COVID-19 Impacts and Market Access Research

Maine Farmer Survey

Thank you for taking the time to complete this survey!

Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association, Maine Farmland Trust, the Cooperative Development Institute, and Coastal Enterprises, Inc., are conducting research on the impacts of COVID-19 on our food system and markets. In addition to this survey for farmers, we are also conducting surveys of Maine consumers and wholesale buyers. We will use this research to identify ways to better support Maine farmers in the aftermath of COVID-19, and we will share the results with the farming community so that everyone can get a better idea about how COVID-19 has impacted farmers throughout the state. As a valued farmer in the state of Maine, you have been invited to participate in this survey. We greatly appreciate your feedback and contribution to this project. All individual survey responses will remain confidential.

Please have your financial information for 2019 and 2020 as well as 2021 projections on hand to complete this survey.

There will be a raffle form linked at the end of this survey that will enter you to win one of 30 $100 Gift Cards! On the raffle form, you will also be able to sign up to receive the survey results and analysis directly as a valued participant of the study.

The responses to this survey will remain strictly anonymous.

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* 1. What county do you currently farm in?

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* 2. What are your Primary and Secondary farm enterprises (Check all that apply)?

	Primary	Secondary
Beef	Beef Primary	Beef Secondary
Dairy	Dairy Primary	Dairy Secondary
Hogs	Hogs Primary	Hogs Secondary
Sheep/goats	Sheep/goats Primary	Sheep/goats Secondary
Poultry/fowl	Poultry/fowl Primary	Poultry/fowl Secondary
Eggs	Eggs Primary	Eggs Secondary
Row crops (corn, soybeans, etc)	Row crops (corn, soybeans, etc) Primary	Row crops (corn, soybeans, etc) Secondary
Small grains (wheat, oats, barley, etc)	Small grains (wheat, oats, barley, etc) Primary	Small grains (wheat, oats, barley, etc) Secondary
Small fruit or berries	Small fruit or berries Primary	Small fruit or berries Secondary
Vegetables	Vegetables Primary	Vegetables Secondary
Hay/silage/corn	Hay/silage/corn Primary	Hay/silage/corn Secondary
Fiber	Fiber Primary	Fiber Secondary
Flowers	Flowers Primary	Flowers Secondary
Hemp	Hemp Primary	Hemp Secondary
Marijuana	Marijuana Primary	Marijuana Secondary
Medicinal herbs	Medicinal herbs Primary	Medicinal herbs Secondary
Mushrooms	Mushrooms Primary	Mushrooms Secondary
Honey/apiary products	Honey/apiary products Primary	Honey/apiary products Secondary
Agritourism	Agritourism Primary	Agritourism Secondary
Value-added products	Value-added products Primary	Value-added products Secondary
Seedlings	Seedlings Primary	Seedlings Secondary
Nursery/Horticultural Crops	Nursery/Horticultural Crops Primary	Nursery/Horticultural Crops Secondary
Seeds	Seeds Primary	Seeds Secondary
Maple Syrup	Maple Syrup Primary	Maple Syrup Secondary
Orchard/Tree fruit	Orchard/Tree fruit Primary	Orchard/Tree fruit Secondary
Aquaculture	Aquaculture Primary	Aquaculture Secondary

Other (please specify)

Question Title

* 3. Is your farm:

	Yes	No
Certified Organic?	Certified Organic? Yes	Certified Organic? No
GAP Certified?	GAP Certified? Yes	GAP Certified? No

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* 4. How many of each type of employee did you have in the following years (please include yourself as an employee-owner)?

	2019	2020	Planned for 2021
Full Time - year-round	Full Time - year-round 2019 menu	Full Time - year-round 2020 menu	Full Time - year-round Planned for 2021 menu
Part Time - year-round	Part Time - year-round 2019 menu	Part Time - year-round 2020 menu	Part Time - year-round Planned for 2021 menu
Full Time - seasonal	Full Time - seasonal 2019 menu	Full Time - seasonal 2020 menu	Full Time - seasonal Planned for 2021 menu
Part Time - seasonal	Part Time - seasonal 2019 menu	Part Time - seasonal 2020 menu	Part Time - seasonal Planned for 2021 menu

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* 5. What were your Gross Receipts (in dollars) for each of the following market channels in the year of 2019? (If zero, feel free to leave blank)

Farmers Markets

Own Farm Stand / on-farm sales

Farm Stand owned/ operated by others

Farm Website / online sales platform

CSA

Retail Stores

Restaurants

Distributors

Institutions

Processors

Agritourism

Other farm income (services for hire, sale of assets, etc.)

Question Title

* 6. What were your Gross Receipts for each of the following market channels in the year of 2020? (If zero, feel free to leave blank)

Farmers Markets

Own Farm Stand / on-farm sales

Farm Stand owned/ operated by others

Farm Website / online sales platform

CSA

Retail Stores

Restaurants

Distributors

Institutions

Processors

Agritourism

Other farm income (services for hire, sale of assets, etc.)

Question Title

* 7. What do you anticipate your Gross Receipts to be for each of the following market channels in the year of 2021? (If zero, feel free to leave blank)

Farmers Markets

Own Farm Stand / on-farm sales

Farm Stand owned/ operated by others

Farm Website / online sales platform

CSA

Retail Stores

Restaurants

Distributors

Institutions

Processors

Agritourism

Other farm income (services for hire, sale of assets, etc.)

