Field Exchange:

Mission:

Support Farmers Transitioning to Regenerative Organic Agriculture

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OVERVIEW:

Field ExChange is a mobile and web-based learning exchange and marketplace platform to help farmers make the transition from conventional farming practices to carbon-smart Regenerative Organic Agriculture methodologies.

Sponsored by the University of California Berkeley, the Patagonia Case Competition is open to MBA and Graduate students across the nation seeking to redefine the relationship between business and a healthy planet.

For this project I led user research strategy and execution & product strategy and design - including wireframe development and digital design.

Our team presented at the national competition at the Haas School of Business in April 2017 and was awarded 2nd Place for Field ExChange.

SKILLS: Design Strategy, Research Design, User Interaction, UX Design
COLLABORATORS: Michie Adachi, Mohammed Bashkeel, Jessica Blum, Smitha Sharma, Vinayak Uppal.

REGEN Organic Farming

Current farming practices are insufficient to satisfy increasing food demands and sustain the health of our planet. Regenerative Organic Agriculture can significantly mitigate climate change and reduce energy use, all while building the foundation for sustainable, long term approaches to feeding the world.

However, given the complexity of our food systems, successful transition to regenerative organic farming practices will require support along the value chain.

Patagonia challenged student teams to bring innovative solutions to this problem and our team began by interviewing our primary stakeholders: the farmers.

Process

Agriculture is a complex system,

therefore, Field ExChange began with a research plan that would explore viewpoints of stakeholders.

Broad range of stakeholders delivered depth of understanding

We interviewed farmers along the spectrum of regenerative organic practices, from conventional to the most dedicated progressive farmers as well as agronomists, farm lenders, and big food representatives. The breadth of these interviews allowed us to bring nuance and authenticity to our solution.

Research became our true north

By focusing on the stories from our interviews we were able to hone in on the deeper challenges farmers were facing and maintain this focus in the product being created.

Circling back to hone the product

Although this project had a short timeline we prioritized revisiting our interviewees for invaluable feedback on our product, allowing us to revise and address problem areas.

INsights

Meet John, a 3rd generation Ohio farmer in the process of transitioning 300 acres of family-owned farmland to regenerative organic.

Framing our insights through John’s story delivered emotional power, legitimacy and poignancy.

John's challenges: Fear

John is learning new farming methodologies without the support of his immediate community. Neighbors are suspicious and judgmental, watching as he struggles with weeds in fields, new pests, constant unforeseen challenges.

Conventional farming is supported by generations of accumulated knowledge that is the backbone of the farming community, while transitioning farmers experience fear as they take on new processes that completely diverge from those of their immediate community.

John's challenges: Financing

John owns his farmland, but is investing in some new equipment as he transitions. In this very conservative northwest Ohio town he finds skepticism and hesitation from lenders and is attempting the finance the transition by working extra hours on the side in his trucking business.

Currently there is limited data on yield projections and the cost of transitioning, therefore transitioning farmers lack the data needed to make the business case to secure financing to make investments in new processes

John's challenges: Output Markets

John has identified a gap in the local market for non-GMO feed and meats. He has been producing free-range and ethically raised meats, but there is no local demand and it takes a whole new level of marketing and networking beyond his comfort zone to connect with interested buyers.

Markets for Organic Regen products remain unstructured, therefore farmers must find buyers to purchase farm output to ensure profitability, creating instability and higher risk

John's challenges: Process complexity

Growing soy bean is straightforward compared to the complexity of no-till organic. John is lucky to have a role model in a nearby town who has shown him some tricks and shared seed resources, but John’s mentor is just as busy as John, therefore John feels like a burden and sometimes just tries to figure out issues on his own.

Organic Regen farming is by nature a more complex and nuanced process, creating endless obstacles, yet farmers lack access to learning tools and communities to support them in creating these new complex systems

SOLUTION

A mobile and web-based knowledge exchange and marketplace platform to help farmers make the transition from conventional farming methods to regenerative farming practices.

The platform connects farmers with support addressing the primary 4 pain points that were uncovered in the research phase

Transition Checklist

Guides farmers through key activities including: soil fertility and crop nutrient management, crop rotation, pest and disease management, organic handling requirements. Aggregating all checklists into one place helps farmers feel organized and in control of new systems.

Knowledge Exchange

A knowledgeable, supportive community of farmers, policy makers, agronomists, buyers, and other stakeholders. This exChange connects farmers on a local level, as well as with experts and resources across the country

Impact Calculator

Financial and environmental calculator helps farmers develop tangible business plans with financial projections that can be presented to financial institutions. A decision making tool, the calculator supports farmers feel more confident as they step into unfamiliar practices.

Online Marketplace

Connects farmers to buyers and provides a channel for Patagonia to promote and incentivize purchasing.

Transition Checklist

•Comprehensive, current information from USDA, FDA, and other sources on farming and post-harvest activities

•Step-by-step instructions, videos, and tracking of completed activities

•Tailored to the individual goals of each user

Impact Calculator

Financial Modeling: Simple interface to project revenue and costs.

Farming Dashboard: Central location to track crop yield and financial data

Quantified Social Impact: Built-in algorithms to project environmental cost savings

Data aggregation: Accumulated user data to provide benchmarks

Online Marketplace

Farmers sell crops: Crops currently available (or in future) are posted to interface

Buyers access crops: Access to variety of products with in-app pay options

Transaction costs: More secure exchange with greater transparency and diversified supply

Knowledge Exchange

An active community of users posting problems to solicit feedback, sharing stories, and highlighting opportunities for collaboration

Public user profiles
Discussion boards
Private chat function
Picture, video sharing
Virtual “office hours”

IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGY

Implementing a new tool such as Field ExChange requires buy-in from farmers and collaboration across the value chain. These are a few early stage strategies for Patagonia to support the product during transition and build energy around the new platform to ensure its success.

Grassroots army of advocates

Leverage Patagonia's existing sustainability "groupies" to start a local knowledge sharing movement

Partner with existing products

A range of ag-tech support products are already on the market, but none are serving the unique needs of the Regenerative Organic market. Enticing an existing product to shift focus to serve the Regen Organic community would be a quick and dirty way for Patagonia to build a community of farmers.

Transitional Patagonia Provisions Product

Create a market for "mid-organic" goods produced by farms transitioning to organic

Coalition for change

Team with actors along the value chain – like Whole Foods and General Mills – to launch a coalition and ignite scaled change

Competition and Continuing the Work

The team presented Field ExChange at the 2017 Semi-Finals at the UC Berkeley Haas School of Business and took home second prize.

We were hosted by Patagonia and presented the concept to the entire company, engaging in conversation around the future of Regenerative Organic Agriculture.

Patagonia brought me on to continue this research through 2018 as a student consultant, exploring one of the proposed strategies of collaborating with an existing farm management product to create a Regen Organic community through a digital platform.