A priority research agenda for Agriculture of the Middle
From the beginning, the Agriculture of the Middle initiative identified research as a critical component. The following report and PowerPoint presentation outline a research agenda for Agriculture of the Middle. Work on this report was initiated when Steve Stevenson of CIAS was Director of the Agriculture of the Middle research group (NC 1036), in order to answer questions raised by the group about future priorities. Priorities were based on interviews with 50 researchers involved in sustainable agriculture and agriculture of the middle around the country, and were conducted, analyzed, and compiled by Kate Clancy.
Although multiple agricultural research agendas have been proposed in the last decades, most (but certainly not all) are fairly generic and bland. In contrast, the agenda-setting process described here collected research ideas from a more focused set of respondents—food and agricultural researchers within universities, government agencies, and nonprofits. The resulting agenda, developed by the researchers themselves, is designed to encourage better targeting of research on topics related to agriculture of the middle.
A Priority Research Agenda for Agriculture of the Middle
Report (PDF)
Presentation (PowerPoint)
Presentation (PDF)
Value chain case studies profile mid-scale food enterprises
Case studies of four innovative enterprises—Country Natural Beef, CROPP/Organic Valley, Shepherd’s Grain and Red Tomato—offer models of how mid-sized farms and ranches can prosper through the construction of a “third tier” in the U.S. agri-food system. Known as “mid-scale food value chains,” these new business structures focus on strategic alliances that effectively operate at regional levels with significant volumes of high-quality, differentiated food products, and distribute profits equitably among the strategic partners.
Values-based food supply chains: Executive summary (PDF)
CROPP/Organic Valley is a 1,000-member, multi-regional farmer co-op marketing organic dairy, eggs, vegetables and other products. (PDF)
Country Natural Beef is a 100-member rancher cooperative in the northwestern United States. (PDF)
Shepherd's Grain is a 35-farmer LLC marketing sustainably grown and functionally specified flour in the northwestern United States. (PDF)
Red Tomato is a non-profit, market-oriented, fair-trade business supporting 35 fruit and vegetables farmers in the northeastern United States. (PDF)
Summaries of these case studies are available as CIAS Research Briefs:
Mid-scale food value chains case study: Country Natural Beef (PDF)
Mid-scale food value chains case study: Organic Valley (PDF)
Mid-scale food value chains case study: Shepherd's Grain (PDF)
New research reports from Ag of the Middle
The Agriculture of the Middle team has released drafts of three research reports, funded by the Rural Development/Cooperative Services program of the USDA. These reports include:
An Analysis of Food-Chain Demand for Differentiated Farm Commodities: Implications for the Farm Sector (final version)
Values-Based & Value-Added Value Chains in the Northeast, Upper Midwest, and Pacific Northwest
Poultry of the Middle in the U.S.: Implications for Sustainable Producers & Scaling Up
For more information about these draft reports, please contact Steve Stevenson.