The growing Midwest grain chain can create greater landscape diversity, resilience for rural communities, and increased access to nutritious foods. Regionalized food-grade production and processing is still early in its development; to ensure its success at this critical juncture, foundational information and intentional value chain strengthening is required.

This project, led by the Artisan Grain Collaborative, will address the current knowledge gaps in the Midwest grain chain, synthesizing existing data while gathering new information to support the continued development and growth of the value chain, especially for beginning, women, and BIPOC producers.  

Croatan Institute will support this project by providing an assessment of the available capital mechanisms used to finance grain chain development, the existing barriers that producers face when seeking capital, and the opportunities to provide more patient and flexible capital to the regional grain chain