US: Toolkit helps growers understand the economics of seed
The toolkit is available at http://articles.extension.org/pages/74676/economic-risk-management-for-organic-seed-growers.
While organic food sales continue to increase, the organic seed supply lags behind in meeting the needs of farmers. OSA created these resources to support organic seed producers throughout the country to help fill this gap and provide growers more control over their seed supply.
The project will help farmers reduce financial risk in commercial seed production. While organic seed production is a developing industry and a viable economic opportunity for organic growers, there is uncertainty and risk. In particular, seed growers need mentorship in enterprise budgeting, record keeping, and marketing strategy.
The new toolkit includes webinar recordings from a daylong seed economics intensive held at the 9th Organic Seed Growers Conference in Corvallis, Oregon, this past February. These webinars were recorded live and presented by seed growers and agricultural economists. Trainings include instruction and case studies on inventory management, contracts and marketing, enterprise budgets, and more.
Seed growers will also find downloadable tools that they can adapt for their own business needs. The toolkit includes an enterprise budget tool to help farmers understand the costs associated with producing individual seed crops on their farms. Another tool helps farmers track labor costs related to seed production. Farmers will also find a planning tool to help guide decision making around how much and how often to produce foundation, stock, and production seed.
For more information:
Organic Seed Alliance
info@seedalliance.org
seedalliance.org