Progress 09/01/19 to 08/29/23
Outputs
Target Audience:Over the course of the four years of the project we were able to work with four target audience groups: 1. Organic agricultural producers in Minnesota, North Dakota, Wisconsin, and Iowa 2. Organic member associations 3. Agricultural professionals that work with organic producers, which includes farm business management instructors, agricultural lenders, organic certifiers, and organic input suppliers. 4. Academic professionals, which includes faculty, Extension specialists, and Extension educators. Each of these audiences were reached across a various of formats. These included public presentations, invited seminars, in-person meetings, as well as output posted on UMN's CFFM website. Changes/Problems:The project team acknowledges that we have not achieved our target recruitment and enrollment goals for this project. We have discussed the potential causes of low enrollment and conclude that the following had a significant impact on program participation: Prevention of in-person recruitment and programming for three years due to the COVID-19 pandemic; Mental and physical fatigue due to pandemic (more labor came from unpaid on-farm labor) precluded interest in "trying something new"; and Lack of general familiarity with FBM programming. To mitigate these issues for future grants, we would suggestpreliminary enrollment committment from farmers prior to submitting the grant. This would help identify target participants while jointly building an internal promotional network for the opportunity. The research team had strong support and excitement for this project from organic producers and member organizations in 2018 when the grant was submitted, however beginning recruitment in Fall 2019 and Spring 2020 made it difficult to achieve our recruitment targets. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Over the course of the project a number of training activities were completed. Graduate student training - two graduate students were funded through this grant opportunity. The PI met with the students on a weekly basis and helped develop critical skills regarding agricultural economic analysis and organic production. Farm Business Management Instructors - instructors that previously worked with organic producers worked with new instructors to provide insight regarding unique data collection processes for organic production. Academic Professionals - output from this project was presented in a number of ways to share the information more broadly. The one-page summaries have been used in various Extension programs to easily present the output from this work. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The results have been disseminated to a number of communities via numerous communication methods. The items listed below are in addition to what has been reported in previous annual reports. A print version of the 2021 benchmark report was distributed to each state's FBM lead contact (September 2022); An electronic copy of the 2021 benchmark report is posted on the Center for Farm Financial Management's website and cross-linked with the AgCentric's organic website (September 2022); Electronic fact sheets were distributed to farm lenders at the FBM annual farm lender meeting (November 2022); Electronic copies of the 2021 benchmark report were distributed directly to communities of interest direct emails (November 2022). A press release was issued via the University of Minnesota's Communications Department to Extension educators and targeted ag press (November 2022). Articles appeared in Feedstuffs (November 7, 2022) and on the UMN College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences website (October 2022) and the Minnesota Crop Improvement Association website (January 12, 2023). The Benchmark report has been visited 105 times at the Center for Farm Financial Management webpage during year 4 of the project (9/1/22 - 8/17/23) The Ag Centric website's organic benchmarking site was visited 187 times (total page views) in year 4 (9/1/22 - 8/7/23); 252 timesin year 3 (9/1/21 - 8/17/22) and 284 times in year 2 of the project (9/1/20 - 8/15/21). Please note that the print and electronic versions of the 2020-2022 benchmark report are in their final review stage and will be distributed in a similar manner at the 70th annual Farm Business Management Meeting in September 2023. The website hosting these outputs will also be updated. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?This was the fourth and final year of our project. While the project end date is August 31, 2023, we do have a number of speaking engagements and outputs planned for September 2023. Each of the items are detailed below. Presentation at the 70th Annual Minnesota Farm Business Management conference (September 10-11, 2022); Press release via University of Minnesota College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences to Extension educators, lenders, government agencies and ag press; Press release to farm organizations and certification agencies in Minnesota, Wisconsin, North Dakota and Iowa; Peer-reviewed journal article under development. The article will explore the hypothesis that organic farms are more resilient during general economic instability by comparing organic and conventional farm performance in the Upper Midwest during a pre-COVID period (2017-2019) and during the COVID-19 pandemic (2020-2022).
