Progress 04/01/14 to 03/31/18
Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience reached during this final period of the project were farmers and ranchers, community leaders engaged in food system development work, non-governmental organizations focused on food system development, and federal government agencies engaged in food system development. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Face-to-Face Events: April 20, 2017: Economic Evaluation of Tribal Food System Initiatives, Tuskahoma, OK (hosted by the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma); 29 attendees February 14, 2018: Presentation at the offices of the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, Washington, DC; 15 attendees September 15-18, 2018: The team has been involved with the planning of the National Direct Agricutlural Marketing Summit and a C-FARE legislative event to present our outcomes and engage with constituents. Webinars: January 24, 2018: "Using the new Economic Impact Calculator to Assess your Project:A Discussion on the Connections to the USDA AMS Toolkit and Framing Used to Develop the Calculator," Zoom meeting targeting practitioners and supporting agencies/organizations to introduce them to the LFIC; 58 participants January 25, 2018: "A Closer Look at how the Business Decisions and Financial Performance of Local and Regional Small and Mid-Size Farms Influence Community Economic Outcomes," Zoom meeting targeting researchers and lenders to expose them to the findings of our research; about 40 participants How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Our website (https://localfoodeconomics.com/benchmarks/) contains all of our materials: links to journal articles, conference presentations, fact sheets and the Local Food Impact Calculator. The fact sheets have been printed and distributed electronically at meetings and events since their publication, and they have been made available electronically to government agencies and non-government organizations for re-distribution to their constituents and/or membership. We have hosted 2 webinars and one face-to-face training. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Goal 2, Objective 2 & Goal 3, Objective 1: Four fact sheets were developed that provide indepth knowledge of farm and ranch management practices utilized by those selling in direct-to-consumer (DTC) and intermediated markets. Specifically, the four fact sheets describe: benchmark financial ratios that identify how local food producers use debt and turnover assets across all sales classes and by profitability quantiles; major findings include: the most profitable and least profitable farms seem to be the highest users of debt (presumably to grow and make cash flow, respectively), and asset turnover is highest among the most profitable farms in each sales category. 50% of farms in all sales classes are at least breaking even, and there are farms with significant profit margins in each sales category; additionally, intermediated sales correlate with higher profitability in every sales class when compared to those selling DTC only. efficiency analysis reveals that most local food producers could increase profitability by reallocated investments in labor, inputs and land; more specifically, increasing the amount of production on the farm has the greatest impact on return on assets; leasing (rather than owning) land was also shown to increase profitability significantly. labor and other variable costs, as percentages of total costs, are larger for local food producers, leading to economic development implications of local foods; the jobs created by local food producers pay higher wages, and local food producers are more likely to purchase other inputs locally as well. (This addresses Goal 2, Objectve 3.) Goal 3, Objective 2: The Local Food Impact Calculator was created as a tool that local food producers, managers, or community leadership can use to estimate the economic impact of local food sales in their community or region. This is freely available at https://localfoodeconomics.com/benchmarks/impact-valuation/, along with supporting document on using the estimates and how they are computed (still under development). Goal 3, Objectives 3 and 4: Outreach to farmers, ranchers, non-governmental organizations, government agencies and supporting industries (e.g., agricultural lenders) was conducted through webinars (described in the next question), fact sheets, website construction (https://localfoodeconomics.com/benchmarks/), and invited presentations (such as to the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition and Farm Credit). Goal 3, Objectives 5 and 6: A methodology paper to describe how the Local Food Impact Calculator was constructed is near completion and will be posted on the website with the calculator. This paper will not only identify the source of local economic impacts, it will provide guidance on a standard method for identifying local food project sales or output and estimation of the total impacts from the project. In addition, 3 fact sheets were developed to address methodology and reporting issues associated with economic impacts: How to Write a Good Case Study on a Food Value Chain Conducting an Economic Impact Study on a Local or Regional Food Project Impact of Local Food Production on Food and Beverage Retail Sales
Publications
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Thilmany, D., A. Bauman and B.B.R. Jablonski. The financial implications of targeting direct and intermediated markets as a core competitive advantage. Renewable Ag and Food Systems. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1742170517000680
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Awaiting Publication
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Bauman, A., D. Thilmany and B.B.R. Jablonski. 2018. The financial performance implications of differential marketing strategies: Exploring farms that pursue local markets as a core competitive advantage.
