WOOSTER, Ohio – Traditionally, farmers send crops or livestock to market, get paid, and move on. But farmers in northeast Ohio are recapturing more of the supply chain. They’re turning to value-added products – turning milk into artisanal cheese and berries into jam – to earn more revenue from their products.

To teach and support farmers in this endeavor, the USDA established several Agriculture Innovation Centers (AICs) through its Agriculture Innovation Center Program.

Established in 2024, the Northeast Ohio Agriculture Innovation Center (NEO-AIC) is located at the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center in Wooster. The center has provided one-on-one, tailored technical assistance to more than 100 northeast Ohio producers. Its services include business planning, food safety and regulatory compliance, branding and marketing, and access to capital. NEO-AIC is one of eight USDA-supported Agriculture Innovation Centers nationwide and is the only center focused on integrating quality of life into program planning.

Dr. Shoshanah Inwood, a rural sociologist and program director for Ohio State University’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences, explained how the NEO-AIC focuses on quality of life.

“We’re interested in how your production and marketing system works with your family’s needs,” Inwood said. “Are you taking care of young children? Are you taking care of elderly members of your family? What are your own health needs? How do we better align the family and the farm so that people are really able to do what they love, but also reduce their stress levels?”

According to Inwood, farmers in northeast Ohio are incredibly innovative and entrepreneurial. However, integrating value-added products can be great for the bottom line in the long run, but it can be a lot of work to set up. That’s where NEO-AIC can help.

“The NEO-AIC helps busy farmers by removing barriers, making the process from concept to market more efficient,” Inwood said. “We are focused on workforce development and workforce retention in the agricultural sector using an economic development approach that contributes to the regional economy by simultaneously centering both farm profitability and quality of life.”

Northeast Ohio has the state’s highest concentration of small- to mid-sized farms. The region also has many women and Amish farmers. Unlike the western half of the state, which is dominated by row crop farms, this area is more diversified. It focuses on specialty crops, poultry and dairy. Because of this diversity, farmers face a disconnected support system when trying to follow rules and regulations for value-added production.

“The internet has tons of information, but it’s almost too much,” Inwood said. “For a farmer, navigating the maze of branding guidelines, direct-to-consumer regulations, and safety standards can be a full-time job in itself.”

The NEO-AIC was created to provide a “one-on-one” bridge across that gap. The center’s approach is different from traditional extension services. They utilize an 11-member team that follows a medical model of support.

“We meet twice a month, and we go through the different clients that we’re working with,” Inwood said. “Each person on our team has specialized but complementary knowledge.”

The team includes Peggy Kirk Hall, an agricultural law specialist who navigates the regulatory landscape, and Nicole Arnold, a food safety expert who ensures on-farm practices meet state and national guidelines.

By reviewing cases as a board, the center ensures that if a farmer has a question about a Value-Added Producer Grant or a specific regulatory hurdle from the Ohio Department of Agriculture, the team can provide a holistic answer. “This ‘high-touch’ relationship means farmers don’t have to call regulators themselves – a task many producers find daunting,” Inwood said.

A significant portion of the NEO-AIC’s service area – including Holmes, Coshocton and Ashland counties – is home to a dense Amish and Plain community population. To serve them effectively, the center has done something unprecedented: they hired an Amish liaison.

“We very intentionally tried to translate all the different materials... to be culturally accessible for the Plain community,” Inwood said. This includes a monthly column in The Budget newspaper, a publication based in Sugarcreek, Ohio, with over 50,000 subscribers worldwide. “This outreach has been so effective that the center now receives inquiries from Plain farmers across North and South America,” she said.

The center is also creating marketing opportunities for the region’s value-added product. One major project involves the Akron-Canton Airport, where the NEO-AIC is an official wellness partner.

The center is working with a local farmer to organize northeast Ohio products for the airport’s concessions. Each product will feature a QR code, allowing travelers to read the story of the farm while waiting for their flight. Additionally, the airport plans to host pop-up farmers markets for its 1,200 employees.

The demand for these services has been tremendous. Originally funded to help 50 farmers over three years, the center has already worked with over 100 farmers in just 18 months.

However, the future of the center faces a hurdle: the USDA grants that launched the AIC are currently being phased out. To remain sustainable, the center is looking at alternative models, including fee-for-service structures, integrating into the Agricultural Technical Institute curriculum at OSU, and philanthropic investments.

For now, the center continues to provide vital tools like their Resource Map, a digital guide to 219 regional resources – including commercial kitchens, auctions and Small Business Administration offices – designed to remove the barriers between a farmer’s raw product and a consumer’s table.

NEO-AIC has had a significant impact on farmers in the region in its brief existence.

“Every client reported satisfaction with the services received and said they would recommend the center to others,” Inwood said. “Eighty percent of participants reported a stronger understanding of what it takes to start or expand a value-added agriculture business. Seventy percent said they felt more confident making business decisions as a result of their engagement.”0