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Below each of the objectives are listed in bold with a description of achievements over the 4 years of the project. We have included further details regarding specific achievements made in Year 4 of the project (9/01/2022 - 8/31/23) during our 1-year no-cost extension. Objective 1: Recruit up to 170 organic farmers from the Upper Midwest region (MN, ND, WI) who do not currently participate in a farm business management program and compile data on farm production and financial performance measures. Minnesota: 74 farms (2022). Previous years: 64 farms (2019), 84 farms (2020), 93 farms (2021); Wisconsin: 14 farms (2022). Previous years: 11 farms (2019), 13 farms (2020), 16 farms (2021); and North Dakota: 0 farms (2022). Previous years: 1 farm (2019), 1 farm (2020), 2 farms (2021). In an effort to further improve enrollment in the fourth year, tuition cost-share for farm business management programming was expanded to include organic farmers in Northern Iowa. The following activities were initiated to promote the expanded tuition cost-share programming in year four (2022): Electronic ads were developed for MN Organic Conference and these were "aired" during all break sessions throughout the conference (January 6-7,2023). Presentations about project, recruitment and scholarship availability were made by team project members to: Farm Business Management Annual Meeting, St. Cloud, MN (September 13, 2022); Iowa Organic Conference, Ames, IA (November 21, 2022); MN Organic Conference, St. Cloud, MN (January 5, 2023); and Marbleseed Organic Conference, La Crosse, WI (February 23-25, 2023) While these efforts did result in additional farms enrolled in the program during Spring 2023, they were not able to contribute data for the 2022 report. Additionally, farm numbers in 2022 were lower due to an FBM instructor retirement which resulted in the data not being uploaded to the database. We would also be remiss not to acknowledge that the dairy industry has faced a number of challenges during the time period of the study with the number of Minnesota dairy farms decreasing by close to 50% over the study time period. Objective 2: Develop benchmark reports for certified organic row crops (corn, soybeans, and wheat), forage (hay and corn silage), and dairy farms to evaluate relationships between yield, efficiency, production, and financial performance of organic production and how it affects farm management decisions over time. The PI and Co-PI worked with farm business management instructors in MN, ND, and WI to ensure organic data was compiled systematically. This data was used to generate the Upper Midwest Organic report, which was released in September each year. As more data was included in the database, the annual report included a rolling average of all financial estimates. Each year's report can be obtained on the Center for Farm Financial Management's website at https://www.cffm.umn.edu/farm-business-management-annual-reports/. Objective 3: Develop and deliver extension programming that helps farmers understand the relationship between farm management decisions and farm profitability for certified organic producers, transitioning organic producers, potential organic producers, and agricultural professionals that support organic producers. Extension activities were reported in each annual report. The project team continued to develop a suite of materials to connect with a number of audiences over the duration of the project. A list of the 4 Extension activities completed in Year 4 of the project are included below--these activities included information across the duration of the project and can be viewed as a Extension outputs for the entirety of the project. The Upper Midwest Organic 2020-2021 Annual Report along with one-page fact sheets were promoted at fall/winter 2022/2023 events including the Iowa Organic Conference (Ames, IA), Minnesota Organic Conference (St. Cloud, MN) and the Marbleseed Organic Conference (LaCrosse, WI). Benchmarking results from 2020-2021 were compiled and presented by a graduate student as a poster at the Marbleseed Conference (LaCrosse, WI) (February 2023). The poster was awarded second place in the annual Marbleseed competition. Results from the 2020-2021 benchmark report were shared with FBM instructors at the annual Farm Lender meeting (60-70 people) (November 9, 2022). A project team member continued to meet with new MN FBM instructors to discuss project objectives, data availability and organic cost-share opportunities (October 2022 - March 2023).
