In early March—when the reality of the coronavirus set in—we were all quite dramatically reminded of why a diversity of market streams is critical. Those of us who lost market outlets were forced to completely reinvent our businesses, almost overnight.

Conversely, many of us have seen interest skyrocket in recent weeks. I know that our small farm has been completely unable to meet the demand in the early months of the regular growing season. And that’s great, but I don’t expect it to last and I hope you don’t expect it to either. 

I appreciate optimism. Really, I do. I am a hopeless optimist myself and I think we should all stay positive, but the reality is that we need to approach the next 18 months—or longer—as if it will be the worst economic catastrophe that this country has seen in a century.

We know this, unemployment numbers will not fully bounce back for two years. The restaurant industry itself has lost hundreds of thousand of jobs. Airlines, hotels, movie theaters, venues, retailers have also seen massive losses. Regardless of whether states open up, crowds will not immediately come back to these industries.. Not anytime soon at least. Then all of the peripheral industries will likewise continue to struggle. That leaves a lot of people without income—many of whom are your customers. 

Therefore, even though we all just did this, we must still be prepared to adapt to our markets… again. Perhaps several “agains” over. 

So, what does that mean for farmers? It means you need to set some money aside while things are good. Demand for CSA is at an all time high, but the economic reality has not been fully realized, yet. It means you need to be in good communication with your customers (and empathetic communication at that—avoid peppering your social media with “coronavirus is a hoax” content—assume that at least some of your new business is immunocompromised, and be compassionate). It means that although the CSA model is working right now, it may not be next year as budgets tighten. Honestly, it may not be a viable models after our current season. Or conversely, the CSA model may be the only way to reliably sell food for the next two years. Prepare for all those realties. I.e. remain flexible.

It is good for us all to ask, “Could we pivot again as we had to in March?”  Really think about that question.

Even if you don’t need it at present, consider setting up an online store preemptively. Get an email list going if you haven’t already. Could you do a farm store or team up with someone who has a farm store? It is easy to want to settle into a routine, but I fear now is not the time—talking to myself here as much as you. 

“Success favors the prepared mind,” said Louis Pasteur, and that applies not only to ruining milk (he did, tho), but also to farming. This is what optimism looks like because at the end of the day, if I’m wrong and everything is fine by August, we’re all ready for the next pandemic. Or economic recession. Or disaster that disrupts the food supply chain. Read: we become more resilient. My optimism, therefore, isn’t in the economy, but in making small farms resilient and able to survive any economy, under increasingly adverse circumstances.