Launch a meat producers cooperative to collectively aggregate and market your product.

AMS GRANTS AWARDED

Local Food Promotion Program (LFPP) 2015 

Implementation Grant for $73,580

Project types: Enterprise Planning, Business Planning, 

Equipment & Labor Costs for Start-Up Businesses

HISTORY OF BUSINESS OR PROJECT

An AMS LFPP grant launched the Heart of the Valley 

(HOV) Growers’ Cooperative in the southern Willamette 

Valley region of Oregon, centered around Eugene. 

Incorporated in January of 2016, the Cooperative 

arose from several years of conversation and 

collaborative efforts, largely coordinated through 

Berggren Demonstration Farm (now called Phoenix 

Farm Enterprises) along with the non-profit, Cascade 

Pacific Resource Conservation & Development. In the 

fall of 2015, the USDA granted funding to support the 

Cooperative’s implementation. 

The initial goals of the Cooperative were to market nonGMO pastured chicken and rabbits to wholesale and 

retail buyers, as well as to coordinate the procurement 

of key production supplies such as feed and chicks 

for the member farmers. It was envisioned that 

membership would help farmers cut their production 

costs through bulk purchasing, but also create more 

market demand for their specialty meats and allow 

some of them to scale up with steady outlets. By 

working together under one brand, the Cooperative 

could relieve some pressure on farmers to create their 

own individual brands and marketing outlets. Instead, 

it would allow them to focus more on production 

efficiencies, animal welfare, meat quality, etc. 

WHY THEY CHOSE TO APPLY FOR AN AMS 

GRANT/WHAT AN AMS GRANT MEANT FOR 

THEIR BUSINESS/ORGANIZATION?

According to Project Director, Jared Pruch, the AMS 

grant allowed the concept of a cooperative to take 

shape and grow wings. It took the risk out of trying 

something new. Jared said, “I think we needed to 

actually try this approach in order to see whether it 

would work or not. Our success has been mixed, but we 

had to actually see whether growers were willing and 

able to work together in a cooperative format – I don’t 

think we could have figured those relationships out as a 

hypothetical. We definitely heard about the challenges 

other cooperatives had experienced prior to initiating 

the project, but the core group of growers involved at 

the inception of the project wanted to apply for grant 

funds to see whether this effort could succeed.”

AMS funding helped put the Cooperative on solid 

footing and learn a few key lessons to help its longterm viability. The grant funding mostly went to pay 

for a general manager and for the development of key 

marketing materials, such as their website.

Agricultural

Marketing 

Service

March 2020

Heart of the Valley Growers’ Cooperative

Corvallis, OR
KEY IMPACTS OF THE GRANT, 

SHORT-TERM AND LONGER-TERM

In this project, a group of small-scale, pastured poultry 

producers explored cooperative options for everything 

from feed purchases to marketing. They worried 

about their processing options but recognized that 

processing facilities could not operate profitably without 

dependable demand for services from producers. 

Therefore, the focus of the project was developing new 

markets and growing production volumes to support the 

infrastructure they needed. Demand drives throughput, 

not the other way around. In the course of the project, 

they uncovered weaknesses along the chain, including 

challenges with cold storage and physical distributions 

and how the added costs of running the cooperative 

made their products more expensive than had they 

marketed independently. They also found it very difficult 

to reach the price points and the further processing 

(parted out broilers, skinless and boneless requests) 

required by larger markets and local chains. This made 

it hard for the project to scale in any appreciable way. In 

addition, there were simply not enough sales to justify 

paying a general manager.

The most significant achievements of this project 

include:

• The legal incorporation of the Cooperative to 

serve growers beyond the life of 

the grant.

• Fostering better communication and 

collaboration between growers.

• Improving product availability and reinforcing 

buyer loyalty. Growers can help each other fill 

orders, either through the Cooperative or for 

their own individual markets.

WHERE THEY WOULD LIKE TO GO NEXT

The former Project Director discussed the need to 

create space for growers to talk directly to wholesale 

buyers so that they understand each other’s needs. 

An example from the organic produce industry 

worth exploring is Organically Grown Company, 

which has helped growers with forward contracting 

arrangements, financing infrastructure improvements, 

group certification, and other production and logistical 

support. This kind of partnership between buyers/

distributors and growers could be very helpful to meat 

producers in the region.

The Cooperative would like to: 1) build a local client 

base; 2) formalize a refrigerated distribution route to 

expand their product regionally; 3) unify production 

schedules for poultry producers; 4) increase offerings of 

other meats such as turkey, duck, pork, lamb, goat, and 

beef; 5) share trips to a regional hatchery for chicks; and 

6) purchase feed in bulk and team up on transportation 

of feed.

HOV Cooperative board president, Jeremy Sherer, 

suggested that while these may have been hopeful 

goals for the co-op, most of them are not materializing. 

Based on perceptions from members that the local area 

market for costly non-GMO pastured poultry is minimal, 

the current members don’t have much incentive to grow 

or scale in any appreciable way. Though other market 

opportunities may exist, this would involve members 

transporting their birds (or processed meat) to larger 

population centers further away or use less costly 

conventional feed, which they do not have a desire to 

do. The core group of board members still exists and 

they continue to work together to share advice and 

customers as needed.

REFERENCES/LINKS

https://www.heartofthevalleycoop.org/

https://www.capitalpress.com/nation_world/profit/

lane-county-cooperative-welcomes-small-poultry-farms/

article_3326a9be-d8ac-5255-879d-391582767343.html

CONTACT INFORMATION

Niche Meat Processor Assistance Network

Rebecca Thistlethwaite

Email: thistler@oregonstate.edu

USDA Agricultural Marketing Service

Samantha Schaffstall

Email: samantha.schaffstall@usda.gov

This case study was 

created in fulfillment of 

a cooperative research 

agreement between 

the Marketing Services 

Division of the Agricultural Marketing Service of the 

United States Department of Agriculture (USDA AMS) 

and Oregon State University’s Niche Meat Processor 

Assistance Network (NMPAN).

Photo Credit: USDA

USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer, 

and lender.