USDA programs serve not just agricultural producers but also rural businesses and rural people more broadly, including programs meant to incentivize and leverage private dollars for investment in rural areas. However, there is a big need to educate investors and entrepreneurs about realistic opportunities for investment and business development in rural America.

Biological farming is treating your farm like an ecosystem and preserving the long-term health of the soil. Midwestern BioAg is a company that provides farmers with consulting and products (mostly inputs) that help their farm’s yields, resiliency and profitability by using biological farming methods i.e. treating your farm like an ecosystem and preserving the long-term health of the soil. While the company started focused on small dairy producers (50-400 cows in a herd), their customers now include large farms and vegetable producers.

Midwestern BioAg is a company that provides farmers with consulting and products (mostly inputs) that help improve yields, resiliency and profitability by using biological farming methods i.e. treating the farm like an ecosystem and preserving the long-term health of the soil.

Big food and beverage companies start the new product development process by focusing on their target consumer and the value proposition they are offering that consumer through their brand promise. Discovering and defining a consumer driven product is much harder to do than making a food product.

Big food and beverage companies start the new product development process by focusing on their target consumer and the value proposition they are offering that consumer through their brand promise. Discovering and defining a consumer driven product is much harder to do than making a food product. For big food companies, the new product development process includes “screening people in” i.e. finding people who already your target customer and have the right attitude toward your potential new product but are still finding their needs unmet in the current marketplace.

FEED Kitchens is a shared-use kitchen that also serves as a business incubator for food businesses like small-batch bakers, sauce makers, caterers and food carts. Started with $1.4 million of initial investment, their current location includes 5,400 square feet and 3 and 1/2 full time equivalent employees. Their kitchen is in use on average about 35% of the time. They would need to be at about 45%-50% use (24 hours a day, 365 days a year) with a few more “anchor tenants” using the space on a more regular basis to completely cover costs with fee-for-service revenue only. Currently, about 80% of their revenue is from fee-for-service use of the kitchen.

FEED Kitchens is a shared-use kitchen that also serves as a business incubator for food businesses. Currently, about 80% of their revenue is from fee-for-service kitchen use. They would needabout 45%-50% use (24 hours a day, 365 days a year), up from their current 35% and with a few more anchor tenants to completely cover costs with fee-for-service revenue only.

Zero Waste Facility Certification can improvea food business' bottom line while helping them meet existing standards for building design, construction and operations. LEED and Zero Waste Facility Certification also give them a framework to exceed standards where it makes business sense.

Zero Waste Facility Certification can improve food businesses’ bottom lines while helping them meet existing standards for building design, construction and operations. LEED and Zero Waste Facility Certification also give them a framework to exceed standards where it makes business sense. For example, when Tera Johnson (the Edible-Alpha® podcast host) built a whey protein processing plant for teraswhey®, capturing waste heat from the boiler to preheat the drier made both environmental and business sense because it saved money and because those practices resonated with teraswhey®’s target consumer.

Company valuations should be done based on a rational justification of the future growth rate and future earnings of the company, as well as the fundamentals of the business model. For example, whether the company is defensibly unique and how long its competitive advantage can be sustained are both key drivers of company value.