Cedar Valley Sustainable Farm
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Transcript of Cedar Valley Sustainable Farm
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Cedar Valley Sustainable Farm
Beth Osmund
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Operating an Innovative & Adaptable Small Scale Farm
A Producer’s Story
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Responsible stewardship of resources We raise our and animals in ways that
nurture and respect nature’s systems.
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Responsible stewardship of resources We raise our and animals in ways that
nurture and respect nature’s systems.
We sell food at its true cost It isn’t deflated by government subsidies
or inflated by middlemen.
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Responsible stewardship of resources We raise our and animals in ways that nurture
and respect nature’s systems. We sell food at its true cost
It isn’t deflated by government subsidies or inflated by middlemen.
We wish to make a living wage off our products. We work hard on the farm and should be able to
support our family with that work.
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Responsible stewardship We raise our and animals in ways that nurture and respect
nature’s systems. We sell food at its true cost
It isn’t deflated by government subsidies or inflated by middlemen.
We wish to make a living wage off our products. We work hard on the farm and should be able to support
our family with that work.
Finally, sustainable means leaving this land to our children in better condition than when we began
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Community Supported AgricultureCSA is a model in which
consumers and farmers come together in a mutually beneficial relationship.
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Vegetable CSA 50-60 shares 6-8 drop-off locations
Lesson Learned:We were spread too thinWe weren’t communicating
effectively
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2005 Local ONLY
Veggie CSA and Farmer’s Market
InnovationsCSA delivery at market
Lessons LearnedLocal only was too small
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2006 Weekly Ottawa & Chicago Markets Worked with regular volunteers Farm became sole source of income Expanded product line
Veggies FlowersChicken EggsHoliday Turkeys BeefPork
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2006Innovations Weekly email newsletter Recipes at the market Packaging products w/ recipes Taking our “show” on the road for sales
Lessons Learned We had overextended again! Meat had a lot of potential
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Hired “Vegetable Manager”
Received SARE grant to expand meat production and marketing
Purchased market cart, trailer, coolers and chest freezers
Developed marketing strategy
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Monthly meat CSA and weekly Vegetable CSA 70 vegetable shares and 78 quarterly
meat shares
Farmer’s Market direct retail meat and vegetable sales
2007
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Innovations Monthly Meat CSA Summer Bounty share
Lessons Learned Communicate expectations clearly with
employees We needed to narrow our focus even more
2007
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Received a Frontera Foundation Grant to help expand capacity. Installed walk in freezer/cooler
Meat CSA – a monthly assortment of beef, pork, chicken and eggs – delivered year round.
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Innovations Started GreenFarmers network Outsourced veggie operation Took on more education & leadership roles
Illinois OrganicGreat Lakes CSAMichael Fields Agricultural InstituteCRAFT
Farm Events for members
2008
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Lessons Learned Carefully vet the people associated with our
farm Protect our brand
2008
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Frontera Grant Cargo box chick brooders
Meat CSA Added 5 delivery locations Approximately 200 members per month
Bi-monthly Farmer’s Market 3 employees (100 – 110 hours/wk)
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Innovations Refined and expanded production & CSA Media savvy marking Farm website Negotiating up front pricing for livestock &
grain
Lessons Learned Protect our time
2009
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Adding 2 monthly markets
SARE grant to launch cooperative restaurant sales venture
Illinois Local Food, Farms and Jobs council
2010
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Innovations Relationship marketing expanding into
restaurant accounts Using social media to build brand
Lessons LearnedTBD!
2010
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Themes Adaptability Carefully select opportunities to pursue Communication Relationship building
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True wealth is an interconnected web of mutually beneficial relationships.