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Limited markets challenge Corn Belt diversity

A researcher with the Diverse Corn Belt project says limited market access is a primary challenge for farmers attempting to diversify.

Brennan Radulski, postdoctoral researcher with the University of Vermont and co-lead of a new policy brief entitled, Diversifying the Corn Belt: Policy Pathways for a Resilient Agricultural Future, says finding a market in the Midwest for something other than corn and soybeans is difficult.

“This challenge is particularly crucial to overcome for enabling diversification, as many farmers are not willing to adopt a diverse crop or product if there’s not a market to sell it to,” she says.

In a recent webinar hosted by the Council for Agricultural Science and Technology (CAST), she says federal policy has been shown to help develop markets and infrastructure in the past, but…

“Market infrastructure development programs are constrained by unstable funding, and the required matching funds can limit small-scale market entities,” she says, “so more local market development will require expanding access.”

Radulski says strategies like tax credits to develop diversified infrastructure and easing regulatory burdens on small scale processors are some examples of policy shifts that can open more diversified markets for Corn Belt farmers.