Forthcoming. Agricultural and Resources Economic Review
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Under Review
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Jablonski, B.B.R., A. Bauman and D. Thilmany. Exploring the Underlying Economics of Local Food Producers: The Differential Role of Labor in Local Food Markets. Submitted to Rural Studies.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Shideler, D., A. Bauman, D. Thilmany and B. Jablonski. Weighing local food systems as a workforce, farm income and economic development strategy. Local Foods Coming of Age Special Issue of CHOICES. Expected
publication date: Fall 2018.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Under Review
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Shideler, D. and P. Watson. Making Change through Local Food Production: Calculating the Economic Impact of Your Local Food Project. Economics of Local Food Systems: Utilization of USDA AMS Toolkit Principles Special Issue, Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development. Expected publication date: Fall 2018.
- Type:
Other
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Thilmany, D., B.B.R. Jablonski, A. Bauman, D. Shideler and B. Angelo. 2018. How to Write a Good Case Study on a Food Value Chain. Local Food Economics Fact Sheet. https://localfoodeconomics.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/write-good-case-study_3-18pdf.pdf
- Type:
Other
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Thilmany, D., A. Bauman, D. Shideler and P. Watson. 2018. Conducting an Economic Impact Study of a Local or Regional Food Project. Local Food Economics Fact Sheet. https://localfoodeconomics.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/economic-impact-study_3-18.pdf
- Type:
Other
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Thilmany, D., B.B.R. Jablonski, D. Shideler and J. O'Hara. 2018. Impact of Local Food Production on Food and Beverage Retail Sales. Local Food Economics Fact Sheet. https://localfoodeconomics.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/impact-local-food_3-18.pdf
- Type:
Other
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Thilmany, D., B.B.R. Jablonski, A. Bauman and D. Shideler. 2018. Profitability Implications of Local Food Marketing Strategies. Local Food Economics Fact Sheet. https://localfoodeconomics.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/profitability-implications_3-18.pdf
- Type:
Other
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Thilmany, D., B.B.R. Jablonski, A. Bauman and D. Shideler. 2018. Financial Benchmarks for Local Food Producers. Local Food Economics Fact Sheet. https://localfoodeconomics.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/financial-benchmarks_3-18.pdf
- Type:
Other
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Thilmany, D., A. Bauman, B.B.R. Jablonski and D. Shideler. 2018. The Role of Labor and Other Variable Expenses in Local Food Markets. Local Food Economics Fact Sheet. https://localfoodeconomics.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/labor-role_3-18.pdf
- Type:
Other
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Thilmany, D., B.B.R. Jablonski, A. Bauman and D. Shideler. 2018. Evaluating the Financial Efficiency of Local Food Producers. Local Food Economics Fact Sheet. https://localfoodeconomics.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/financial-efficiency_3-18.pdf
- Type:
Websites
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
https://localfoodeconomics.com/benchmarks/
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Under Review
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
O'Hara, J. and D. Shideler. Impact of Direct-to-Consumer Agricultural Production on the Food Retail Sector in the U.S. West South Central Region. Revise and resubmit to Journal of Food Distribution Research Society.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Leon, E. and D. Shideler. Local Food Marketing: A Retail Choice for Limited Resource Farmers. Presented at the Southern Regional Science Association Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, PA, March 15-17, 2018.
