High Value Markets
| Half of American consumers say they will pay a premium for food produced in environmentally and socially responsible ways. We are helping farmers and ranchers build the cooperatives to reach those consumers. |
Resources and Grants for Cooperatives
The Center for Rural Affairs has dedicated staff time and resources in working directly with farmers and ranchers to organize cooperatives and access high value markets. The following resources provide helpful information. If you have questions, contact Mike Heavrin, mikeh@cfra.org or call 402.687.2103 x 1008.
The Value Added Producer Grant Program (VAPG) is a competitive grants program administered by the Rural Business Cooperative Service at USDA to help producers move into value-added agricultural enterprises. Authorized in the 2002 farm bill, this program aims to provide assistance to farmers and ranchers in planning and capital investment for value adding enterprises.
The University of Nebraska Lincoln Food Processing Center website gives you information about federal grant programs available to farmers and ranchers. It also provides you with valuable templates for writing federal Value-Added Producer Grants (VAPG).
The University of Missouri Agricultural Electronic Bulletin Board (AgEBB) website gives you links to valuable general information about grants, legal guides, how to start a cooperative, how to write bylaws and articles of incorporation, exempt vs. non-exempt cooperatives, new generation cooperatives, patronage and so forth.
The USDA Rural Development website gives you information about current programs available to individual producers, cooperatives and producer groups – including funding opportunities and grants.
The Nebraska Cooperative Development Center website gives you information about the Nebraska Cooperative Development Center. On their site, you will find information about steps in organizing and forming a producer cooperative.
Our Work Forming Cooperatives
The Center for Rural Affairs has helped several new cooperatives organize in Nebraska, obtain grant funds for their development, and overcome the legal barriers to selling products. Products include natural meat, ostrich, emu, grapes, pork, grass-fed meat, dairy products, and buffalo. One group, Small Farms Cooperative, has over 90 families eligible to meet production standards to sell natural livestock at premium prices.
We have initiated talks with other partners to form a regional meat marketing cooperative. The most significant barrier faced by many new cooperatives is market access. The regional cooperative would be designed to help smaller cooperatives and individual producers gain access to larger markets.
Many consumers are seeking a more wholesome product that reflects their values in the conventional markets where they shop. The regional cooperative can help put it there and, in the process, build more profitable markets for environmentally and socially responsible family farmers and ranchers.
Our Work with Other Partners
The Center for Rural Affairs works with many other partners in coordinating our market development efforts including the Nebraska Rural Development Commission, Nebraska's Departments of Agriculture and Economic Development, USDA, and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. One of our staff members serves on the Executive Committee of the Nebraska Cooperative Development Center, which provides grant funds for the establishment of new cooperatives.
The Center for Rural Affairs took a lead role in launching a four-state $2.5 million initiative to respond to the needs of farmers and ranchers for new production systems and new markets. Along with universities in Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska, Wisconsin and the Michael Fields Agricultural Institute and Practical Farmers of Iowa, the North Central Initiative for Small Farm Profitability focused on new production strategies and markets that enable family farmers and ranchers to capture a larger share of the consumer dollar. We contributed 18 case studies in our region of strategies that work and those that do not.
Alternative markets are critical to the future of family farming and ranching -- markets that support environmental stewardship, reward humane production, and relate the story of those who produced the product. To survive in the 21st century, family farmers and ranchers need access to new production systems and to information and skills that enable them to capture a larger share of the consumer food dollar.
For more information on our work to create high-value markets, contact Mike Heavrin, mikeh@cfra.org or Wyatt Fraas, wyattf@cfra.org.
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