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Annie’s Project: Farming in New Jersey’s Cities and the Urban Fringe focused on the following five areas of risk identified by the US Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service: financial, production, marketing/price, legal/institutional, and human/personnel. Additional education regarding urban farming topics included securing suitable land, dealing with contaminated soils and alternative growing medias, and securing water for crop production. We delivered a series of six 3-hour evening classes to 23 producers. We administered a retrospective evaluation at the conclusion of the series and distributed an evaluation survey 6 months after training. Both evaluations found that participants increased their understanding of farm risks. Furthermore, they indicated they were better able to manage the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on their farm business activities.

The profitability of farms in the northeastern U.S. is hampered by the high cost of production in the region. Production of high-value crops such as organic produce is one of the solutions to keep these farms viable in the region. However, production challenges and limited information related to marketing are likely to hamper the potential growth of organic agriculture in the northeastern U. S. A logit model was developed to predict who is more likely to buy certified organic produce using 1,100 respondents in the Mid-Atlantic region. About 87% of the consumers were willing to buy certified organic produce, and the remaining 13% were not. While 6% of respondents stated that they would not pay slightly more for organic produce, nearly 43 % of the respondents stated that they would pay more than 10 cents premium for a dollar’s worth of organic produce. The results indicate that those who have a graduate degree, those who are influenced by an eco-friendly label, country of origin label, or pesticide-free label are more likely to purchase certified organic produce. Producers and marketers of certified organic vegetables and fruits can target customers with these specific traits to enhance their sales and profitability.