Collaborative action could be as simple as forming an alliance to grow and deliver large orders on contract, such as 175,000 bushels of food-grain corn being shipped to Mexico this fall. Or, it could be as complex as investing and participating in cooperatives that take corn and soybeans all the way to consumers. The Value C-FAR SRI team is working with the Agricultural Development Task Force and fledgling Central Illinois Grain Alliance to develop a strategic plan for Woodford County. One component of the effort will focus on assessing potential for collaboration among Illinois farmers to organize value-added processing and alternative marketing arrangements. These alliances are more risky because farmers have to invest some money, and it's a leap for farmers who are a pretty independent group by nature, but it's possible that they could work together to invest money to make money.
Producers have to find a way to capture some of that to increase their profits.
There are a lot of different opportunities, interesting opportunities to explore. Activities in the two other pilot areas, Christian County and Adams and Brown counties, started about six months later, in January 1999. In addition, producers and U of I Extension in Hancock County joined the project, using their own resources. The local group in Adams and Brown counties brought a year's worth of local organizing and discussion to the table, Roegge noted. Access to two rivers offers area producers a competitive advantage in serving export markets.