Articles

Marketing

CIAS projects on sustainable, value-added marketing strategies include CSA, co-ops, selling to educational institutions, and strategies for reaching consumers with information about sustainable agriculture and eating.

Consumer messages for marketing grass-fed animal products

CIAS is a partner in this Midwest Food Alliance project. The Midwest Food Alliance conducted focus group interviews in Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin to ascertain the most powerful messages that consumers associate with pasture-based beef, pork, dairy and poultry products. Two farms selling pastured animal products in each of the three participating states will test these messages with their customers. The participating Wisconsin farms market pastured poultry and specialty cheese. For more information, contact Steve Stevenson or Cris Carusi

Community supported agriculture

CIAS began to study the local community supported agriculture (CSA) movement in 1993 when CSA farms began to appear in the Madison area. With SARE funding and collaborators in northern Wisconsin and Minnesota, CIAS has conducted case studies of both individual farms and CSA farm networks. The research has emphasized the organizational aspects of running this type of farm, with research team members exploring important issues such as economics, scale, and member involvement and education. A series of research briefs and a bibliography of CSA how-to guides for growers are available, as well as a forthcoming CSA guidebook. Future work on CSA will focus on economics, quality of life issues, and farmer entry strategies.

More recently, CIAS has collaborated on a national survey of CSA farms. This is a national, longitudinal panel study of CSA farms with a survey every two years. The results from the 1999 growing season are available in a report: CSA Across the Nation: Findings from the 1999 CSA Survey. Results from the 2001 growing season are also available. For more information, contact John Hendrickson.

Eco-Apple Project

The Wisconsin Apple Growers Association, two grower networks, three consultants and UW researchers are working with CIAS to develop production methods consistent with sustainable apple production in Wisconsin. The project is training Extension educators and other agricultural professionals about pesticide reduction strategies for growers. Visit the Eco-Apple Project web site for more information.

Southeastern network growers:

  • John Aue, network coach
  • Kristin Kleeberger, network coordinator
  • David Flannery, Apple Holler Orchard, Sturtevant
  • Wendy and Ken Schaefer, Arrowhead Orchards, Clinton
  • William and Judy Stone, Brightonwoods Orchard, Burlington
  • Robert Willard, Ela Orchard, Rochester
  • Connie and Fritz Brockhus, Apple Hut Orchard, Beloit
  • Don and Paula Awe, Awe's Apple Orchard, Franklin
  • Dan Scheel, The Elegant Farmer, Mukwonago

Northeastern network growers:

  • Matt Stasiak, network coach and coordinator
  • Daniel and Julie Kielar, Kielar Akers Orchard, Sturgeon Bay
  • Jane and Wade Fletcher, Fletcher's Crooked Tree Orchard, Casco
  • Jeff, Jim and Steve Wood, Wood Orchard, Sturgeon Bay
  • Bill Roethel, Hillside Apples, Casco
  • James Seaquist, Seaquist Orchards, Ellison Bay
  • Dave and Helene Pagoria, Helene's Hilltop Orchard, Merrill

IPM resources (University of Wisconsin Extension):

  • Patricia McManus, plant pathology
  • Teryl Roper, horticulture
  • Dan Mahr, entomology

County Educators involved in the Eco-apple Project:

  • Jerry Clarke, Chippewa County
  • Paul Hartman, Brown County
  • Steven Huntzicker, LaCrosse County
  • Steven Kohlstedt, Richland County
  • Pat Murphy, Wisconsin NRCS
  • Patti Nagai, Racine County
  • Vijaikumar Pandian, Bayfield County

Contacts: Michelle Miller and Sheri Butterfield Young

Home Grown Wisconsin

Home Grown Wisconsin (HGW) is a local marketing cooperative based in southern Wisconsin. Small-scale organic farmers make up the co-op's membership. The co-op has sold fresh produce to restaurants in Madison and Chicago since 1996. CIAS staff member John Hendrickson serves as an advisory board member and has tracked the development of the organization. For more information, contact John Hendrickson.

Specialty cheese in Wisconsin: A study of the opportunities and challenges

This is a baseline study of Wisconsin’s specialty cheese micro-industry. It seeks to understand the many ways in which Wisconsin farmers participate in specialty cheese businesses. It also examines the characteristics of Wisconsin specialty cheese businesses that enable them to be profitable and competitive during this recent national growth trend in specialty cheese. Audiences for the study include farmers, cheese manufacturers and other businesses that form part of the specialty cheese micro-industry in the region. This study is part of the North Central Initiative for Small Farm Profitability, a project CIAS is carrying out in collaboration with colleagues in Missouri, Nebraska, Iowa and Wisconsin. It is also supported by USDA’s IFAFS (Initiative for Future Agriculture and Food Systems) Program. For more information, contact Steve Stevenson or Laurie Greenberg. Greenberg is an Honorary Fellow with CIAS who is conducting the study for the Center.

Value-added survey

This project seeks to provide the first comprehensive portrait of value-added agriculture in Wisconsin. For purposes of this survey, “value-added” is defined as any production, marketing, or product differentiation that farmers employ to increase the value of their products, e.g., organic production or direct marketing. Project partners at the Program on Agricultural Technology Studies will develop a database of value added agricultural enterprises and conduct a survey to gather much needed information about this sector. For more information, contact Steve Stevenson or John Hendrickson.

