. PARTICIPANTS: Project Staff included Frederick Schmidt, PhD, (P.I.), William Sawyer (Project Manager), Jessica Hyman (Research Associate), Elizabeth Reaves(Graduate Research Assistant), Michael Moser (Research Associate), and Gwen Pokalo (Research Assistant). Partner Organizations with direct project contributions included the Women's Agricultural Network, the Intervale Center, Vermont Fresh Network, the Vermont Center for Geographic Information, Smart Growth Vermont, Vermont Council on Rural Development, Vermont Housing Finance Agency, Vermont Department of Housing and Community Affairs. Coordinating Organizations included Vermont's Regional Planning Commissions, the Center for Sustainable Agriculture, University of Vermont Extension, Vermont's Secretary of State, the Vermont Planners Association, the Vermont League of Cities and Towns, and the Vermont Land Use Institute. TARGET AUDIENCES: Target Audiences included local communities, farmers, entrepreneurs, local land use officials, municipal officials, local decision-makers in general, Vermont data-users, affordable housing advocates, policy-makers, and practitioners in community and economic development. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.
Impacts
Among other findings, the local farm land use survey found that farmers' decisions to purchase or sell their land are significantly linked to their perceptions of development pressure and local boards' support for agricultural operations. Slightly more than a third of respondents said they felt some pressure to sell or develop their land. Farmers' feelings of pressure to sell increased as the level of development around their farms increased. Meanwhile, 18.9 percent said they felt pressure from neighbors to change the way their farm operates. Almost 80 percent of respondents said their local boards had some degree of understanding of agricultural issues and support for agricultural operations. About 10 percent of respondents said their local boards had no understanding of agricultural issues or support for agricultural operations. The 15 farming operations supported via the Intervale Center farm incubation program reported an increase in average net farm income from $18,472.77 to $21,196.16 from 2007 to 2008. The farms employed a total of 56 people in 2008. Six of the farms sold their products through community-supported agriculture (CSAs), 9 sold to cooperatives and natural food stores in Chittenden County, Vermont, and only 4 farms reported sales outside the county. Many of those 50 communities served by the community broadband project now have broadband services or are working with other towns to aggregate their demand and explore common solutions, such as adding fiber to home systems like the Burlington Telecom model. A feasibility study for an e-commerce portal for the Vermont Fresh Network found that farmers and chefs were receptive to the idea of an online method to list, find and buy products and fresh produce they currently purchase. Farmers thought that maintaining an accurate inventory of products in an online system would be a very difficult task, because of seasonality, crop success, weather and other factors. Some suggested that 'always available' could be shown for certain products or an expiry date could be provided when limited quantities or a seasonal crop were involved. Credit card purchases are rare today between Vermont chefs and farmers. Any system should support the basic business transaction tools using email and/or phone messaging as a notification method for order and shipping confirmation. Farmers and chefs are eager to help design, specify and test an e-commerce portal. All the participants in the e-commerce workshops for famers said the workshop met their expectations. They praised the depth of the sessions and practical applications and said the workshop provided many good ideas. Participants said the workshop helped expose them to new opportunities, opened their eyes as to the features available on the Internet, and increased their understanding of how to analyze the effectiveness of a site and analyze the online community.
Publications
- Hyman, J. 2007. Local Development Pressure and Land Use Decisions: Farmland Change in a Diversified Agricultural Sector (thesis). Graduate College, University of Vermont.
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Progress 07/01/07 to 06/30/08
Outputs
OUTPUTS: A survey of more than 400 Vermont farmers on local land use issues and pressures was conducted, and analysis continues with publications pending. Financial support for community processes toward rural broadband solutions funded activities in multiple towns. This project supported two years of a farm business incubation program. A study of the feasibility of a local food e-commerce portal was completed. PARTICIPANTS: Project Staff include Frederick Schmidt, PhD, (P.I.), William Sawyer (Project Manager), Jessica Hyman (Graduate Research Assistant), Michael Moser (Research Associate), and Gwen Pokalo (Research Assistant). Partner Organizations with direct project contributions include the Intervale Center, Vermont Center for Geographic Information, the Vermont Council on Rural Development, Smart Growth Vermont, Vermont Housing Finance Agency, and the Vermont Department of Housing and Community Affairs. Coordinating Organizations include Vermont's Regional Planning Commissions, the Center for Sustainable Agriculture, University of Vermont Extension, Vermont's Secretary off State, the Vermont Planners Association, the Vermont League of Cities and Towns, and the Vermont Land Use Institute, the Vermont Fresh Network, the Women's Agricultural Network, and NOFA Vermont. TARGET AUDIENCES: Target Audiences included local communities, local land use officials, municipal officials, local decision-makers in general, Vermont data-users, educators, farmers, entrepreneurs, policy-makers, and practitioners in community and economic development. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Not relevant to this project.
Impacts
This project will (1) add to research and information on the local and regional effects of small-scale agricultural entrepreneurship and (2) benefit small-scale agricultural entrepreneurship in Vermont's rural communities - primarily in the areas of information and telecommunications, crucial small business resources in the 21st century.
Publications
- Hyman, J. 2007. Local Development Pressure and Land Use Decisions: Farmland Change in a Diversified Agricultural Sector (thesis). Graduate College, University of Vermont.
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Progress 07/01/06 to 06/30/07
Outputs
The purpose of this project is to research and support small-scale agricultural entrepreneurship in Vermont and beyond. This effort will conduct research on the local and regional effects small-scale agricultural establishments in Vermont, specifically (a) economic contributions (revenues, employment, etc.), (b) local food production capacity, and (c) the use of land and development implications. This project will also conduct applied research on, and support resources for, the provision of (a) rural broadband Internet service, (b) agricultural e-commerce options, and (c) rural community information and indicators. Research on measuring local food production and consumption in Vermont and nationwide has been conducted and reported, with publications in process. Support for a local farm incubator program has begun. A survey of more than 400 Vermont farmers on local land use issues and pressures has been conducted, and analysis continues. Support for community processes
toward rural broadband solutions has begun, and activities are ongoing in multiple towns.
Impacts
This project will (1) add to research and information on the local and regional effects of small-scale agricultural entrepreneurship and (2) benefit small-scale agricultural entrepreneurship in Vermont's rural communities - primarily in the areas of information and telecommunications, crucial small business resources in the 21st century.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
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