Question Title

* 8. What threats to the well-being of your business arose as a result of COVID-19? (Check all that apply)

Wholesale markets closed

Retail markets closed

Wholesale prices dropped

Retail prices dropped

Farm supplies and inputs became more difficult to source

Farm supplies and inputs became more expensive

New farm supplies and inputs needed to be purchased (eg: PPE, sanitizers, etc)

Labor costs increased

Number of employees had to be cut

Number of employees had to be increased

Availability of labor became limited

Access to and use of processing infrastructure became limited

Transportation and distribution challenges increased

Increased mental health concerns

Increased physical health concerns

Other (please specify)

Question Title

* 9. How has your business changed as a result of COVID-19? Of the changes indicated, which do you want to be long term? (Check all that apply)

Other changes made (please specify)

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* 10. Currently, how confident are you that your business is able to withstand or quickly adapt to future disruptions to the food system?

Very confident

Somewhat confident

Neutral

Somewhat unconfident

Very unconfident

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* 11. In your own words, please explain why your current level of confidence in your business's ability to withstand or quickly adapt to future food system disruptions is what it is:

	Change was made	I want it to be a long term change
Cut back the planned growth/expansion of business	Cut back the planned growth/expansion of business Change was made	Cut back the planned growth/expansion of business I want it to be a long term change
Increased or began buying in product from other farmers	Increased or began buying in product from other farmers Change was made	Increased or began buying in product from other farmers I want it to be a long term change
Decreased or stopped buying in product from other farmers	Decreased or stopped buying in product from other farmers Change was made	Decreased or stopped buying in product from other farmers I want it to be a long term change
Increased or began selling product to other farmers	Increased or began selling product to other farmers Change was made	Increased or began selling product to other farmers I want it to be a long term change
Decreased or stopped selling product to other farmers	Decreased or stopped selling product to other farmers Change was made	Decreased or stopped selling product to other farmers I want it to be a long term change
Increased staff trainings/meetings	Increased staff trainings/meetings Change was made	Increased staff trainings/meetings I want it to be a long term change
Increased packaging or pre-bagging items	Increased packaging or pre-bagging items Change was made	Increased packaging or pre-bagging items I want it to be a long term change
Increased sanitation/food safety SOP's	Increased sanitation/food safety SOP's Change was made	Increased sanitation/food safety SOP's I want it to be a long term change
Increased the number of businesses from which farm supplies and inputs are purchased	Increased the number of businesses from which farm supplies and inputs are purchased Change was made	Increased the number of businesses from which farm supplies and inputs are purchased I want it to be a long term change
Decreased the number of businesses from which farm supplies and inputs are purchased	Decreased the number of businesses from which farm supplies and inputs are purchased Change was made	Decreased the number of businesses from which farm supplies and inputs are purchased I want it to be a long term change
Stopped farming	Stopped farming Change was made	Stopped farming I want it to be a long term change
Accessed new wholesale markets	Accessed new wholesale markets Change was made	Accessed new wholesale markets I want it to be a long term change
Accessed new direct-to-consumer markets	Accessed new direct-to-consumer markets Change was made	Accessed new direct-to-consumer markets I want it to be a long term change
Accessed new online markets	Accessed new online markets Change was made	Accessed new online markets I want it to be a long term change
Lost or dropped wholesale markets	Lost or dropped wholesale markets Change was made	Lost or dropped wholesale markets I want it to be a long term change
Lost or dropped direct-to-consumer markets	Lost or dropped direct-to-consumer markets Change was made	Lost or dropped direct-to-consumer markets I want it to be a long term change
Lost or dropped online markets	Lost or dropped online markets Change was made	Lost or dropped online markets I want it to be a long term change
Scaled down production	Scaled down production Change was made	Scaled down production I want it to be a long term change
Scaled up production	Scaled up production Change was made	Scaled up production I want it to be a long term change
More diversified production	More diversified production Change was made	More diversified production I want it to be a long term change
Less diversified production	Less diversified production Change was made	Less diversified production I want it to be a long term change
Increased overall diversity/number of markets	Increased overall diversity/number of markets Change was made	Increased overall diversity/number of markets I want it to be a long term change
Decreased overall diversity/number of markets	Decreased overall diversity/number of markets Change was made	Decreased overall diversity/number of markets I want it to be a long term change
Increased donation of food to pantries, gleaners, etc.	Increased donation of food to pantries, gleaners, etc. Change was made	Increased donation of food to pantries, gleaners, etc. I want it to be a long term change
Decreased donation of food to pantries, gleaners, etc.	Decreased donation of food to pantries, gleaners, etc. Change was made	Decreased donation of food to pantries, gleaners, etc. I want it to be a long term change
Accessed counselling or other stress management services	Accessed counselling or other stress management services Change was made	Accessed counselling or other stress management services I want it to be a long term change

COVID-19 Impacts and Market Access ResearchMaine Farmer Survey

Question Title

* 1. What county do you currently farm in?

Question Title

* 2. What are your Primary and Secondary farm enterprises (Check all that apply)?

Question Title

* 3. Is your farm:

Question Title

* 4. How many of each type of employee did you have in the following years (please include yourself as an employee-owner)?

Question Title

* 5. What were your Gross Receipts (in dollars) for each of the following market channels in the year of 2019? (If zero, feel free to leave blank)

Question Title

* 6. What were your Gross Receipts for each of the following market channels in the year of 2020? (If zero, feel free to leave blank)

Question Title

* 7. What do you anticipate your Gross Receipts to be for each of the following market channels in the year of 2021? (If zero, feel free to leave blank)

Question Title

* 8. What threats to the well-being of your business arose as a result of COVID-19? (Check all that apply)

Question Title

* 9. How has your business changed as a result of COVID-19? Of the changes indicated, which do you want to be long term? (Check all that apply)

Question Title

* 10. Currently, how confident are you that your business is able to withstand or quickly adapt to future disruptions to the food system?

Question Title

* 11. In your own words, please explain why your current level of confidence in your business's ability to withstand or quickly adapt to future food system disruptions is what it is:

COVID-19 Impacts and Market Access Research

Maine Farmer Survey