Sustainable Woods Cooperative case study

CIAS has commissioned a case study of the Sustainable Woods Cooperative, a woodland owners’ cooperative that recently closed its operations. Two types of case studies will be produced focusing on the lessons learned from this promising but failed enterprise: a teaching case study that will be used in classes in the UW-Madison’s Business School, and a descriptive case study for use by the CIAS. For more information, contact Steve Stevenson.

Farm Fresh Atlas

The Farm Fresh Atlas helps people in the Dane County area buy fresh produce, meat, cheese, and other locally grown food directly from farmers and businesses. The Atlas includes descriptions and locations of over 60 farms and food-related businesses that sell their products directly to customers in southern Wisconsin. In addition, the Atlas lists farmers’ markets, restaurants, food co-ops and other business sponsors that feature locally grown food. All of the farms and businesses listed in the Atlas pledge to protect our land and water resources, treat animals with care and respect, and provide safe working conditions for their employees. CIAS played a lead role in developing the content and layout of the 2002-2004 Farm Fresh Atlas, along with REAP Food Group and the Dane County Farmers Market. We are helping groups in other regions of Wisconsin create their own Atlases. For more information, contact Cris Carusi.

The College Food Project

Click here for more information on the college food project.

Wisconsin Homegrown Lunch

A farm-to-school program for Madison's public schools

Every day, thousands of Madison children line up for breakfast and lunch at school. School meals are a significant part of their daily food consumption—and for many children, they may be the day’s only source of nutritious food. Wisconsin Homegrown Lunch believes that our school children, regardless of income level, should have access to Wisconsin’s highest quality agricultural products.

Like other farm-to-school programs around the country, Wisconsin Homegrown Lunch helps children reconnect with their natural world, strengthens links between the classroom and the community, and fosters a stable market for local farmers and processors.

Currently, Wisconsin Homegrown Lunch is piloting a farm-to-school program in three Madison elementary schools. Hands-on activities will provide teachers and students with a critical educational link between the classroom and the lunchroom. Proposed supportive activities include field trips to farms, classroom visits by farmers, taste-testing local food, school-wide food fairs and local meals, lunchroom composting and recycling, school gardening, curricula enrichment, and art projects focused on themes of food and community.

We are working with the Madison Metropolitan School District’s food services department and local growers and processors to identify barriers and opportunities for purchasing and preparing local, fresh products that are consistent with National School Lunch Program nutritional requirements.

Wisconsin Homegrown Lunch is a joint project of the REAP (Research, Education, Action and Policy) Food Group and CIAS. This project has been initially supported by a grant from the USDA Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program (SARE) and by the North Central Initiative for Small Farm Profitability.

For up-to-date information on Wisconsin Homegrown Lunch activities and farm-to-school events around the country, visit www.reapfoodgroup.org/farmtoschool.

For more information, contact Sara Tedeschi.

Echinacea as a tobacco crop alternative?

Many Wisconsin tobacco farmers are looking for alternative crops following reductions in tobacco allotments and tobacco markets. Allotment reductions mean lower production levels and lower incomes for tobacco farmers. One crop proposed as an alternative to tobacco is echinacea, or purple coneflower, grown mainly for its medicinal root. Echinacea has enjoyed success in the herbal medicinal market as an immune system booster. But the marketing requirements of echinacea are very different than those of tobacco.

CIAS staff member Don Schuster researched the emerging echinacea market, as well as the crop's suitability for tobacco growers. Although there are currently profits to be made in the organic echinacea market, growing and marketing echinacea can be extremely risky. For more in formation, contact Don Schuster.

Related web sites:

Emerging Ag Markets Team, UW Extension
Information on new and emerging farm and agricultural markets.

Wisconsin Ag Innovation Center
Support and resources for those exploring innovative agriculture related ventures in Wisconsin.

Biodynamic Farming and Gardening Association's CSA page
General information on community supported agriculture; nationwide listing of CSA farms.

Community Supported Agriculture of North America
Links to CSA information.

Consumers Union Guide to Environmental Labels
A one-stop resource explaining eco-labels found on food and forestry products.

Core Values Northeast
An eco-label project for apples grown in the northeast using biointensive IPM practices.

Dane County Farmers Market
Take a tour of the market, look up recipes, and learn how to support local, sustainable agriculture.

The Food Alliance
An eco-labelling project for sustainably-grown food from the Northwest.

Food Marketing Institute
Facts about the grocery industry and retail food marketing.

Local Harvest
A searchable database of direct marketing farms across the US.

Madison Area Community Supported Agriculture Coalition
CSA farms serving the Madison area.

Midwest Food Alliance
An eco-labelling project for sustainably-grown food from the Midwest.

The National Organic Program
The NOP final rule, accreditation, and USDA seal use.

The North Central Initiative for Small Farm Profitability: http://www.farmprofitability.org/

The Organic Alliance
A marketing project bringing organics to major supermarket chains.

Wisconsin potato eco-labeling project
An eco-labeling project for Wisconsin potatoes grown using IPM practices.

USDA Farmer Direct Marketing site
Resources, links, and a national farmers' market directory.

Wisconsin Sheep Dairy Cooperative: http://www.sheepmilk.biz/

Wisconsin Specialty Cheese Institute: http://www.wisspecialcheese.org/