Small farmers quickly adapt to fill a need during pandemic - AJC

Zach and Ilana Richards at Levity Farms (Photo: Caleb Jones)

Zach Richards had just started an internship at a farm in North Georgia when he called his friend Ilana to join him. She fell in love with farming, and Zach, and in 2017, they launched Levity Farms on 2.5 acres of rented land in Alpharetta. It didn’t take long for them to find their niche growing items such as edible flowers, specialty greens and heirloom tomatoes with the chef-focused market in mind. Soon, they were running out of food before they could fulfill orders from local chefs. In 2018, they married. In 2019, they had a baby girl, and in 2020, they, like many other small farmers across the state, were hit by the impact of the new coronavirus pandemic.

When restaurants closed, Levity Farms went from planning to provide 75% to 80% of their produce to chefs to spending one day a week traversing the metro area to deliver veggie boxes to private homes. “It is in the nature of farming to be resilient to changes in the market or changes in the climate,” said Ilana Richards as she made deliveries on a recent Tuesday. “It is one of our strengths in this industry if we are going to be good farmers or successful farmers.”

The pandemic has uncovered weaknesses in the food supply chain, causing disruptions in the production and distribution of food. Unable to get food to market, farmers have destroyed produce and euthanized animals even as grocery store shelves sit empty. For many Americans, it is the first time experiencing the fragility of the food system, and for the industry, it is a time to determine how to build a more resilient system in the future.

In the U.S., fewer than 4% of farms are responsible for two-thirds of the agricultural production, according to the 2017 Census of Agriculture. One-third of all producers in Georgia are beginning farmers (10 or fewer years of experience), and 11% of farms in the state are less than 10 acres. Farms of all sizes have struggled during the pandemic, but many smaller operations in Georgia have adapted quickly, finding new markets and building a new business model that reflects the changing times.

Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue acknowledged the disruptions to the food supply chain during his podcast earlier this month. The USDA in April announced a $19 billion COVID-19 relief initiative that would include $16 billion in direct pay to farmers as well as funds to purchase and distribute food to communities in need. But previous trade bailout funds flowed to larger farms rather than small to medium-sized family farms because the awards are based on production, said Perdue in a recent interview.

Several statewide efforts are underway to help small farmers. On May 1, Georgia Organics and partner organizations kicked off a round of funding for the Farmer Fund, assistance usually reserved for natural disasters, with the hopes of raising $200,000 for farmers by the end of May. The state Department of Agriculture and UGA Extension have collaborated to help farmers — particularly smaller growers and producers — connect with buyers.

Earlier this year, a grant from Food Well Alliance, an organization that supports community-driven agriculture, helped Levity Farms upgrade their irrigation and greenhouses, said Ilana Richards, which they would not have been able to fund based on spring sales. They are now in the process of moving operations to a 10-acre farm in Madison, southeast of Atlanta, where they’ve already planted summer crops. Though they expect a lull in sales because of COVID-19 and the move, they are maintaining relationships with chefs in the metro area and plan to expand their business next year, Richards said.

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