Creative Farm Business Models to Address Employee Hiring, Training, and Management Barriers

This half-hour presentation provided an update on a Northeast SARE-funded project examining solutions for recruiting, training, compensating, and retaining qualified farm workers. Farmers continually rank labor issues, including availability and wages, as the greatest challenge to improved profitability and quality of life. This project began by researching four business models for alleviating recruitment and management burdens: 1) producer-owned collaborative that shares workers, 2) worker-owned collaborative that leases workers, 3) nonprofit-owned temporary farm employment agency, and 4) nonprofit collaborative internship compliance program. Research activities included exploring potential models world-wide, conducting legal research (including state-specific implications for 5 states in the NE region), and assembling potential structures. The first part of the session is presented by Rachel Armstrong from Farm Commons. The second part is presented by Jennifer Hashley from New Entry Sustainable Farming Project.