Brief Summary of Minutes of Annual Meeting

Brief Summary of Minutes of Annual Meeting

• Welcome by Dr. William Nganje, NC1198 Administrative Advisor
• Member Introductions: name, affiliation, AOTM related areas of research
• Introduction of new AOTM related projects & current project updates
• Presentation by Michael Rozyne, Red Tomato; Discussion about implications for AOTM research
• Brief overview of proposed AOTM Quarterly in Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, & Community Development (JAFSCD) by Editors Duncan Hilchey & Amy Christiansen; Q & A with Editors
• Breakout sessions: advancing goals and objectives of the group over the next year 
• Members first spent time working on a vision statement for the group as suggested by Michael Rozyne, led by Mary Hendrickson with notetaking by Sarah Lloyd. 
• Next we developed four areas of focus based on the needs identified for a position paper or set of columns in JAFCD to help us share the learnings of our work, broaden our membership base, connect with junior scholars and amplify our work with a broader audience.  
• We decided to hold off for this year on a JAFCD column but we will revisit next year. We determined that the best fit for the needs and goals we identified is a Special Issue for a journal with papers based on each theme we identified in the breakout session. We will develop a series of AOTM conference sessions at the annual AFHVS conference. 
• Planned updates and Q&A with Adam Wilke, NIFA National Program Leader— unable to join us due to the government shutdown; He is furloughed. 
• Updates from Becky Schewe, National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, NSAC
• Grassroots perspective on federal-level changes, Presentation and discussion with Stephen Carpenter, Farmers' Legal Action Group
• State-level policy updates from AOTM members (including re: RFSIs & RFBCs)
• Wrap up discussion: Voted in Patrick Baur, Univ. of RI who agreed to serve as our next Chair.

The interdisciplinary NC1198 group was created to address a disconcerting structural change in US agriculture: the decline of midscale family farms and associated impacts on the well-being of US rural communities, the economy, and the environment. Since its inception, the group has expanded to examine other issues affecting the resilience, diversity, and competitiveness of the US food system, including the impacts of food system structure and policy on the viability of small and medium-sized farms and food businesses.

Following are synopses of multistate research, outreach, and policy projects that were generated by the research partnerships forged by NC1198. They represent active collaborations among current members on various issues concerning the viability and resilience of Agriculture of the Middle including topics such as meat supply chains; regional supply chains; perennial agriculture systems; external constraints on values-based supply chains; supply chain governance; investigations into the structure and function of distinct local and regional supply chains and sectors; and investigation and communication of policy issues surrounding mid-scale producers and supply chains.

Milestones
Year 4 of this 5-year project continues to advance research, outreach, and policy activities.

Outputs and Activities
Key outputs include securing and implementing collaborative, grant-funded projects, as well as producing publications and resources aligned with NC1198’s research, outreach, and policy objectives.

• Virginia Agriculture of the Middle (AOTM) Training & Tour of Value-Adding Food Science and Technology Facilities, Virginia Tech/Virginia Cooperative Extension, 2025 Professional Development Programming, Partners: Virginia Tech’s Center for Food Systems and Community Transformation, Virginia Cooperative Extension’s Planned Program Teams for Community, Local, and Regional Food Systems (CLRFS), Agribusiness Management & Economics (AME), Virginia Tech’s Department of Food Science and Technology, the Virginia Agriculture of the Middle (AOTM) Workgroup, and Cornell University.
  • Becca Jablonski as an AOTM resource speaker provided professional development training and facilitated discussion for 18 Extension and USDA professionals on the economic, environmental, and socio-cultural significance of the Agriculture of the Middle, and specific national and Virginia-based trends. Dr. Alexis Hamilton Virginia Tech’s Department of Food Science and Technology led a tour of the department's value-adding food processing research and laboratory facilities and guided discussion on how value-added foods and processes fit with the needs of the Agriculture of the Middle farms and mid-tier markets.  
• Agriculture of the Middle (AOTM) Webinar: Exploring the Importance, Values, and Vitality of Mid-Size Farms, Virginia Tech/Virginia Cooperative Extension, 2025 Professional Development Programming, Partners: Virginia Tech’s Center for Food Systems and Community Transformation, the Virginia Agriculture of the Middle (AOTM) Workgroup, Cornell University, University of Missouri, University of Rhode Island, University of Wisconsin.
  • The June 2 webinar featured the Extension and applied research insights of Drs. Becca Jablonski of Cornell University, Mary Hendrickson of the University of Missouri, Patrick Bauer of the University of Rhode Island, Michelle Miller of the University of Wisconsin, and host Eric Bendfeldt of Virginia Tech and Virginia Cooperative Extension. In addition to the brief presentations and comments on the importance, values, and vitality of mid-size farms on a state and national level, there was facilitated small group discussions on Extension educational needs and applied research opportunities that can strengthen this important sector of the agricultural community. The webinar was attended online by 106 people, while 210 registrants received copies of the AOTM presentation and audio file. 