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Progress 04/01/16 to 03/31/17
Outputs
Target Audience:We addressed two key audiences. First, the preconference workshop had at least 84 participants, which represented a combination of farmers, food hub/farmers market managers, and researchers focused on local food systems. Of the 84, at least 51 were female, 14 were black, 2 were hispanic, and 1 was asian. Additionally, 12 participants represented 6 different 1890 land grant institutions. The second, unexpected, audience we reached was the American AgCredit Emerging Market Regional Loan Officers. This is a critical audience, as these loan officers are seeking financial benchmarks like those we are generating in this project to know how to adequately assess risk associated with local food projects. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?In addition to travel for the project researchers, graduate students and post-docs to conferences (e.g., National Association of Community Development Extension Professionals, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, Food Distribution Research Society), a pre-conference workshop was hosted for small farmers/ranchers and food hub managers to share with them our preliminary findings and get their feedback on useful they might be for them; $26,948 of the project funds were used to support travel of participants to the workshop, while an additional $4,450 was used to offset workshop expenses (i.e., conference room and A/V rental, conference registration). How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?In addition to the publications and conference presentations listed elsewhare in this report, the project has funded the creation of a website to disseminate results: https://localfoodeconomics.com/benchmarks/ What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Over the next and final year, our plan is to develop outreach materials as described in Goal 3, Part 3 above. Additionally, 3 journal articles are being developed or under review, one online calculator to provide multiplier estimates is being constructed for the project website, and at least 3 Extension publications will be produced.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Goal 2, Parts 1 and 2: In light of the absence of usable case studies of local food businesses, the team has been utilizing the USDA's Agricultural Resource Management Survey (ARMS) farm-level data to analyze financial characteristics across the direct-to-consumer, intermediated and both marketing strategies; given the information collected by ARMS, this is as refined as we can get in terms of the typology. The analysis of these financial data are complete, and the results are being vetted with our advisory board and key constituents. Journal articles are either under review or accepted for publication, while materials for small farmers and ranchers and/or local food value chain managers for evaluation and benchmarking are in progress. Goal 2, Part 3: In lieu of a paper demonstrating how to perform economic analysis on a breadth of business models, a paper was published in the British Food Journal that provides clear guidance on the data necessary for the economic analysis of local food business models and how to improve the quality of case studies to facilitate such analysis. Under Goal 3, progress toward Part 1 is complete; local food producers in the ARMS database are under evaluation by profit quantities to determine which characteristics seem to contribute most toward profitability; a preliminary set of results were presented in August 2016 at the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association meeting. Preliminary estimates of multipliers (Part 2) have also been generated, and discussions are occuring about how to share these data recognizing the sample limitations of the data from ARMS (namely that only 4 states have sufficient local food sub-samples large enough to provide reasonable estimates for particular marketing channels). For Goal 3, Part 3, the most significant progress made was hosting a conference for at least 84 individuals to preview our preliminary financial benchmarks and provide feedback on them.
Publications
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2017
Citation:
Thilmany, D., A. Bauman and B.B.R. Jablonski Exploring regional dimensions of farm financial performance among those targeting direct and intermediated food markets. NE-1049 Session at the Western Regional Science Association. February 2017.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2016
Citation:
Thilmany, D., J. Laughlin, S. Warshawer, and J. OHara. Using Benchmarks to Develop Local Food System Businesses. Organized Session for the 2016 Food Distribution Research Society Conference.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2017
Citation:
OHara, Jeffery & Dave Shideler. Farmer characteristics and direct-to-consumer agricultural sales, Western Regional Science Association annual meeting, Santa Fe, NM, February 15-18, 2017.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2016
Citation:
Shideler, D., A. Bauman, B. Jablonski and D. Thilmany. Economics of Local Food Systems. National Association of Community Development Professionals Annual Meeting, Burlington, VT, June 26-29, 2016.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2016
Citation:
Jablonski, BBR, D. Thilmany, J. OHara and D. Tropp. Assessing the Economic Impacts of Local Food Systems: A Toolkit and Meta-Analysis to Evaluate Ongoing and Future Efforts. Presented at the 2016 USDA Small Farms Conference. Virginia Beach, VA. September 2016.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2016
Citation:
Thilmany, D., A. Bauman and B.B.R. Jablonski. 2016. The financial performance implications of differential marketing strategies: Exploring farms that pursue local markets as a core competitive advantage. CRENET Track Session at the 2016 Agricultural & Applied Economics Association annual meetings. August 2016. Boston MA.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2016
Citation:
Bauman, A., B.R. Jablonski and D. Thilmany. 2016. Evaluating scale and technical efficiency among farms and ranches with a local market orientation. Presentation to the 2016 Agricultural and Applied Economics Association Annual Meetings. August 2016. Boston MA.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2016
Citation:
Jablonski, BBR, J. OHara, D. Thilmany McFadden and D. Tropp. 2016. Evaluating the economic impact of local food
system initiatives: A USDA funded toolkit. Journal of Extension. December 54(6).
