We found that while anecdotal evidence was plentiful, there was no concrete data that would allow us to fully understand and address financing gaps faced by smaller sustainable farmers. As a result, The Carrot Project launched an assessment to understand farmers’ financing needs by type of farm, stage of business, and geography. We established an Assessment Working Group to guide the project, held lender focus groups, vetted a farmer survey, signed on 35 organizations to assist us with farmer outreach, and collected more than 700 responses. The results from this work will be available in the spring of 2008 and inform discussions with investors as we strive to address critical financing gaps.

Pilot Investments help us determine the best model for our services. They allow us to test the farmer application process, establish relationships with different types of lenders, and gain credibility with investors. We have already learned significantly from the first Pilot Investment in Maine and will continue with two additional pilots in 2008. For the next two pilots we'd like to work with Farm Credit or a community loan fund and work in Southern New England and New York.