Cedar Valley Sustainable Farm

Beth Osmund

Operating an Innovative & Adaptable Small Scale Farm

A Producer’s Story

Responsible stewardship of resources We raise our and animals in ways that

nurture and respect nature’s systems.

Responsible stewardship of resources We raise our and animals in ways that

nurture and respect nature’s systems.

We sell food at its true cost It isn’t deflated by government subsidies

or inflated by middlemen.

Responsible stewardship of resources We raise our and animals in ways that nurture

and respect nature’s systems. We sell food at its true cost

It isn’t deflated by government subsidies or inflated by middlemen.

We wish to make a living wage off our products. We work hard on the farm and should be able to

support our family with that work.

Responsible stewardship We raise our and animals in ways that nurture and respect

nature’s systems. We sell food at its true cost

It isn’t deflated by government subsidies or inflated by middlemen.

We wish to make a living wage off our products. We work hard on the farm and should be able to support

our family with that work.

Finally, sustainable means leaving this land to our children in better condition than when we began

Community Supported Agriculture

CSA is a model in which consumers and farmers come together in a mutually beneficial relationship.

Vegetable CSA 50-60 shares 6-8 drop-off locations

Lesson Learned:We were spread too thinWe weren’t communicating

effectively

2005 Local ONLY

Veggie CSA and Farmer’s Market

InnovationsCSA delivery at market

Lessons LearnedLocal only was too small

2006 Weekly Ottawa & Chicago Markets Worked with regular volunteers Farm became sole source of income Expanded product line

Veggies Flowers

Chicken Eggs

Holiday Turkeys Beef

Pork

2006Innovations Weekly email newsletter Recipes at the market Packaging products w/ recipes Taking our “show” on the road for sales

Lessons Learned We had overextended again! Meat had a lot of potential

Hired “Vegetable Manager”

Received SARE grant to expand meat production and marketing

Purchased market cart, trailer, coolers and chest freezers

Developed marketing strategy

Monthly meat CSA and weekly Vegetable CSA 70 vegetable shares and 78 quarterly

meat shares

Farmer’s Market direct retail meat and vegetable sales

2007

Innovations Monthly Meat CSA Summer Bounty share

Lessons Learned Communicate expectations clearly with

employees We needed to narrow our focus even more

2007

Received a Frontera Foundation Grant to help expand capacity. Installed walk in freezer/cooler

Meat CSA – a monthly assortment of beef, pork, chicken and eggs – delivered year round.

Innovations Started GreenFarmers network Outsourced veggie operation Took on more education & leadership roles

Illinois OrganicGreat Lakes CSAMichael Fields Agricultural InstituteCRAFT

Farm Events for members

2008

Lessons Learned

Carefully vet the people associated with our farm

Protect our brand

2008

Frontera Grant Cargo box chick brooders

Meat CSA Added 5 delivery locations Approximately 200 members per month

Bi-monthly Farmer’s Market 3 employees (100 – 110 hours/wk)

Innovations Refined and expanded production & CSA Media savvy marking Farm website Negotiating up front pricing for livestock &

grain

Lessons Learned Protect our time

2009

Adding 2 monthly markets

SARE grant to launch cooperative restaurant sales venture

Illinois Local Food, Farms and Jobs council

2010

Innovations Relationship marketing expanding into

restaurant accounts Using social media to build brand

Lessons LearnedTBD!

2010

Themes

Adaptability Carefully select opportunities to pursue Communication Relationship building

True wealth is an interconnected web of mutually beneficial relationships.