An Initiative of the NY Farm Viability Institute USDA-AIC Final Report Mike Hoffmann Bill Lesser Kris Park.

An Initiative of the NY Farm Viability Institute

USDA-AIC Final ReportMike Hoffmann

Bill Lesser

Kris Park

IPM 3 IPM growers 126-TracApple ’04 50 IPM growers

943 Trac ’04 307-TracGrape ’04 450 633 Trac ’05 433 in '04 total Trac users

301 in '05 total

Value-Added Dairy 10 N/A N/A

Business Plans 210 51 25

Business Structure 38 12 10

Crop Value-Enh. 1,411 26 20

Ec. & Env. Manure Sol. 34 5 5

Value-Added Hort. 147 16 10

Summary# Contacts # Client # Client by Potential Projects Project

Project Component Clients Completed Deliverables

Return on Investment Approx. cost per unit “produced”:

Business plan - $3,248 Includes resource materials, outreach development, and training

Product developed (FVC) - $19,190 Marketing/feasibility plan - $2,212

Includes costs of development of 5 educational modules Structure consulting - $7,628

Includes resource development, publications, outreach Software to participating growers - $205

Includes traceability assistance, resource materials Manure feasibility study per grower - $31,350

Includes cost of developing financial model

Producer Assistance by Industry and Activity

Completed Producer Projects

Value-Added Projects2

89

Fruits & Vegetables 40

Marketing 23

Dairy 19

Organic 16

Livestock 5

Small Livestock 6

Cheese 3

Specialty 9

Field Crops 3

Green 4

Miscellaneous 8

.

Centralized Database

Producer contact information; farm type, structure, commodities, activities; referral information; project activities; and consultant contacts with the producer via telephone or farm visits.

95

22

11

47 1

1

10

15

1

9

11

2

1

1

5

22

101

1

24 1

88

5

115

1

2

14

10

1

5

15

1

11

36

1

364

3

3 19

1

11

1

1

1

1

NY AIC producer projects by county

NY AIC Website

www.nyaic.org

Opportunities/Growth

Increased Partnering – internally and externally Common accountability and common goals Interdisciplinary approach Discerning “new” program needs

Business plans—5-fold increase by NY FarmNet/FarmLink Appropriate business structures for producers evaluating

renewable energy opportunities

CHALLENGES

Evaluation of impacts Time and cost to recruit and develop new,

itinerant staff Confusion as to who and what AIC is Seasonality of most agricultural production Grant writing to aid producer projects

AIC Components Business Plan Assistance Business Structure Development Crop Value-Enhancement Economic & Environmental Manure Solutions IPM Labeling & TracApple Value-Added Dairy Value-Added Horticulture Businesses

Business Plan Assistance

GOAL: Assist producers in the creation of business

plans

Business Plan Assistance

COMPLETED DELIVERABLES: 210 contacts requested assistance; 90 producer

clients agreements; 51 completed plans 500 workbook hard copies distributed, available at:

http://www.nyaic.org/pre-planning_guide.htm Developed worksheets and computerized tools for

outreach consultants Provided training for 44 consultants

Business Structure DevelopmentGOALS: Assist groups/firms select business structures Assist them to acquire capital & management

necessary Assist design of governance & decision-making

structures

Business Structure

COMPLETED DELIVERABLES: 38 growers &/or groups requested assistance; 17

client agreements; 12 client projects completed Presentations and workshop - CCE staff

statewide, NY FarmNet volunteers, CCE Farm management educators

Bibliography of current publications and developing business structure tools

Business Structure

COMPLETED DELIVERABLES, cont.

Published and distributed: “Doing Business in New York State: Structures and Strategies” “Considerations in Establishing a New Business Structure for

Farm Energy Enterprises” “Wind Energy Development in NYS: Issues for Landowners” Webpage - business structure information and tools

Held “Strengthening Cooperation - A workshop for new and emerging farmer-owned business”

Crop Value-Enhancement

GOALS: Provide direct technical services to producers

resulting in implementation of value-added businesses focused on fruits and vegetables through processing 

Develop strategic alliances to facilitate implementation

Crop Value-Enhancement

fruit wines gourmet jarred peaches fresh-peeled onions apple products peeled potatoes roasted soybeans black currant beverage

gourmet pickled vegetables fruit vinegars grape products fermented and sweet cider beach plum products granola refrigerated cider blends

1411 requests for assistance; 26 projects completed

Crop Value-EnhancementCOMPLETED DELIVERABLES, cont.

Identification of technical services for successful implementation Advice on processing and packaging equipment Food safety evaluations Support for quality control and assurance procedures Assistance in developing HACCP plans Identification of distribution and market opportunities Assistance with business plans Identification of manufacturing space and co-packing arrangements Production and evaluation of product prototypes and procedures Process development for new products based on targeted

specifications

Economic & Environmental Manure Solutions

GOAL: Identify & analyze current technologies as options

to convert manure into a value added enterprise

Economic & Environmental Manure Solutions

COMPLETED DELIVERABLES: 4 business/financial plans completed; 10 plans ongoing;

2 projects under construction

Financial Analysis Model to assist in business planning

completed and on WWW - currently being utilized in

business planning

Wrote 6 grant applications with farmers for their project

funding

IPM Labeling and TracApple©

GOAL: Assist farmers in capturing consumer

demand for environmentally healthy and sustainable foods, and for increasing the market availability of those foods.

IPM Labeling and TracApple©COMPLETED DELIVERABLES: Users - 100 TracApple, 300 TracGrape, 25

TracStoneFruit, and 25 TracBerry TracSoftware developed for 13 crops including

grape, pear, stone fruits, cherries, and berries & secured grant to develop TracTurf

IPM Elements finalized for potatoes, onions, juice grapes, and apples - see WWW.

IPM Labeling and TracApple©

COMPLETED DELIVERABLES, cont. Refocus from retail IPM label development to

SYSCO and wholesale distribution – aiding in development of traceability standards

Value-Added Dairy

GOAL: To enhance on-farm returns to New York State

producers initiating value-added dairy food processing ventures

Value-Added Dairy

COMPLETED DELIVERABLES: Market research report containing

The NY Specialty Cheese Market – Demand Considerations (Survey of restaurant trade, specialty shops, & wineries)

The New York Specialty Cheese Market – Supply Considerations

Key Marketing Points Identified multiple cheeses as suitable for

each channel

Value-Added Horticulture Businesses

GOAL: Develop tools and provide services to assist

emerging and existing horticultural operations in adopting value-added business and marketing practices

Value-Added Horticulture

COMPLETED DELIVERABLES: 16 producer projects completed

i.e. marketing strategy studies, pricing information, feasibility studies, market potential

Developing 5 educational modules: “Market/Marketing Research” “Pricing Strategies”, “Product Development”,

“Retail Food Channel”, and “Marketing to the Foodservice Channel”

Impact

NYFVI/NY AIC: Over $25 million in ag. investments Increased first year sales of $676,000, on farms Over 30 jobs created (potential for 76 more) Calculated decisions prevented losses of over

$290,000 Over 900 NY farms assisted (incl. coop. members

and growers working collaboratively)