In Caswell County, NC, there is a group of successful businessmen that have retired from their ‘real jobs’ and are now involved in farming. Hearlding from professional backgrounds in energy, engineering, finance, development and the military, the members of the founding group each had some connection to the land in the county. They wanted to build an organization, the Piedmont Progressive Farmers Group (PPFG) with a mission to help other small and beginning farmers to promote sustainable and diverse farming through education, training, technical assistance and marketing. Having established the organization as a 501c (3), the group was able to commission a feasibility study that was released in 2018.

You might think this organization would be very well know county wide and that every farmer would want to join in as there was more money to be made on your farm offerings working together. But not quite so. If you are familiar with the culture in this rural community, although most all are very neighborly and salt of the earth folks, sharing your farm secrets and best practices is not something a population of traditional farmers do. It has been said, if a farmer were to tell you how many cows he had, it would be like him telling you how much money he made. You just don’t go there.  

So the fact that this group was ‘doing it right’, feasibility study and all, was just different. From the study recommendations PPFG is moving forward with building a co-op called the Piedmont Progressive Farmers Co-op (PPFC), where the already successful egg production segment of the project is being fine-tuned prior to moving a phased aggregation of other local foods. Because the farmers raise free range/cage free chickens with no antibiotics, the end result of pesticide free eggs are in great demand.

Currently providing weekly egg quality testing and washing service, area co-op egg producers aggregate their product at a central location where the eggs are inspected, washed, weighed and then packaged with PPFG logo/bar codes/labeling. They are then ready for distribution where the eggs are sold to designated stores and markets outside of the county in the Research Triangel Park, Carboro and Chapel Hill.  

With much hard work in the community, the group has successfully recruited five additional farmers this season. The work is paying off as the organization stands to assist even more beginning farmers be more profitable in their efforts. Member farmers are required to follow PPFG advocated practices in order to build a consistent quality brand. The higher quality end product commands a higher price in the marketplace. 

The future of PPFG and PPFC is looking brighter as the community begins to realize that all change is not really bad; it’s just different. As other developments are moving forward in the county like the plans of the Piedmont Community College CEAD (Center of Education and Agricultural Development) project, PPFC hopes to secure space to further build the egg aggregation and expand into other produce and local food aggregation services too.

Because the Piedmont Progressive Farmers Group has a social and educational mission to improve the economic conditions of disadvantages farmers in the region, they seek partnerships with others in the area with similar goals to avoid duplication and use resources efficiently.   For more details on how to partner with the organizations, visit their website at ppfgco-op.com.

Edited from original post October 21, 2019