ASSURING SMALL DAIRY FARM SUSTAINABILITY THROUGH DATA-DRIVEN EDUCATION AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS

U.S. small and medium-sized dairy farms (small farms) are closing at distressing rates due to many challenges, including major market consolidation (supply and distribution), rising inputs (pricing/inflation particularly in the labor sector and physical infrastructure), and shifting consumer trends driven by horizontal integration, pandemic-related behaviors, and major product differentiation/branding (e.g., Regenerative and Real Organic). As the economic backbone of many rural communities, these closures threaten the socioeconomic fabric of rural life and industry consolidation leaves the U.S. supply chain vulnerable to disruption. Although some trends present market opportunities for the small farmer, they can be unpredictable and difficult to analyze and farmers are unsure how to pivot operations to make the most of the opportunity.To better understand this volatile and shifting dairy landscape and help small farms capitalize on new markets, the Atlantic Corporation (Atlantic) proposes to create tools, including an Interactive Data Dashboard and Findings Report, that can be used by small farmers and other stakeholders to identify and develop curricula for education and extension/outreach programs tailored to small dairy farms. These resources will characterize the current state of the industry by leveraging existing research and collecting current data via a comprehensive survey of small dairy farms. The tools, widely shared and publicly available online, will be useful to many stakeholders, including within the Cooperative Extension and broader agricultural education programming communities.Through this project, Atlantic will uncover significant opportunities to better understand and support the long-term sustainability of small dairy farms in the U.S. Atlantic's extensive experience with the dairy industry, (Subsection 2.c) and participation of the National Small-Scale Dairy Development Committee (NSDDC) as an advisory council throughout the project (Subsection 2.b), will ensure that the survey methodology and data analysis truly reflects the current state of small dairy farms. NSDDC's diverse representation, together with Atlantic's broad network of agriculture professionals, will make certain that this project's findings are incorporated into effective educational and technical assistance programs that support small dairy farmers.