Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture

Completed Competitive Grant

New food entrepreneurs: Value added enterprises for farm profitability, facilitating understanding between producers, processors and policymakers

Project ID: M2006-23

Abstract

This study researched the challenges and opportunities to improve Iowa's small food processing sector.

Key Question: What new business opportunities are open to Iowa farmers?

Findings: The project revealed business opportunities for Iowa farmers including on-farm processing, reiterated the importance of developing a sound business plan, and emphasized that it may be more productive for the private sector to develop creative, innovative business responses to policy realities than to try and influence regulatory policy. Producers who are interested in selling to institutions should strongly consider forming producer-marketing associations (aka: cooperatives) in order to capitalize on current consumer perception and demand for local foods.

Lead investigator: Richard Graves, Wallace House Foundation, et al

Year of grant completion: 2008

This competitive grant project was part of the Leopold Center's Marketing Initiative.

Topics: Farmer profitability, enterprise budgets, Human systems, demographics and beginning farmer programs