• State and Federal Land Access Policy Incentives. Agencies: USDA-NIFA-AFRI AERC Small- and Mid-sized farms integrated r-e project ($500k) (year 5 of 5), USDA-NCR-SARE Professional Development Project ($90k) (year 3 of 3), USDA-FSA Cooperative Agreement ($300k) (year 2 of 3). Partners: Indiana University and American Farmland Trust. Focus states' initiatives: Delaware, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Washington.
  • Highlights: Research learning from over 1500 policy makers, policy advocates, farmland owners, and beginning farmer/ranchers who authored, championed, or have enrolled in a state or federal Land Access Policy Incentive (LAPI) program. Preliminary findings are posted to the open access Farmland Information Center. LAPIs have broad appeal for both Republicans and Democrats, often passing their statehouses unanimously. Landowners enroll in LAPIs in strong numbers, in contrast to landowners' notoriously low enrollments in other initiatives to stimulate preparation for farm succession and transfer. Young farmer/ranchers are gaining access to primarily land rental, and sometimes land purchases, through LAPIs. So far, LAPIs as a whole are structured to serve multi-generational mid-sized commodity grain farmers. Certain LAPI designs succeed in serving small- and mid-sized farms that sell into direct and/or intermediated markets. Beginning farmer/ranchers credit the LAPIs as a factor in the success of their farms. However, land access challenges persist even after enrolling in a LAPI, largely due to the large land bases that mid-sized commodity grain growers aspire to work. The LAPIs are succeeding in select ways, and, at the same time, they reveal the need for policy innovations to support young and mid-sized operators in meeting their economic goals on less land.
• ICICLE: Intelligent Cyber Infrastructure with Computational Learning in the Environment. NSF, The Ohio State University. $1,355,290. Year 4 of 5. AOTM partner: Sarah Lloyd. Highlights: Food supply network analysis at the national and local level. Making progress on regional evaluation.
• Rebuilding Native Farming Traditions and Food Sovereignty for Great Lakes Indigenous People. USDA-NIFA. $10,815,716. Year 2 of 5. AOTM partner: Sarah Lloyd. Highlights: Tribal food system analysis, economic importance of USDA LFPA program, workshops on meat processing and refrigeration.
• Partnership strategies & governance mechanisms supporting regionalized grain value chains in the Upper Northeast. Partners: Elise Neidecker (Graduate student thesis), Advisor: Analena Bruce; Committee Member: Michelle Miller (University of Wisconsin). This thesis study analyzed three grain value chains in the Upper Northeast (New England and New York) to understand how farmers, millers, bakers, maltsters, and brewers collaborate through relationship- and values-based supply chains. Forty interviews informed a comparative case study of risk-sharing, joint decision-making, and governance strategies, highlighting commonalities, differences, and key challenges for scaling local grain systems. Findings are published in the Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development.
• Real and simulated shocks to the food system: a nested food-economic system model for assessing resilience using a networked Input-Output approach. Brinkley, C., Ulimwengu, J., Raj, S. (2025). Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems. Partners: John Ulimwengu at the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and Subhashni Raj, PhD at University of Hawaii at Manoa. Investigates food system and economic recovery after the 2007 crisis and models the economy as a network of input-outputs arranged in a complicated matrix of interactions.
  • The “Scientific research and development services” sector is the MOST central sector in the US economic system. Research requires relatively little funding inputs but amplifies economic outputs. This may seem obvious to many working in higher education or for a company that depends on R&D. Yet, there are some surprisingly paradoxical implications for deleting this sector--a thought experiment we model.
  • A simulated deletion of the “Scientific research” sector results in an overall INCREASE in economic productivity of 24%. In explanation, if one thinks of “Scientific research” as the maintenance department for a rental property, it is easy to understand how closing the office and firing the staff would reduce costs and produce a higher return on investments. There are some spooky parallels to current federal cuts to grants, staff layoffs, reduction in student aid, and challenges to higher education. As political budget-making leans towards austerity measures, cuts to research sectors may indeed achieve greater economic outcomes in the short run, but will depreciate both the value of the underlying system and its longer-term potential returns.
  • We built these models to focus on food system dynamics and predict cascading failures that could impact US food supply.
  • The food system comprises multiple economic sectors that each contribute seed, machinery, labor, soil, packaging, processing, distribution, sale, and consumption. We explored how the overall food system is nested within the economy and how each influences the other. There are numerous take-aways, but one big one is that any economic modelling done on the food system alone without considering the ripple effects from the broader economy--- will result in highly skewed results.
  • We issue a caveat emptor for any studies that use curtailed economic models to predict impacts.
  • Our research helps make sense of why and how the food system has become more central to the overall economic system--particularly after shocks.
  • Findings also show that the resilience of the food system enhances the resilience of the overall economic system -- and we have lots of recommendations for policymakers to shore up.