Publications
- Type:
Other
Status:
Under Review
Year Published:
2023
Citation:
DiGiacomo, G. 2023. 2020-2022: Organic Farm Performance in the Upper Midwest, Whole Farm & Enterprise Reports. Available at: https://www.cffm.umn.edu/farm-business-management-annual-reports/
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Progress 09/01/21 to 08/31/22
Outputs
Target Audience:Three target audiences have been reached in the 3rd year of the project: 1. Organic agricultural producers in Minnesota, North Dakota, and Wisconsin 2. Organic member organizations 3. Agricultural professionals that work with organic producers, which includes farm business management instructors, agricultural lenders, organic certifiers, and organic input suppliers. Changes/Problems:The project team acknowledges that we have not achieved our target recruitment and enrollment goals for this project. As evidenced with our annual accomplishment report, we continue to meet with organic producers and present our results at relevant workshops to promote this opportunity. We continue to observe increased engagement with organic producers as more in person events occur. The project team continues to recruit organic farms into the program and are confident that the data will continue to be enhanced with the 1 year no cost extension. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The following opportunities for training and development were completed in the third year of the project. PI met monthly with graduate student and research staff to review data, analysis and presentations. UMN graduate student and research fellow presented 2020 results and analysis at the National Farm Business Management Conference, Fort Collins, CO (June, 14, 2022). How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The results have been disseminated to a number of communities via numerous communication methods. Information regarding the cost-share opportunity has been included in numerous industry newsletters in addition to a website, agcentric.org, developed to promote the content. The benchmark report has been distributed to each state's FBM lead contact and is posted on the Center for Farm Financial Management's website and cross-linked with the AgCentric's organic website to ensure it is easily available to our target audience. The Benchmark report has been visited X times at the Center for Farm Financial Management webpage during year 3 of the project (9/1/21 - 8/17/22) The Ag Centric website's organic benchmarking site was visited 252 times (total page views) in year 3 (9/1/21 - 8/17/22) and 284 times in year 2 of the project (9/1/20 - 8/15/21). What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?In the final year of the project under a no-cost-extension, the following items will be completed: Objective 1: Continued recruitment of organic farms to participate in the benchmarking cost-share opportunity in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and North Dakota. Objective 2: Compilation of the 2021 data and development of the 2020-2021 Upper Midwest Organic Benchmarking report. This will include 2020-2021 two-year average whole farm and enterprise analyses as well as estimates by individual year, farm size and certification status (total organic, partial organic, transitioning). Objective 2: Delivery of a 2-hour workshop during the MN Organic Conference in January 2023 where benchmark results will be shared by the project team and discussed by a farmer panel. Objective 3: Electronic and hard copy benchmark reports will be distributed at annual FBM educator meetings and at winter farmer conferences.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Each of the objectives are listed below with a description of achievements made in Year 3 of the project (9/01/2021 - 8/31/22). Objective 1: Recruit up to 170 organic farmers from the Upper Midwest region (MN, ND, WI) who do not currently participate in a farm business management program and compile data on farm production and financial performance measures. Prior to beginning the benchmarking project, a total of 67 farms were enrolled in the farm business management program with their data included in the FINBIN database for benchmark reporting. At the end of the third year of the project, enrollment had increased by 66% to 111 farms as follows: Minnesota: 93 farms (2021). Previous years: 64 farms (2019), 84 farms (2020); Wisconsin: 16 farms (2021). Previous years: 11 farms (2019), 13 farms (2020); and North Dakota: 2 farms (2021). Previous years: 1 farm (2019), 1 farm (2020). In an effort to further improve enrollment, tuition cost-share for farm business management programming was expanded to include all organic farms - regardless of farm size, enterprise type or certification status. The following activities were initiated to promote the expanded tuition cost-share programming in year three (2021): Customized press releases and emails were distributed multiple times to 58 groups representing Extension, ag press, state ag departments, farm organizations, certifiers and UMN research centers (December 1, 2021 - March 2, 2022). An article describing project and scholarships appeared in Organic Broadcaster, "Benchmarking project offers organic farmers reduced tuition for state farm business management programs" (October 6, 2021). An article describing project and scholarships appeared in Minnesota Agriculture, "Scholarships available for FBM program" (April 2022). Electronic ads were developed for MN Organic Conference and these were "aired" during all break sessions throughout the conference (January 6-7,2022). PI, AgCentric Assistant Director and UMN Research Fellow staffed a booth at the MOSES farm conference to distribute cost-share promotional materials and year 2 benchmarking results (February 28-29, 2022). Advisory board members met to discuss recruitment efforts and to brainstorm outreach options for fall/winter 2022-2023. This meeting was completed virtually without any travel incurred (July 21, 2022). Presentations about project, recruitment and scholarship availability were made by team project members to: Annual MN Farm Business Management Conference (September 14, 2021); Minnesota Fruit and Vegetable Expo (February 4, 2022); MOSES conference (February 26, 2022); MDA Minnesota Organic Advisory Task Force (March 30, 2022); MDA Emerging Farmer Working Group (April 8, 2022); and MDA Marketing Group (July 11, 2022) Objective 2: Develop benchmark reports for certified organic row crops (corn, soybeans, and wheat), forage (hay and corn silage), and dairy farms to evaluate relationships between yield, efficiency, production, and financial performance of organic production and how it affects farm management decisions over time. • PI and Co-PI worked with farm business management instructors in MN, ND, and WI to ensure organic data was compiled systematically. The second year of data was collected in 2021 and is being compiled into a benchmarking report for distribution at the farm business management conference in September 2022 and at several organic farming conferences in winter 2023. Objective 3: Develop and deliver extension programming that helps farmers understand the relationship between farm management decisions and farm profitability for certified organic producers, transitioning organic producers, potential organic producers, and agricultural professionals that support organic producers. The Upper Midwest Organic 2020 Annual Report along with one-page enterprise reports and a whole-farm financial report for organic farms were promoted at fall/winter 2021/2022 events and via press releases to farm organizations and organic certification agencies throughout Minnesota and Wisconsin. The report includes whole farm and enterprise financial data for certified organic and transitioning farms in MN and WI. A project team member met with two new MN FBM instructors to discuss project objectives, data availability and organic cost-share opportunities (August 4, 2022).
