Veggie Compass Helps Growers Make Data-Driven Decisions (CIAS Research Brief #97)

Fresh market vegetable growers with multiple crops and markets make numerous, complex production and marketing decisions. The Veggie Compass farm management tool was developed to help farmers make these decisions, based on data gleaned from their farm operations. more

Cover Crops Case Studies: JenEhr Family Farm

Wisconsin is seeing a renewed interest in planting cover crops to prevent soil erosion, retain or add nutrients, reduce pest pressures and accomplish other goals. more

Community Supported Agriculture farms: management and income (Research Brief #68)

Printer-friendly version (PDF) One critical goal of the Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) movement is to sustain farm families economically. CSA farms offer memberships to consumers, who receive shares of the farms’ produce during the growing season. Researchers from CIAS and other partner institutions listed below conducted the 1999 National CSA Farm Survey. Overall, they found […] more

Community Supported Agriculture farms: national survey results (Research Brief #67)

Printer-friendly version (PDF) After years of innovation and perspiration, Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) continues to grow and evolve. A CSA farm raises food for “farm members” who pay at the beginning of the growing season for a share of that season’s produce. Most CSA farms provide primarily vegetables and fruit, but some also include meat, […] more

CSA Across the Nation: Findings from the 1999 and 2001 CSA Surveys

The Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) movement in the United States has grown to include over 1,000 farms that are linking growers and customers in unique ways. The 1999 National CSA Farm Survey provided the first comprehensive portrait of the CSA movement in the U.S. This work was updated in a second national CSA survey done […] more

CSA: More for your money than fresh vegetables (Research Brief #52)

Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farms provide their members with more than fresh produce. CSA farms engage their members in agriculture through newsletters, farm celebrations, and you-pick days. Some CSA members may realize significant financial savings, as well. CSA farmers in Minnesota and Wisconsin wanted to find out how the cost of a CSA membership compares […] more

Managing a CSA farm 2: community, economics, marketing and training (Research Brief #41)

Community supported agriculture (CSA) farmers need communication and management skills to meet a variety of challenges in building a community of members, balancing income and expenses, marketing their farm, and obtaining training. A multi-professional farmer-led research team including John Hendrickson and Marcy Ostrom, researchers for the Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems (CIAS), completed several case […] more

Managing a CSA farm 1:production, labor and land (Research Brief #40)

Farmers using the community supported agriculture (CSA) model can expect both rewards and challenges in this intense, diversified, community-oriented approach. A solid understanding of CSA and effective management will help CSA farmers overcome challenges in production, labor, and conserving and securing land. John Hendrickson and Marcy Ostrom, researchers for the Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems […] more