Take our Beginning Producer Survey!

The Groundswell Incubator Farm

Your input is valuable! Please complete our short online survey so we can find out more about your plans and your needs.

 

2012 Farm Enterprise Incubator - Beginning Producer Survey

Are you interested in farming but have no land of your own and no resources to buy land? Have you grown something for years in your garden that you are ready to produce on a larger-scale? Want to get some experience raising small livestock? Do you need some management experience under your belt before you can qualify for a loan to buy your own farm?
If any of the above describes you, we need your input!
We are now developing plans and policies for the Groundswell Farm Enterprise Incubator, and will be taking applications in Fall 2012 for the first group of “Incubees”, who will launch their enterprises in the 2013 season. We want to hear what your interests are, as well as what kinds of support would be most helpful for you to grow your enterprise. The feedback we receive from beginning producers will continue to help us to design effective program policies and support, as well as infrastructure that is suitable to the enterprises being incubated.
Your input will help to determine both:
the types of support and mentoring the Program will provide for “Incubee” enterprises, such as:

• Financial planning/ training
• Production planning
• Developing a clear business model/plan
• Market development
• Processing capacity
• Relationship-building

as well as the design plan for the site and its infrastructure, that will suit the enterprises of beginning producers in the area, including:

• Type of water access
• Fencing
• Barn, sheds, hoophouses, or livestock shelters
• Processing facilities that are compatible with multiple enterprises
• Equipment and Field services

Complete the short online survey here so we can find out more about your plans and your needs.
We also encourage you to contact us directly about the Groundswell Center’s Farm Enterprise Incubator Program, either at info@groundswellcenter.org or at (607) 277-0180. We are available to speak with you about your interest in access to low-cost land and infrastructure at the Incubator Site.

Keys to Success for Start-Up Farms

Do certain factors predict success or failure in the start-up farming operation, and if so, can we use this information to make recommendations to beginning farmers? This article, written by Groundswell advisor Gil Gillespie, discusses some of the challenges and keys to success for start-up farms in the Northeast region. Predictive factors in the farm's social context, the personal characteristics of the farm operator, and the farm business's attributes are elaborated upon in this study. The piece concludes with several helpful suggestions for start-up enterprises in our region.

http://www.agdevjournal.com/attachments/113_JAFSCD_Success_in_Farm_Startups_in_the_Northeast_08-10.pdf

Take the Local Foods Survey!

Nicole Novak, a Cornell student, is conducting a survey on the nutritional quality of the locavore diet. Here are the details:

Interested in locally grown foods?

I'm conducting research with Cornell's Sustainability of Food Systems Group, http://www.aem.cornell.edu/special_programs/hortmgt/sustainability/index.html
to learn more about your opinions on local food products, what foods you purchase locally, and how you use them! The goal of my project is to assess the nutritional quality of a "locavore" diet. Please consider helping us out by taking a brief, anonymous, online survey:

Go here! --> https://cornell.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_9GYY5w2S0IYhRdi

Thank you!!!
Questions or concerns? Please contact Nicole Novak at nln22@cornell.edu

https://cornell.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_cZwqueNJ7Zhh1LS