Publications
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Progress 09/01/20 to 08/31/21
Outputs
Target Audience:Three target audiences have been reached during Year 2: Organic Agricultural Producers that raise row crop and dairy farms in MN, WI, and ND. Organic member organizations: two organizations have agreed to help promote and recruit organic producers to participate in the program. Agricultural professionals that work with organic producers, which includes farm business management instructors, agricultural lenders, and input suppliers. Changes/Problems:Recruitment of farms to participate in this project began in January 2020, and over the past 18 months, the project team has struggled to recruit participants to the level of the goals indicated in the project proposal due to the shift from in-person to virtual farm management due to the global pandemic. A number of new strategies has been employed over this time period to address the low numbers, which include designating 8 hours of a FBM instructors time for 25 weeks to focus on recruitment, building a website, and creating a promotional video. However, the lack of in-person meetings seems to have decreased the project teams ability to promote the project and explain the benefits to a large group of individuals compared to one-on-one meetings held via zoom or over the phone.As more in-person meetings have been scheduled during Summer 2021, we observed a renewed interest in this project from potential organic farmers. In the third year of the project the PI and Co-PI are working with collaborators to build visually representative 1-pagers which highlight the financial benchmarks. We are hopeful that these 1-pagers will be easily distributed to organic farmers, input suppliers, and agricultural lenders to futher enhance the reach of this work while jointly building a recruitment network. Another challenge faced by this project was the inability to hire a graduate student in Year 2 to work on the project. The 2020-2021 academic year was a hybrid model a the University and many graduate students deferred enrollment for a year. In order to continue completing the tasks of the project designated to the graduate student (eg. compiling the benchmarking report, creating the 1-pagers, etc), a portion of the graduate student line item was re-budgeted to a pay 20% of an Agribusiness Management Regional Extension Educators time for 8-10 weeks to develope Extension content from the organic financial data. This has allowed us to continue achieving our Extension and outreach goals during a highly abnormal 18 months. The project team acknowledges that we have not hit our target recruitment numbers in addition to not funding a graduate student, but we have continued to achieve our outputs and deliverables so the project can provide useful financial content to agricultural producers in the Upper Midwest. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The following opportunities for traning and development were completed in the second year of the project. Organic data collection and analysis training for FBM instructors on Dec. 10, 2019 with 30 Minnesota and Wisconsin instructors in attendance. The webinar was recorded and is available on the CFFM benchmarking website z.umn.edu/benchmarking Closeout manual enhancements: 2020 edition updated with more detailed information on organic analysis procedures and related information, including screenshots of FINPACK data entry methodology for clarity and instructor learning. Updated April 2021 based on data cleaning efforts completed with 2020 data updated in FINBIN. Greater data integrity review prior to datasubmission - organic farm information was closely reviewed, vetted, and 'fixes' were suggested prior to submission to the national database. This pre-review improved data accuracy and integrity and also ensured analysis procedures were followed. In July 2021 the Upper Midwest bencharking results were presented at theMAAE conference to over 60 FBM instructors. Discussion followed the presentation, which focused on ways to improve recruitment during the remainder of the project as well as simplify data collection methods. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Information regarding the cost-share opportunity has been included in numerous industry newsletters in addition to a website developed to promote the content. The benchmark report has been distributed to each state's FBM lead contactand is posted on the Center for Farm Financial Management's website and cross-linked with the AgCentric's organic website to ensure it is easily available to our target audience. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?In the third year of the project, the following items will be completed. Objective 1: Continued effort on recruitment of organic farms to participate in the bencharking opportunity in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and North Dakota. Objective 2: Compile the 2021 data and generate the 2021 Upper Midwest Organic Benchmarking report. This will include the 2020 estimates to provide a year to year comparison. Jointly, one page documents for each enterprise that contributes data will be developed and distributed to showcase the financial performance at an enterprise level compared to a whole farm level. Objective 3: Benchmark reports will be distributed at annual FBM educator meetings that occur in 2022. Results will be presented at appropriate Extension effects as well as organic conferences.