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2016
Citation:
Angelo, B, B. Jablonski and D. Thilmany. 2016. Meta-analysis of U.S. intermediated food markets: Measuring what
matters. British Food Journal. 118(5): 1146-1162
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Progress 04/01/15 to 03/31/16
Outputs
Target Audience:Target audiences included small and medium size producers and food processors, as well as agricultural lenders (e.g., Farm Credit associates) and Extension professionals. Changes/Problems:Because the case studies of local food system participants proved to be a poor source of data, we attempted to modify the methodology by supplementing the case study data with data from IRS tax forms (in the case of non-profit organizations) and LexisNexis Company Profiles. The IRS tax forms proved to be of some value, and we were able to analyze 25 non-profit organizations; however, the LexisNexis Company Profiles often gave conflicting and inconsistent data, so we opted not to include it. For on-farm participants, we were able to access a wealth of information from ARMS, to which Colorado State University already had access. Therefore, much of the analysis we have/will have generated will be focused on local food activities of farmers and ranchers that occur on the farm. Additionally, we have partnered with a complementary USDA-AMS funded project, known as the Toolkit, to provide examples of correctly performed economic impact analysis of local food systems. The AMS Toolkit project was tasked with developing a methodology for assessing local food system impacts, and it is now developing case studies that illustrate the use of the methodology. Our project provides ranges of values for critical information used in the AMS Toolkit methodology, so that organizations and communities using the Toolkit do not necessarily have to generate that data. Furthermore, as part of Goal 3, we will co-author examples and case studies of local food system participants with the AMS Toolkit team as best practices and to illustrate the use of the Toolkit methodology. With such a symbiotic relationship between this and the AMS Toolkit, it made logical sense to work with them in developing the pre-conference workshop in Year 3. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Professional development has occurred through individual study by team members to become proficient with the ARMS dataset and production frontier estimation techniques. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Results have been disseminated to farmers, ranchers and Extension educators via the National Value-Added Conference presentation and Colorado State Extension fact sheet (available online), while the presentation at the Lending to the Next Generation of Agriculture Conference by the The Farm Credit Council reached Farm Credit staff, who historically have lended to commodity producers and are unfamiliar with small agriculture focused on local markets. Lastly, the accepted journal article shares with our peer academics our findings regarding the quality of data in case studies on local food systems. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?In year 3, the final year of the grant, we intend to finalize our research and develop Extension materials that translate our findings into practical benchmarks and value ranges useful to small and medium sized farmers and ranchers and local economic development professionals wanting to evaluate local food opportunities. Additionally, we will be working to document examples of how the research finding could be used for economic impact and other forms of evaluation. Lastly, these materials will be previewed/exhibited at a pre-conference workshop in September on evaluating the economic impact of local food systems; the workshop will be jointly sponsored by the USDA-AMS Toolkit project.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Under Goal 1, analysis of over 150 case studies of local food production that met minimum criteria for legitimacy (e.g., peer-reviewed, contained at least limited financial data, etc.) was completed. Secondary data was secured to augment the limited financial data available in the case studies. Because of limited data in the case studies (even after augmentation), only a few business models were identified. The identified business models are coarse and not very useful for further analysis. One paper has been accepted for publication that describes the typology identified and describes the need for more specific evaluation critera and/or standardized content for case studies. Under Goal 2, the researchers used ARMS data to develop finer business models associated with on-farm producers who identified as participating in local food systems. Objectives 1 and 2 have been addressed, and three journal articles are currently being drafted to describe the on-farm participation in local food systems related to expenditure patterns across market channels, factors determining profitability and technical efficiency of firms, and spatial analysis of where the entrepreneurial agriculture is emerging. Goal 3 is primary focused on translating our research results into Extension materials that are accessible to farmers and ranchers, financial institutions and Extension educators. This objective will be the focus of our work during year 3.
Publications
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2016
Citation:
Angelo, B., B.B.R. Jablonski, and D. Thilmany, McFadden (authors listed alphabetically). Forthcoming. Meta-analysis of U.S. intermediated markets: Measuring what matters. British Food Journal.
