Farm Viability
EFAO’s Vegetable Growers Viability (VGV) Program is a multiyear study for direct-to-market ecological vegetable growers. This work is the first of its kind in Ontario and is modelled after work done by PASA Sustainable Agriculture and works off a pilot study EFAO conducted in 2025 with five farms.
The purpose of this program is to:
- Support individual farms with standardized financial data and training on financial data collection and literacy
- Support new and aspiring farmers with publicly available benchmarks for ecological farms of different models and scales for planning and decision making
- Support the ecological farming sector with data that is specific to ecological vegetable production will provide a better understanding of how to increase the profitability and financial resilience of farms across Ontario
If you are an ecological vegetable grower in Ontario and would like to expand your understanding of your farm’s financial resilience and contribute to the collective knowledge of farm viability, the intake is now open!
Program details
Learn more about program eligibility, benefits and commitment.
Financial Resources
Check out EFAO’s resources on labour tracking, chart of accounts and webinar recordings related to financial viability.
FAQ
Read FAQ to learn more about the program and what it takes to participate.
Program Information
Eligibility
The Vegetable Grower Viability Program is open to farmers who:
- Grow vegetables in Ontario using ecological growing practices (i.e. certified organic, uncertified organic, regenerative, biodynamic, traditional ecological, permaculture, etc.);
- Have grown vegetables for a minimum of 2 years; and
- Sell vegetables directly to consumers, including but not limited to CSA, on-farm sales, farmers markets, farm cooperative and local wholesale outlets.
Selection Criteria
We will make selections based on having a representation across the province and across small-to-mid scale growers, with priority given to EFAO farmer-members. The goal for this program is to work with 30 participating farms in 2026.
Participation Benefits
Financial benchmarks for your farm
- Annual financial benchmark information for each participating farm.
- Farm-specific reports and anonymized reports situating each farm relative to the other farms in the program.
Education and learning opportunities
- Educational opportunities such as webinars, electronic resources and staff assistance.
- Additional resources are shaped by feedback from participants.
- Peer-to-peer learning opportunities.
Stipend for participation and completion
- A minimum annual stipend of $500 for completing the program.
Commitment
The VGV program is intended to run for multiple years. Farms are only asked to commit to one year at a time, but are encouraged to participate longer. The extended timeline will help to create more robust data in an industry subject to significant fluctuations.
For each year of participation we ask that participants:
- Attend one onboarding meeting in January.
- Make an effort to ensure that record keeping related to the study is accurate and in accordance to the program templates, including:
- Income and expenses divided by enterprise
- Income and expenses divided by marketing method
- Labour hours recorded separately for both owners and staff
- Communicate with staff about any updates, needs or concerns about your ability to participate.
- Submit farm-specific data using the two-part input forms. The deadline for 2026 is March 31st of 2027.
- Provide feedback each year through a survey and/or attendance at a feedback meeting.
Data Use & Privacy Guidelines
Read the Data Use & Privacy Guidelines.
Application
Timeline for Participants
Fall – Apply!
- Apply for the upcoming year + LINK
Fall & Winter – Prepare
- Attend meetings, support calls and webinars to help you have your books ready for data collection.
Summer — Check-ins
- Get support with check-ins as needed during the busy growing season.
Winter — Submit your data
- Submit your data, due in March of the year following data collection (e.g. 2026 participants must submit data by March 31st of 2027).
Summer & Fall — Receive your report!
- In the summer/fall of the year following data collection, you will receive an individual benchmark report and an anonymized report summarizing all farms, as well as opportunities to discuss the results as a group and/or individually.
Resources
Coming soon!
Data Use & Privacy Guidelines
EFAO takes farmer data privacy very seriously. The following information is specific to data collected through the Vegetable Growers Viability Program.
Guidelines for general data use collected through the Vegetable Growers Viability Program:
- All technology tools used to manage, analyze and report on data are secure and confidential.
- Only the Research Coordinator (Heather Newman), Research Director (Sarah Larsen), Northern Outreach, New Farmer Programs & Operations Director (Allison Muckle) and Executive Director (Ali English) will have confidential access to the data.
- EFAO will store and use your data to continue to build knowledge on the financial viability of ecological vegetable growers.
- You can contact us at any time to have your data removed from the study*.
EFAO may share the following anonymized data in aggregate:
- Gross and net incomes and expenses, financial ratios (e.g., income per acre, debt to asset ratios, payroll to revenue), marketing data, meta data, (as collected from the input form via Airtable), and financial statistics, (e.g., land ownership, access to capital).
We may share the anonymized, aggregated data listed above with collaborating partners in public-facing articles, reports, fact sheets; in workshops, seminars, or conference sessions.
EFAO will ask for your explicit written permission to share the following additional information:
- Primary contact name(s), farm name, phone number, email address, street address, county, postal code, age, IP address, and any other information we deem to be too revealing (e.g., additional notes to explain financial management decisions);
- Your farm location on a map (without identifying information attached);
- Other specific farm data.
*We may deny your request to delete your data if retaining the information is necessary for EFAO to:
- Engage in public or peer-reviewed scientific or statistical research in the public interest that adheres to all other applicable ethics and privacy laws, when the information’s deletion may likely render impossible or seriously impair the research’s achievement, if you previously provided informed consent.
Contact
Please contact Heather Newman, heather@efao.ca, with questions.