Mar 24, 2020Coronavirus: Things for farmers to consider
From the University of Minnesota Extension:
Many farmers are wondering how to respond to the COVID-19 virus. The information in this article is intended to help growers navigate communication, logistics and planning. The University of Minnesota Extension will continue to develop resources as more information becomes available. In the meantime, please do not hesitate to reach out to our fruit and vegetable team with questions and concerns.
This is a rapidly evolving situation. For the most up-to-date information and updates, please follow the CDC. Annalisa Hultberg, University of Minnesota (UMN) Extension Food Safety Educator, just wrote an excellent article about managing food safety risk related to COVID-19.
Good communication
For those of you who sell through wholesale or retail markets, consider getting in touch with your buyers. Plans you made previously may need to be adjusted.
Make sure to stick to the facts. Staying calm and avoiding misinformation is critical. While access to healthy, fresh foods is vitally important to community health, avoid making unsubstantiated or overstated health claims like “eating local vegetables protects your family against viruses.” This is a time when many of us are feeling isolated and lonely. The more that we stay connected, the better. Sharing regular farm updates with customers will not only help to reassure them about safety, but will help to instill a sense of community.
Logistics and managing sales
There are some practical solutions you can take to help keep people safe and maintain social distance with orders and deliveries. I’ve been on numerous phone calls this week with farmers, market managers, and others to discuss how COVID-19 affects local foods, and the following ideas have been suggested. *This is not an exhaustive list, please feel free to comment below with more ideas!
Online sales. Many farms are moving to online sales options. In China, where people have been socially distancing for a while now, online shopping has significantly increased, as has grocery delivery. Though we can’t yet predict market trends, some of the farms participating in COVID-19-related farmer-to-farmer calls are already seeing increased online sales and subscriptions in response to the virus. Online tools can be applied to numerous types of systems — if you sell at a farmers’ market that is going to trial curbside pickup, you can use online platforms to allow customers to order ahead of time. Online sales can also help to manage customizable CSA boxes and delivery options.
Some of the available platforms include Harvie, Farmigo, Facebook, Barn2Door, Local Food Marketplace, Local Line, Squarespace, and others. Oregon Tilth hosted a webinar today where they discussed the pros and cons of each of these systems; we’ll post the link to the recorded version when it becomes available.
Additional resources:
- Local Line put together a very helpful guide for creating a successful online marketplace for local foods during this virus.
- MOSES has made a conference talk about attracting local customers online free on their website.
CSA drop-off sites and in-person pickups
In a time when we need to encourage social distancing, the logistics of a CSA drop site can be complicated. This is not an extensive list of suggestions, but here are a few ideas (most were contributed by CSA farmers) for reducing risk at drop sites:
- Coordinating schedules at CSA drop-off and on farm pick-up sites to avoid too much traffic at once. Examples of tools to help you assign pick-up windows include: Square, Doodle, Google Calendar, HubSpot meetings tool, and Setmore. There are many others, and this is not an endorsement of any of the tools listed. Feel free to list suggestions in the comment box below!
- Consider adding additional sites to minimize the number of total people at each site. Additionally, create systems at busy sites to facilitate social distancing. Some CSAs have put tape on the floor with marks six feet apart to help people gauge how far apart to stand if they need to wait in line.
- When possible, if people are coming to your farm to pick up orders, make sure to facilitate social distancing, and have hand washing stations available. Consider placing signs to let people know your policies including where to stand, what boxes to touch, handwashing, etc.
- If you have a farmstand-style CSA where people browse through available produce, consider using pre-bagged shares temporarily.
- Reduce cross contamination at drop-off sites; think about things like pens and pencils, clipboards, surfaces where you’re leaving boxes and door handles. Also think about how you’re stacking boxes so that people won’t have to touch multiple boxes in order to find theirs.
- Document the precautions you’re taking at drop-off sites (or any delivery sites) to keep your customers safe. These records are helpful to show the due diligence your farm is taking in keeping your customer safe.
Home delivery
Many farms are starting to consider home delivery as a viable sales option, despite the extra logistical work. Some farms are doing this for all customers, some are doing it only for people who identify as immunocompromised. There is little consensus on how much to charge — we’ve seen as low as $3 and as high as $10 per delivery. One good suggestion was to use a routing app to help you maximize your time and minimize the distance traveled. Examples include OptimoRoute, Farmigo and MapQuest.
Consider partnering with neighboring farms to reduce the costs and burden of delivery. If you have neighbors who raise animals for meat or eggs, grow fruit or make other value-added products, consider working together. Assembly of orders and delivery of product from multiple farms typically requires licensing for the entity taking responsibility for the assembly and delivery. However, the MDA is exercising licensing enforcement discretion at this time. Short-term, reasonable measures taken to comply with social distancing and limiting the gathering of people, can proceed as long as general food safety practices are maintained. (This enforcement discretion is specific to the COVID-19 situation and will not be considered a long term policy determination.)
Prepare for getting sick
While we do not know how many of us will get sick, do not assume that you will not be affected. It’s quite possible that you and your employees will get this virus, and it’s important to have a plan in place for when or if it happens. Refer to your farm’s food safety plan for policies you may already have in place. Two Farmers Farm in Maine has graciously made their COVID-19 specific plan public for others to reference. In addition to basic farm and food safety policies, consider possible scenarios (markets closing, employees and/or farm managers getting sick), and have plans in place to respond.
How do you decide whether employees should stay home? The CDC has a great risk assessment flow chart to help determine individual risk level. Some farms have also suggested having employees take their temperature each morning, and asking anyone to stay home who has a cough or fever.
Some farms have expressed concerns such as if we have to close for a while because we’re sick, people might not trust us in the future, or might become wary of local foods. Ultimately, if you need to close temporarily while you and your employees recover, it will show your customers that health and safety are priorities for you (your health and safety, but also theirs). As long as you communicate what’s happening, how you’re responding and how you’re making sure that safety is your number one priority, people will appreciate your honesty and concern for safety.
Thinking about income
At this point in time, we really can only guess what will happen to markets. This may pose a challenge to crop planning, especially if a substantial portion of your sales go to grocery stores, schools, or other wholesale accounts.
Preparing for reduced cash flow. The U.S. Small Business Administration provides small business loans to businesses and non-profits that are seriously impacted by COVID-19. You can learn more about these programs at their website. Consider local lenders as well, including lenders you have worked with in the past.
If you are predicting reduced sales for your farm, there are a few lower-risk planting options to consider. Shifting towards longer season crops that can be harvested later will give you some extra time to figure out backup markets. Additionally, planting things that can be stored easily without intensive inputs (e.g. dry beans, popcorn, herbs to dry for teas, winter squash) may provide you with more flexibility. Ryan Pesch, a farmer and Extension educator in Minnesota, recommends sticking to the basics — people may be more interested in staple crops rather than novel varieties this year.
If you are predicting increased sales on your farm, keep in mind that at this point we do not know how long current conditions will last. If it is feasible for you to increase production, great. However, if increased production would require substantial investments in infrastructure or labor, it may be best to proceed cautiously.
Stay connected
In times of uncertainty, it’s important to stay connected. Talking to fellow farmers to learn about new platforms or methods will be one of the best ways to adapt to new systems, and most importantly, talking with fellow farmers is a reminder that you’re not alone in this.
Here are a couple of places online where farmers can discuss COVID-19 responses (there are many others too):
The National Institute of Mental Health has some helpful tips for managing stress.
We want to extend a special thank you to the many farmers who have participated in COVID-19 response calls as well as Jane Jewett, Maggie Frazier, Valerie Gamble, and Annalisa Hultberg for sharing their expertise with this article.