Objective 1-Market Structure

Whitehouse, C., Conner, D., & Moen, A. (2025). Overcoming the “Game of Pennies:” Challenges and Opportunities for Farm to Institution in Vermont. Journal of Hunger & Environmental Nutrition, 20(5), 678–695. https://doi.org/10.1080/19320248.2025.2468332

Neidecker, E., Safford, T., Hoffman, M., Darby, H., Miller, M., Bruce, A., (2025). Not a “Siloed Effort": Partnership Strategies Supporting Regional Grain Value Chains in the Upper Northeast. Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development. https://www.foodsystemsjournal.org/index.php/fsj/article/view/1433

Zhang, Q., Paul, D., Miller, M., Morales, M., Gao, S. (at press). Scalable Inter-County Food Flow Prediction Using Graph Neural Networks [Application]. 33rd ACM SIGSPATIAL International Conference on Advances in Geographic Information Systems (ACM SIGSPATIAL 2025)

Santa González, R.,White III, CC, Miller, M., Lloyd, S., Roberts-Turner, T. (2025). From Farm to Food Hub: Analyzing Logistics in Cooperative Agricultural Systems. Proceedings of the IISE Annual Conference & Expo 2025 E. Gentry, F. Ju, X. Liu, eds.

Miller, M., Konar, M., Peterson, H., Court, C., Shakya, S., Stevens, A. (2025) “Network centrality in perishable food distribution networks in the United States”. Environmental Research: Food Systems, Special Issue: Focus on Trade and Food Systems. https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/2976-601X/add01c

Brinkley, C., Ulimwengu, J., Raj, S. (2025) Real and simulated shocks to the food system: a nested food-economic system model for assessing resilience using a networked Input-Output approach. Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems.

Fuchs-Chesney, J., Raj, S., Daruwalla, T., & Brinkley, C. (2025). All roads lead to the farmers market?: using network analysis to measure the orientation and central actors in a community food system through a case comparison of Yolo and Sacramento County, California. Agriculture and Human Values, 40(1), 157-173. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10460-022-10345-y

Stein, A. and Brinkley, C. (2025). Farm to Food Bank: Exploring the Ties between Local Food Producers and Charitable Food Assistance. Rural Sociology. https://doi.org/10.1111/ruso.12489

Objective 2 - Resilience

Conner, D. (2025). How to address resource inequity in collaborative work: Reflections on partnerships between Vermont and Puerto Rico. Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development, 14(2), 355–365. https://doi.org/10.5304/jafscd.2025.142.021

Budowle, R., Cousineau, B., Miller, M., Grossman, J., Phipps, B. (at press). Strategic Storytelling: Reflecting on the Past, Present & Future of INFAS. Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems and Community Development.

