A key strength of New York Farm Viability is our relentless focus on measurement. We require it for our projects, and we consistently evaluate our overall performance as an organization. Following are some of the numbers we track on an annual basis.
Organizational Impact
For every dollar that Farm Viability has invested in a completed project $7.50 has been returned to the agricultural community as measured by increased revenue, cost savings and capital investments.
Each one of our projects is required to document key facts and figures about the immediate impact they generate, as well as the number of farmers they reach with the knowledge gained.
268 projects selected by our competitive program have been completed since 2006. The chart below aggregates the numbers provided by project leaders in their final report. These numbers reflect actual impact during the life of the grant. It does not include forecasts for future impact. (October 31, 2018 statistics)
Farmer Involvement
The importance of producer involvement can’t be overstated. The most competitive proposals will incorporate farmers as members of advisory boards, implement research on their farm, or work with them directly to adopt new practices. The map below reflects the 287 farmers actively involved in one or more of our FVI projects across 47 counties. It references data from October 31, 2018.
FVI Funding by Commodity Area
New York is fortunate to have such a broad range of agricultural products produced in the state. One of the strengths of Farm Viability is our focus on funding the best proposals received in any given year. The chart below illustrates how the funds were awarded among commodity areas.
Projects in the “general” category help farmers in two or more commodity areas. Projects labeled as “niche” refer to the size of the market, for example the equine project funded with Jefferson County Community College.
Types of Organization Funded
By far, the majority projects Farm Viability funds are with Cornell University. As New York State’s land grant university that makes sense. As an organization, they also submit the highest number of proposals. That said, we are pleased to be able to support other researchers and educators interested in developing their ideas to support New York farmers.
