By: Fiona St. Pierre, Granite State News Collaborative

While it’s too soon to tell what the hard figures for 2020 will be for agriculture, trends emerging from the area tell a complicated story. One that Beth Hodge of Echo Farms and current Cheshire County Farm Bureau president says is “a year of highs and lows.”

  With consumers looking for safe alternatives to grocery stores, the clear winners this year were produce-based businesses.

  “The average consumer was buying from farmsteads in huge, massive amounts,” notes Hodge. “Anybody that had a store saw unbelievable numbers, never had sold so much through their own store … people really wanted to feel comfortable, wanted to buy direct from farmers, didn’t want to be in a grocery store … that was just a huge boon for New Hampshire farmers.”

  This trend was seen throughout the Monadnock Region and New Hampshire. Farm stands, pick-your-own, and local farmers’ markets saw an increase in growth and profits, ranging from 15 to 30%. Anthony Levick of Monadnock Berries in Troy saw growth at the top of that range. Growth, he feels, is directly related to the pandemic.  

  “We were actually one third — about 35% — up on pick-your-own sales this year. And that would be, probably because of COVID,” Levick notes. “Customers were just busting to get out on the farm, and we saw a lot of new customers.”

  The change in local consumer behavior seems to mirror the national-level trends. According to the USDA, “for all fresh and processed vegetables, U.S. consumers generally sourced about one-third of their volume-based consumption through away-from-home dining pre-COVID.”

  According to the U.S. Census Bureau, sales at eating and drinking places fell 19% from a year earlier over the first 10 months of 2020: “If aggregate vegetable supplies were indeed similar from the previous year, this implies the sizeable reduction in foodservice may have been largely offset by a combination of increased grocery store sales (up 12% through October), community/farmer’s markets, and deliveries through several food donation programs.”

  Another aspect that led to a rise in growth in the pick-your-own business was families looking for safe outings.

  “By September, people were chomping at the bit to get outdoors, and they’re thinking, what can we do with the kids, with the family that’s safe and fun and outdoors? And nobody was having any events. You know, there wasn’t a barbecue competition to go to. There wasn’t a beer tasting festival going on anywhere. So, they came and picked apples,” says Fran Imhoff, manager, farmstand/marketing and venue coordinator at Alyson’s Orchard in Walpole, New Hampshire. “[From] when we opened in August … Mother Nature was good to us, and we had a great peach crop as well as a very substantial apple crop.”

  Comparing the numbers from one weekend in the fall of 2020 to the year before, Imhoff says the number was “considerably higher … and what we did see, which was really nice, was families that came back numerous times.”

As Monadnock Farm and Community Coalition Director Roe-Ann Tasoulas points out, CSAs (community supported agriculture) also saw a rise in membership.

  “From the CSAs that I’ve spoken to, their shares sold out early … I would say at least 10% more,” and “everybody reported that there was an increase in shares, that they found themselves, the demand for shares was higher than it’s ever been,” Tasoulas notes.

 

Consumer behavior and business pivots

When talking to farmers and experts around the region, the same question was echoed again and again, says Hodge. “’ What are the next steps? Is this going to continue?’ I think [those are the questions] that seems to be on everybody’s mind. You know, there could be this sort of belief that maybe it’s gone on long enough that we’ve permanently changed behavior on consumers,” Hodge says.

  In the changing landscape of the pandemic, farmers and business owners have had to pivot their business model to break even or limp along. It’s a risk with no data to back up their choices. It’s hard to say if those choices will pay off in the long run. For now, it’s allowing some farmers to extend their season or add new features to their business.

  Monadnock Berries has a beer operation as well — Granite Roots Brewing — which had to close at the beginning of the pandemic. During the summer months, they were able to move the taproom outdoors and allow for social distancing.

  However, the Levicks grew concerned about the coming cold, “we thought, we’re going to be really in trouble when the weather gets cold in the fall. And we discovered that you could buy plastic domes, like igloos. So, we ordered five, way back at the beginning of the summer, and they arrived, and we put them up this fall … and we’re absolutely packed we’re fully booked,” says Levick.

  According to Gail McWilliam Jellie, director of the New Hampshire Division of Agricultural Development, “pivoting was key,” and farmers had to “think on their feet” to make it through this tough season.  

  It wasn’t just the added outdoor space for Monadnock Berries; like many Monadnock businesses, they also had to change practices to deal with a more rural location.

  “We don’t live in a very populated area. So, we don’t have a huge takeaway business. Not like the breweries in Keene, which have a big takeaway business. We don’t, you know, we’re Troy … So, we thought, well, the only thing we can do is to boost the wholesale beer business,” notes Levick.

  During the pandemic, the brewery lost about 15 restaurant accounts, Levick says. They pivoted to selling more beer to New Hampshire beer stores. “We’ve boosted that side of the business,” says Levick.

  With an increase in wholesale accounts, the beer garden, the winterized greenhouses and the domes, the brewery had a “really good year,” says Levick.

  But pivoting was vital, he continues. “You have to make decisions at the moment, and it’s difficult to plan. It’s sort of surviving by the seat of your pants. It’s just the way it’s been this year.”

 

Events, tours, and agritourism

Regardless of the increased produce number, it was a tough season for many area farmers. Agricultural tourism is a mainstay for the industry. However, this last season saw losses trending in the 40 to 60%.

  Alyson’s Orchard not only has the produce side but is also a wedding destination. As the pandemic impacted wedding plans across the globe, it also struck close to home.

  “I would have to say that the wedding business was affected to the negative. Basically, we weren’t allowed to do any weddings at all until August, mid-August. And generally, we start in April, early May. And so, we missed May, June, July, and part of August,” says Imhoff.

She notes that there was a lot of distress on the part of brides thinking that they would be better off either canceling or postponing the wedding for a year. So, a lot of the couples moved the 2020 wedding date into 2021.

  “And we felt that we had no choice but to give them another date because this was no one’s fault,” says Imhoff. She notes that this will hurt the wedding venue business for a “couple of years” because of the lost dates in 2020. “It’s going to be two or three years before we’re actually back on track financially with the weddings because we’ve got [fewer] dates to sell.”

 

Stronger together

Tasoulas adds that not only were farms impacted by the drop in venue bookings and agritourism, but they were also hurt by restaurant closures.

  “The lack of ordering from local restaurants … certainly impacted the amount of local food that was being ordered wholesale from restaurants,” says Tasoulas.

  During the growing and harvest season, farms scrambled to find a way to sell their products.  

  They “really started helping each other out by promoting and carrying each other’s products,” notes Tasoulas. “So, a lot of farms around here ended up partnering with each other and carrying each other’s products, which was wonderful.”

These articles are being shared by partners in The Granite State News Collaborative. For more information, visit collaborativenh.org.