Agriculture of the Middle

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

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.

Ag of the Middle enters development phase

The Agriculture of the Middle project is entering a development phase with three strategic dimensions:

New business and marketing strategies will seek to create business networks or “value chains” that link farms/ranches-of-the-middle with food system partners to meet a growing demand for differentiated, high-quality food products. Currently operating as the Association of Family Farms.

Public policy changes. Included will be policy changes that can be secured in the relatively short term that directly affect middle market development, and more systemic policy changes over an extended period of time that will fully equalize economic environments for farms/ranches-of-the-middle.

Research and education support. Scientists associated with the initiative and with the land-grant university community will provide research and education support for the business and policy strategies, at both the regional and national levels.

If you have any questions about this initiative, please contact one of the task force members listed at the right.

Research and education support

We are recruiting scientists and educators from land-grant and non-land-grant institutions to undertake research and education projects to support new business models and public policy changes to foster a renewal of an agriculture-of-the-middle. Opportunities will exist for a range of bio-physical and socio-economic researchers/educators who are familiar with sustainable agri-food systems. Examples of research areas include farming systems for transitioning from commodity to differentiated food production, indicators and predictors of high-quality food products, methods of generating and monitoring equitable returns among partners in new food supply chains, or impacts of farm policy alternatives. Examples of educational areas include training personnel from county extension offices or non-governmental organizations to work with farmers/ranchers in making the above transitions. Funding sources will be sought to support these research and education efforts.

A USDA-CSREES multi-state research committee will be the formal mechanism to develop and network the needed research and education capacity. For information on this committee, see http://nimss.umd.edu and enter project number NC1036.

For information, contact Steve Stevenson: gwsteven@wisc.edu; (608) 262- 5202.

Why worry about the agriculture of the middle?

A white paper by Fred Kirschenmann, Steve Stevenson, Fred Buttel, Tom Lyson and Mike Duffy

Over 80% of farmland in the U.S. is managed by farmers whose operations fall between small-scale direct markets and large, consolidated firms. These farmers are increasingly left out of our food system. If present trends continue, these farms, together with the social and environmental benefits they provide, will likely disappear in the next decade or two. The “public good” that these farms have provided in the form of land stewardship and community social capital will disappear with them.

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