- Type:
Other
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2015
Citation:
Thilmany McFadden, D., A. Bauman, B.B.R. Jablonski, B. Angelo, and D. Shideler. 2015. Expanding the Farmers Share of the Food Dollar: Exploring the Potential Effects of Emerging Food Supply Chain Models. Economic Development Report 01-15. Colorado State University.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2015
Citation:
Invited Speaker Local Foods Benchmarking and Outreach, Lending to the Next Generation of Agriculture Conference, The Farm Credit Council, Louisville, KY. Sept 2015 (with B.B.R. Jablonski, D. Thilmany and T.M. Schmit)
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2015
Citation:
Conference Presenter Assessing the Economic Impact of Local Food Systems Framing a Meta-Analysis for the US, National Value-Added Agriculture Conference, Austin, TX. May 2015 (with D. Thilmany McFadden, B.B.R. Jablonski, D. Hughes, and B. Angelo)
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Progress 04/01/14 to 03/31/15
Outputs
Target Audience: The target audience of efforts over the last year was the grant's Advisory Board, which is comprised of individuals who represent organizations involved in local food systems across the US and one academic. Changes/Problems: Due to a lack of specific financial data in the literature analyzed, the team has sought out data from partner organizations. Organizations such as USDA-Rural Development, Farm Credit, a coalition of farmers market participants in NY have agreed to provide such data for analysis; additionally, one of the post-doctoral students on the grant has received permission to extract ARMS data for use on this project for this purpose. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? The graduate student was able to participate in the National Value Added Joint Conference held in Baltimore, MD in May, 2014. The post-doctoral students participated in the CLRFS Food Security Conference in Cleveland, OH in November, 2014. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Through the publications on the Community, Local and Regional Food Systems eXtension Community of Practice website and Smart Marketing's March 2015 newsletter. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? During the next period, the group will be gathering financial data of local system participants, categorizing it according to the typology constructed this year, and estimating benchmarks for each category in the typology. Goal 2 will be the focus of next year's efforts.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Significant progress has been made in completing Goal 1. Over 200 publications have been reviewed and analyzed to summarize the diversity, economic data and patterns of enterprises emerging in food systems as base data. Due to limitations posed by the amount of data presented, the team opted to modify the previously published "Ag in the Middle" categorization of food business models to reflect local food systems participants. We have also approached various partner organizations (e.g., USDA-Rural Development, statewide farmers market coalitions) to provide quantitative, financial data for local food system participants and received approval to access the ARMS dataset for use with this project.
Publications
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2014
Citation:
Bauman, Allie, Brannon Daniels, Blake Angelo, Dave Shideler, Dawn Thilmany, and Merritt Taylor. "An Evolving Classification Scheme of Local Food Business Models." Poster presented at National Association of Community Development Extension Professionals, June 22-25, 2014, Grand Rapids, MI.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2014
Citation:
Bauman, Allie, Becca B. R. Jablonski, Brannon Daniels, Blake Angelo, Dave Shideler, Dawn Thilmany and Merritt Taylor. "An Evolving Classification Scheme of Local Food Business Models." Poster presented at CLRFS Food Security Conference, September 29-October 1, 2014, Cleveland, OH.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2014
Citation:
Bauman, Allie, Becca B. R. Jablonski, Brannon Daniels, Blake Angelo, Dave Shideler, Dawn Thilmany, Merritt Taylor and Alfonso Morales. "An Evolving Classification Scheme of Local Food Business Models." Poster presented at Wisconsin Prevention of Obesity and Diabetes and Healthy Food Systems Poster Session, November 14, 2014. Madison, WI.
- Type:
Other
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2015
Citation:
Bauman, Allie, Dave Shideler, Dawn Thilmany, Merritt Taylor, and Blake Angelo. 2014. "An Evolving Classification Scheme of Local Food Business Models." Community, Local and Regional Food Systems eXtension Community of Practice Fact Sheet. Available at http://www.extension.org/pages/70544/an-evolving-classification-scheme-of-local-food-business-models#.VRLTxeH3Q8U
- Type:
Other
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2015
Citation:
Bauman, Allie, Dawn Thilmany, Becca Jablonski and Dave Shideler. 2015. "An Overview of Emerging Business Models in the Local Foods Landscape," Smart Marketing, March. Available at: http://agribusiness.dyson.cornell.edu/SmartMarketing/index.html
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