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Each of the objectives are listed below with a description of achievements made in Year 1 of the three year project. Objective 1: Recruit up to 170 organic farmers from the Upper Midwest region (MN, ND, WI) who do not currently participate in a farm business management program and compile data on farm production and financial performance measures. Two participating industry organizations (MOSES and NPSAS)developed promotional materials to recruit certified organic farms to participate in the project. This has included email correspondence as well as information included in newsletters and their annual publications. In an effort to improve recruitment methods during Covid-19, a portion of the budget was re-allocated to dedicate 20% of a farm business management instructor's time for 25 weeks to recruiting farms in MN, WI, and ND. The following items were completed by this individual: 642 farms received a postcard in August 2020, 150 of these farms were contacted via email or phone (depending on information available on the organic certification website). Ag Centric Website (https://agcentric.org/farm-business-management/organic-farming-resources/) focused on organic production released: 284 page visits (as of 1/22/21-8/9/21) Organic video developed and released on Ag Centrics website in February 2021 Efforts were made to reach out to organic certifiers as well as input suppliers to further broaden the reach of recruitment efforts. Monthly meetings starting September 2020 to check in on recruitment and enrollment numbers (9/29, 11/2, 12/10, 1/19, 2/22, 3/8, 4/12). As of August 2021, enrolled farm participants include: Minnesota: 67 farms enrolled in 2020 analysis, 73 farms enrolled for 2021 analysis Wisconsin: 13 farms enrolled in 2020analysis, 2021 numbers not available at this time North Dakota: 1 farmenrolled in 2020 analysis, 2 farms enrolled for 2021 analysis Objective 2: Develop benchmark reports for certified organic row crops (corn, soybeans, and wheat), forage (hay and corn silage), and dairy farms to evaluate relationships between yield, efficiency, production, and financial performance of organic production and how it affects farm management decisions over time. PI and Co-PI worked with farm business management associations in MN, ND, and WI to ensure organic data was compiled systetematically. Advisory board members met in February 2021 to discuss preliminary data and in July 2021 to review final Benchmark report. Note, all meetings were completed virtually without any travel incurred due to Covid. Upper Midwest Benchmark report was released July 2021. Objective 3: Develop and deliver extension programming that helps farmers understand the relationship between farm management decisions and farm profitability for certified organic producers, transitioning organic producers, potential organic producers, and agricultural professionals that support organic producers. Year 2 - in progress, first year of full data was collected in 2020. One page summaries of enterprise financial benchmarks are in development and will be released on-line as well as distributed via newsletters to showcase the benchmarking efforts as well as provide additional learning opportunities for the agricultural professionals that support organic farmers.
Publications
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2021
Citation:
Hadrich, J.C. and P. Van Nurden. 2021. Organic Benchmarking Update. Presented at MAAE Conference, July 7, 2021, Moorhead, MN.
- Type:
Other
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2021
Citation:
University of Minnesota Extension. July 2021. "Upper Midwest Organic Farm Business Management 2020 Annual Report. Available at: https://www.cffm.umn.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Upper-Midwest-Organic-Farm-Business-Management-2020-Annual-Report-Final2.pdf
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Progress 09/01/19 to 08/31/20
Outputs
Target Audience:Three target audiences have been reached during Year 1: 1. Organic Agricultural Producers that raise row crop anddairy farms in MN, WI, and ND. 2. Organic member organizations: Three organizations have agreed to help promote and recruit organic producers to participate in the program. 3. Agricultural professionals that work with organic producers, which includes farm business management instructors, agricultural lenders, and input suppliers. Changes/Problems:The PI and Co-PI were notified in November 2019 that the award paperwork was in progress, and quickly collected farm information for recruitment efforts, developed recruitment materials, and cost-share applications to verify organic certification. However, the funds were not distributed until Summer of 2020, which decreased our ability to cover cost-shares at the participating farm business management associations. Summer is a time when recruitment for farm business programs occurs, and we have a strategy to increase our numbers participating. We would be remiss not to mention the reality that much of farm business management is one-on-one hands on learning between the organic farmer and the farm business management instructors. This normal strategy has been disrupted over the past 6 months, and a new virtual setting is being implemented in the farm business management learning model. The virtual opportunities may result in increased participation numbers. We acknowledge that we did not hit our targets for the first year of the project, but have a plan and strategy in place to continue recruitment and reach our goals. