Producer Cooperatives for Small-Scale Farmers
Guidance from a Panel of Professional Growers & Advisors on Shared Business Models, Options & Strategies
Our guest moderator, an author and local-flower advocate, founded the Slow Flowers Society, a free online directory of North American cut flowers and the farms, shops, studios and designers behind them. Since 2013 it has grown to hundreds of members from every part of the flower trade.
A consultant in community development finance and shared ownership. Over a 30-year career she has worked with every major kind of cooperative, from credit unions and consumer, housing and worker co-ops to healthcare, agriculture and small business cooperatives.
The general manager of a Pacific Northwest farm-to-florist producers' cooperative that sells the region's cut flowers, foliage and plants. He runs administration, operations, finances, planning, and sales and customer relations for the market.
A local-flower advocate working to build a strong community of sustainable flower farmers, small business owners and their supporters. Her own floral business led her to work with local farms and, in 2017, to found a wholesale hub for local flowers in the Twin Cities.
A Montana flower farmer who opened her city's first wholesale flower market in 2016; in 2018 her partner joined to extend distribution with delivery routes around the state. They grow on 2.5 acres in western Montana, and their distribution business works each week with several flower farms to supply dozens of wholesale buyers across multiple counties.This page has learning materials from our webinar on producer cooperatives.
OVERVIEW: Across North America, more community-minded farming and marketing hubs are forming, driven by strong and lasting demand for local, seasonal and sustainably grown products.
The webinar features flower farmers who run their own sales channels by marketing their crops together as alternative wholesalers, though any small-scale farmer, producer or maker can use the strategies and expertise shared here.
The panel also includes a national expert on shared ownership who has worked closely with producer cooperatives in many industries.
Our flower product manager and our guest moderator lead the conversation with the panel of experienced growers who have done well with collective producer and marketing models.
A Q&A follows on setting up and running legal, private and cooperative businesses that grow, sell, market and distribute farm products.
