Rebecca Jablonski, William & Stephanie Lipsey and Susan Parker show off the homemade products of Drover Hill Farm in Earlville, NY.
Today’s consumers crave more and more convenience and value in their buying decisions. At the same time, the small and medium-sized farms of Madison County face rising costs and stiff competition. There just aren’t enough hours in the farmers’ day to handle the marketing and retail work necessary to maximize their profitability. To help local agribusiness better thrive in this changing environment, Cornell Cooperative Extension of Madison County teamed up with the Chenango Bounty program last summer to replicate the Bounty program in their county.
Madison Bounty provides farmers with a web-based vehicle to market and distribute their products. In addition, consumers now have an easy and convenient way to purchase local, farm-fresh foods. Each week, participating producers inform the Bounty of what products they have available and the Bounty lists the products on its website, www.madisonbounty.com. Consumers can go online between noon on Friday and noon on Monday to place an order. Orders are collected from the producers every Wednesday and handdelivered to consumers later that week. Deliveries are made throughout Madison County, from rural areas to the city of Oneida. A large variety of products, ranging from fresh dairy and produce to meats and cheeses provide something for everyone.
The Community Foundation awarded this innovative program with a Community Grant to hire a manager for the project—Susan Parker. Her responsibilities include corresponding with producers each week, putting their products on the website, picking the products up at each farm and answering customer questions.
“Susan has been a godsend for this project,” said Becca Jablonski, Madison County Agricultural Development Specialist. “She has been serving as the link between customers, producers and volunteers. Without the Community Foundation’s funding to get started, we wouldn’t have been able to do this.”
The program has been growing in leaps and bounds. In less than a year the program is serving an average of 80 customers per week with more than $140,000 in total product sold. Becca is proud of what the program has become and its potential to increase awareness of our local farming and agriculture industry. Many customers have remarked that the program has introduced them to farms they didn’t know existed—and some of them are right down the road!
“We have this incredible variety of products and farms here,” said Becca. “I hope the Bounty has helped our community members see this diversity and be proud of the agriculture in this region.”