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Training and Professional Development for this project are defined as the following: Objective 1:Farm business management instructors are working with new and existing organic farms to develop their book keeping and financial skills to provide more detailed organic financial analysis. Objective 2:Outcomes of the benchmark analysis will provide more information to farmers considering transitioning to organic production. Additionally, the results of the benchmark analysis will be used by existing organic producers and agricultural lenders to provide a target for financial performance. Objective 3:Nothing to report in Year 1. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Information regarding the cost-share opportunity has been included in numerous industry newsletters in addition to a website developed to promote the content. A benchmark report specific to this project is in development, which specific organic budgets can be accessed for each state at finbin.umn.edu What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?In the second year of the project, the following items will be completed: Objective 1:Continue recruitment of organic farms to hit the targets outlined in the grant. Each participating state has identified an individual to be the lead recruiter to work with MOSES, NPSAS, and NFO as well as state level farm business management programs toincrease farm participation. Objective 2:Finalize benchmark report for Year 1 and seek input from stakeholder advisory board. Continue working with FBM instructors adding new organic farms to the database to ensure data accuracy. Objective 3:Benchmark reports will be distributed at annual FBM educator meetings that occur in Winter 2020-2021. Work with the UMN AgBusiness Management Extension team to build organic benchmarking workshops for Summer 2021.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Each of the objectives are listed below with a description of achievements made in Year 1 of the three year project. Objective 1:Recruit up to 170 organic farmers from the Upper Midwest region (MN, ND, WI) who do not currently participate in a farm business management program and compile data on farm production and financial performance measures. The three participating industry organizations (MOSES, NPSAS, and NFO) have developed promotional materials to recruit certified organic farms to participate in the project. This has included email correspondence as well as information included in newsletters. PI and Co-PI developed application and verification spreadsheet to award cost-shares to existing and new organic row crop and dairy operations. A certified organic farmer contact list meeting the specifications of the grant was obtained from the USDA organic Integrity Database (https://organic.ams.usda.gov/integrity/) to identify farms to recruit. This resulted in 689 MN farms, 415 WI farms, and 22 ND farms Postcards were sent to 689 MN organic row crop and dairy farms in November 2019. MN farm business management instructors have also included recruitment information in their quarterly or monthly newsletters. As of August 2020, 27 MN farms received a 25% scholarship and 21 received a 50% scholarship in Year 1 of the program. A dedicated farm business instrucotr has been identified to provide more targeted recruitment efforts to increase farm participation in Year 2. North Dakota Farm Business Management Association contacted 30 certified and/or transitioning to organic farming operations to participate in the program. Collaboration with the North Dakota State Local Food Specialist and industry newsletters were also used for recruitment. As of August 2020, 1 ND received a 50% scholarship in Year 1 of the program. Additional marketing materials are in development to increase farm participation in Year 2. The Wisconsin farm business management program collaborated with 2 organic milk processors to provide information about the cost-share opportunity via correspondence in monthly milk check mailings. Informational sessions have also been offered, but with low attendance due to sessions being offered in the first quarter of 2020. As of August 2020, WI has not been able to recruit additional organic farms to the database. New marketing materials are in development to increase recruitment to meet target goals in Year 2. Objective 2: Develop benchmark reports for certified organic row crops (corn, soybeans, and wheat), forage (hay and corn silage), and dairy farms to evaluate relationships between yield, efficiency, production, and financial performance of organic production and how it affects farm management decisions over time. PI and Co-PI worked with farm business management associations in MN, ND, and WI to ensure organic data was compiled systematically. Benchmark work is in progress, to be presented to the Advisory Board meeting in Winter 2020-2021. Objective 3: Develop and deliver extension programming that helps farmers understand the relationship between farm management decisions and farm profitability for certified organic producers, transitioning organic producers, potential organic producers, and agricultural professionals that support organic producers. Nothing to report in Year 1.
Publications
- Type:
Other
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2020
Citation:
Hadrich, J.C., and P. Van Nurden. 2020 Benchmarking project offers organic farmers reduced tuition for state farm business management programs. Organic Broadcaster. Available at: https://mosesorganic.org/publications/broadcaster-newspaper/reduced-tuition-for-farmers/
- Type:
Websites
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2020
Citation:
Resources for Organic Farmers: https://agcentric.org/organic-farming-resources/
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