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By Bobbie Whitehead

More small farmers may turn to community supported agriculture, a concept that has potential growth and offers growers up front payment for their products.

Also called CSAs, the concept involves consumers paying ahead and up front for a grower’s products and then receiving the products when the harvest is available.

“It’s a salvation for the small farmer because he or she is able to live without loans,” said Theresa Nartea, Virginia State University extension specialist in marketing and agribusiness.

“Community supported agriculture is a direct connection between the grower and the community where the community understands the trials in farming.”

Nartea found 75 CSAs in Virginia on a web site called Local Harvest – where some growers list their products.
The Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumers Services supports CSAs, which it defines as individuals within a community providing “financial backing and perhaps some labor as well to support a farm operation for a year.”

VDACS explains that members of a CSA share the farmer’s harvest, and as members, consumers also share the farming risks such as weather and other conditions that might affect a grower’s harvest.

To help consumers find a CSA in their area as well as help the CSA finds customers, the VDACS has a listing of state CSAs available at www.virginiagrown.com via the link “Community Supported Farms.”

“A CSA benefits both the farmer and the consumer. CSA members receive outstanding, locally grown produce and other products, while farmers in the vicinity have their costs pre-paid and know in advance how much to grow,” according to Todd P. Haymore, VDACS’ Commissioner, in a press release announcing sign ups for the CSA listings. “CSAs are quickly gaining in popularity so if you are interested, now is the time to explore the possibility of joining.”

Growers can find a number of benefits in offering a CSA – for one, Nartea says, they obtain their money up front, so there’s less likelihood they’ll have to pay loans to support their production.

“It’s not as easy as selling at a farmers market,” she said.

But Nartea said that while farmers markets remain viable options for growers, there’s a chance the growers might not sell all of their produce at a market.

Another benefit is the growers can establish the CSAs in many diverse ways to accommodate and meet the needs of their customers.

“CSAs leave the creativity to the farmer, and the farmer can determine what they sell and how long they sell,” she said.

The VDACS says CSA members benefit because they “know where all the food comes from, how it was grown, who harvested it and when.

Nartea works with growers to help them determine how long to provide their products as well as how much to charge.

“When you add the layer of pleasing the customer, having to deal with that extra layer of stress is the hardest thing in the first year,” she said.

Because there are few CSAs around, many consumers interested in joining one usually are placed on a waiting list, Nartea said. With this in mind, more growers can find a customer base to establish a CSA.

“So there is market demands for CSAs, but there aren’t enough farmers adopting the practice,” she said. “But with the Virginia Cooperative Extension’s educational assistance, more farmers will adopt this marketing practice and become more connected to their communities. Community supporting agriculture is a relationship of trust and belief in the small farmer.”

Growers interested in establishing a CSA can contact Nartea for information or assistance in developing a plan at tnartea@vsu.edu or (804) 524-5491.