FUNDED PROJECT RESULTS

Measuring Small-scale Farm Success: A Florida Study

The persistence of Florida’s small-scale organic farms in the face of growing demand for organic products

OFRF funding was awarded for this project in Spring 2008. A final report describing the results of this project was submitted in May 2009.

Additional downloads: Project summary from OFRF's Information Bulletin (1 page) and Lindsay Fernandez-Salvador's complete project report (17 pages).

Investigator: Lindsay Fernandez-Salvador, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida
Project location: Florida

The market expansion for organically grown crops, while mostly a positive trend for farmers, can threaten market opportunities for small-scale farmers as more organic agriculture products are sold through mainstream outlets and global distribution networks.

Questions arise as we look at the persistence of small organic farms in the midst of organic market growth: What are the most important market conditions that enable small-scale organic farms to persist? And what are the characteristics that explain the success or lack of success of small organic farms?

This study addressed these questions among Florida organic producers in the context of the state’s unique organic production conditions using a multi-method approach. This included semi-structured interviews of 32 of the state's 75 certified organic farmers, collection and analysis of organic market data from USDA's Economic Research Service and the Organic Trade Association, and market chain analysis among 50 organic Florida market "players" that included packers, processors, distributors and retailers.

This study found that of those small farms that were found to be highly successful, the formation of a social-business contract was the most important contribution to their success. This suggests that small farmers who wish to make their living farming organically will need to dedicate significant energy and time to developing a long-term marketing strategy that is based on social relationships. The two most important threats to farmers were increasing costs of organic inputs and interstate and international competition. Farms that adopted industrial methods of production and marketing such as input substitution and vertical market chain integration struggled the most.

A view of one of the Florida small farms included in the study

Post-project note: Lindsay Fernandez-Salvador conducted this work as a graduate student at the University of Florida. Since that time she has taken a position at the Organic Materials Review Institute, and can be contacted at: lindsayfs@omri.org