Even though our producers valued communication with other producers, they also mentioned difficulties fostering this communication due to a lack of appropriate channels.

This lack was especially apparent to our apprentices and new producers who needed and could benefit most from such exchange. A1 said, "getting farmers connected, communication was one of the biggest problems I encountered this summer." P10 felt similarly, saying, “To me farming is this great opportunity where information could be shared better and have really rich effects from that.”

Even our more established producers who had been farming for many seasons, like P2, felt that they did not have a good way to communicate with each other. “We could learn a lot more if we could talk more together,” said P2, “if we all embrace the whole thing, we’re all going to go further.” P7 felt similarly, saying, “I think there is a lot of room for more communication around production practices, scheduling...‘when do you think you can get away with planting earliest corn,’ ‘how do you store your potatoes,’ ‘what equipment do you use.’”

Currently, this type of information is passed on through word of mouth, and most of the exchange happens through weekly encounters at the local Farmers Market.

Though word of mouth is a powerful force, it often leads to isolated information that is only found due to luck (i.e. being in the right place at the right time.

P10 explained:

"Information is usually shared by word of mouth and on a very local, regional level. The mechanisms for sharing that information being like okay well you visit your friend or you have an apprentice who works here and then came here and tells you about something.”

P10 also described how “a lot of growers share a lot of information at Farmers Markets and it’s a huge opportunity for people to ask each other questions and figure out price stuff.” Though this informal exchange is useful, it only benefits producers who can attend Farmers Markets. Some producers, like P3 and P4, do not have the time to attend every week and instead have community members helping sell for them. Other producers, like P10, chose to only sell through a CSA program. This could be, in part, due to the fact that some new producers struggled to gain acceptance to Farmers Markets, often having to wait for another producer to drop out in order for space to open up.

 

Also, P10 brought up the fact that having information in the moment would be most useful for him, but that he did not want to bother other producers and burden them with his problems. This hesitation is understandable given earlier findings regarding the exhausting nature of the work these producers do and the little free time they have to interface with one another.

P10 described his hesitation, saying:

“That’s the problem, in the moment I might want to and wish I had that person to ask right then but like I don’t want to bother them or they’re busy…things like that. So I usually save it up and if it seems like a real problem that I need to know then I get in touch with someone...I usually don’t like feel I could just call someone ‘cause everyone’s so busy. I wouldn’t want people probably doing that to me either.”