Lowe, E., Gwin, L., Miller, M. (in review) Sustainable agriculture and food-focused centers and institutes at large US research institutions. Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development.

Rodriguez, S.; Kagawa, R.; Vaitla, B; Koundinya, V.; Choe, D.; Brinkley, C. (2025). Guaranteed income: a policy landscape review of 105 programs in the United States. Basic Income Studies. 20 (1): 93-123. 10.1515/bis-2023-0030

Cadieux, K.V., Tacheny, J., and Keefe, S. (2025). Relational, logistical, and pedagogical considerations in developing urban food cultivation *land school* programs for repairing food ecologies in a cross-campus food access/action coalition. William Moseley, Dan Trudeau, and Paul Schadewald, Eds., Gleanings from the Field: Food Security, Resilience and Experiential Learning, Lever Press.

https://www.fulcrum.org/epubs/3f4628695?locale=en#/6/38

Cadieux, K.V., and Ranpura, J. (2025). Pedagogy of Mess: Taking action despite uncertainty. William Moseley, Dan Trudeau, and Paul Schadewald, eds., Gleanings from the Field: Food Security, Resilience and Experiential Learning, Lever Press. https://www.fulcrum.org/epubs/3f4628695?locale=en#/6/50[ch24]!/4/2[c17]/2/2/2[p244]/1:0

Objective 3 - Policy

Klancy, Kate. 2025. A History of the Agriculture of the Middle Multi-state Research Project. 

Miller, M. (2025). National Freight Strategic Plan 2025 Update: Request for Information. US Department of Transportation. 7/15/2025. Docket No. DOT-OST-2025-0369. Comment tracking number me3-cyru-llgp. https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/07/15/2025-13219/national-freight-strategic-plan-2025-update-request-for-information; comment can found at https://www.regulations.gov/comment/DOT-OST-2025-0369-0014

Raj, S, Momoh, E, and Brinkley, C. (2025) “Teaching Rapid Plan Evaluation” Journal of Planning Education and Research.

Fu, Xinyu; Sanchez, T. Chaosuli, Li; Brinkley, C. (2024). Text mining public feedback on urban densification plan change in Hamilton, New Zealand. Environment and Planning B: Urban Analytics and City Science. 52(3). https://doi.org/10.1177/239980832412720

Poirier, L., Antonio, D.; Dettman, M., Eng, T.; Ganata, J.; Ghosh, S.; Lopez, M.; Karma, R.; Natekal, A.; Brinkley, C. (2024). Making plans FAIR with data infrastructure: a search engine for constructing, analyzing, and visualizing planning documents. Environment and Planning B: Urban Analytics and City Science. 51(8). https://doi.org/10.1177/23998083241227471

Tornaghi, C., Dehaene, M., Cadieux, K.V., López-García, D., Nicklay, J., Byles, H., Fried, H., Winter, K., Rayns, F. (2025) Healing people, soils and science through ‘urban soil remediation’ research? A conversation in transdisciplinary agroecology research. Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/epdf/10.1080/21683565.2025.2573371?needAccess=true

Valliant, J., O’Neill, M., & J. Freedgood. (2025). Bipartisan creation of Land Access Policy Incentives: US efforts to support beginning farmers and resist farm consolidation and loss. Agriculture & Human Values 42:421-39.

Valliant, J., O’Neill, M., Macagno, A., Zebrowski, W., Lubben, B., & J. Freedgood. (In review). The effects and reach of U.S. states’ Beginning Farmer Tax Credits: Incentivizing landowners to rent or sell land to young grain farmers. Land Use Policy

O’Neill, M., Valliant, J., & J. Freedgood (In review). U.S. states’ coupled investments in young farmers’ landownership and farmland protection: Farmer survey evidence of food systems resiliency efforts. Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems

Ross, J., Zebrowski, W., & J. Valliant. (In review). Do tax incentives for farmland supply induce new farm start-ups? Evidence from Iowa’s Beginning Farmer Tax Credit. Applied Economic Perspectives & Policy

Horst, M., Valliant, J., & J. Freedgood. (2024). An evaluation of the federal Transition Incentives Program on land access for next-generation farmers. Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development, 13(2): 73–90