Lauren Gwin

• Oregon State University

Despite continuous growth in demand for organic food and farm products, US domestic supply is not keeping pace. Increasing domestic supply requires, in part, that more farms transition to certified organic production. This in turn requires a better understanding of the transition process. This paper reports on a national survey of farmers transitio...

Farming is a business, as well as a way of life. Whole Farm Management is a comprehensive guide developed by the Small Farms Program at Oregon State University to help aspiring and beginner farmers make smart business decisions to ensure lasting success. In clear, accessible language, this book covers every essential step, from developing a strateg...

In 2011, the Oregon legislature passed the Farm Direct Marketing Law (FDML), which took effect in 2012. The law clarified licensing and food safety requirements for direct-to-consumer sales at farmers markets, farm stands, and similar venues. It also included a “cottage food” provision allowing farms to make and sell certain low-risk, value-added p...

This article examines the challenges direct market farmers face related to land access in the United States. The number of farms participating in direct market sales is growing in the U.S., though their relative number and share of the food economy is low. The benefits of direct market farms range from fresh, high quality food for urban residents a...

We conducted interviews with 18 direct market (DM) farmers to explore the implications of the Oregon minimum wage (MW) increase for the state’s DM agricultural sector. How, if at all, will DM farms in the Willamette Valley (OR, USA) adjust their production and marketing practices in response to the MW increase? How will these adjustments affect DM...

This article describes the Beginner's Guide to Local Meat Processing-a tool created by the national Niche Meat Processor Assistance Network (NMPAN) as an introduction to a complex topic. Increased consumer and producer interest in local meat and poultry has resulted in requests for Cooperative Extension, public agencies, economic development distri...

Despite increasing consumer demand for organic food and farm products and double-digit annual sales growth, U.S. organic production is currently flat and unable to meet demand. This report presents findings from a national survey of farmers about their experiences with organic transition, exploring motivations, obstacles, and desired resources and...

Covers the many factors involved in making decisions related to the use of small-farm property. Discusses the small farm as a hobby, an agricultural tax deferral, and a family income. Explains how to match crop choices to the farm's physical resources, such as soil type, irrigation potential, and climate, and how to choose a production technique, s...

Sixty-four percent of Oregon's farmland is expected to change hands in the next 20 years, yet many Oregon farmers are unprepared for succession. Simultaneously, beginning farmers are finding it harder to start farmers because of dramatically increasing land prices. These distinct but interwined challenges are addressed in a new research report from...

Payments for ecosystem or ecological services (PES) are voluntary, often market-based approaches to protecting environmental values. In the rural United States, some landowners receive PES through government led conservation programs, but little is known about their involvement in market based arrangements. We analyzed three examples of market base...

Increased demand for local food has led to calls for additional supply-chain infrastructure to move products from farm to market. Meat and poultry are highly perishable, rigorously regulated products that require a complex chain, and processing is often said to be the weak link for local meats. Commitment from producers and meat buyers is essential...

An account of the shift in focus to access and fairness among San Francisco Bay Area alternative food activists and advocates. Can a celebrity chef find common ground with an urban community organizer? Can a maker of organic cheese and a farm worker share an agenda for improving America's food? In the San Francisco Bay area, unexpected alliances si...

We use results of a consumer taste test conducted in Portland, Oregon, and choice-based conjoint analysis to examine consumer attitudes about grass-fed beef compared to conventional grain-fed: taste preferences, willingness to pay, and willingness to buy frozen meat in bulk. We consider the effect of demographic, attitudinal, and shopping location...

The report integrates a survey of organic farmers in Oregon, Washington, and Idaho; conversations with focus groups made up of southern Oregon organic farmers and organic farming stakeholders; and interviews with Oregon State University organic agriculture researchers. It highlights research, education, and policy issues identified by organic farme...

Aim Large, charismatic and wide‐ranging animals are often employed as focal species for prioritizing landscape linkages in threatened ecosystems (i.e. ‘connectivity conservation’), but there have been few efforts to assess empirically whether focal species co‐occur with other species of conservation interest within potential linkages. We evaluated...

Farmers markets can be a valuable direct marketing channel. Meat and poultry, relatively new market products, have not achieved widespread success, many vendors reporting low sales and profits. To understand this lack of consumer enthusiasm and acceptance, we surveyed consumers at three Oregon farmers markets using a simple, effective research meth...

In many ways, farm-direct marketing channels are the simplest and most transparent part of the food system: products go straight from producers to consumers, and money travels back in the other direction. Often these exchanges take on a meaning that far transcends the simple financial transactions. On U-pick operations, consumers become farm labore...

The U.S. grass-fed beef sector has expanded rapidly in recent years, with the rise of consumer and producer interest in alternatives to conventional beef, with its associated environmental, health, and social costs. A nationwide study of grass-fed beef producer groups focused on scaling-up operations reveals that there are significant obstacles alo...

http://www.catena-verlag.de/age37.htm US ISBN 1-59326-245-0 Data from surveys made it possible to compare properties in Cáceres Province dehesa and Californian oak savanna to gain insights into how landowner and manager characteristics fit into emergent conservation initiatives. The prevalent institutions and ecological dynamics influence the kinds...

Farmers in Marin and Sonoma Counties, located north of San Francisco, are experimenting with numerous alternatives to California's widely known industrial dairy style. Many analysts suggest that consumer politics, food scares, and globalization explain such shifts to organic and other types of “quality” food production. While acknowledging the impo...