The Experimental Farm Network Cooperative

The Experimental Farm Network Cooperative produced or collected over 500 varieties of heirloom and open-pollinated seeds, intended for sale or free distribution. We managed a collection of over 2,000 rare heirloom vegetable, grain, and herb varieties. We conducted variety trials and plant breeding research on over 100 different species. We performed research in agroecological farming methods and educated members of the public on our work. We improved our website used for facilitating collaboration on plant breeding and sustainable agriculture research projects, which now lists 28 projects. Over the past year, we continued making advancements on various in-house research projects, including perennial grain sorghum, perennial leaf beets, Chilean pine nuts, strawberries, chinquapin chestnuts, hazelnuts, perennial wheat, perennial rye, and other perennial crops. Customers made 4,633 purchases through our online store (which has become our primary means of disseminating seeds for breeding projects, research, and to inspire growers to become breeders and researchers themselves), and we also shared free seeds with an estimated 12,000 people through more than 300 local seed hubs (organized through the Cooperative Gardens Commission project which we started in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic). We attended various farming conferences (mostly virtual this year) and other public events, speaking to audiences about our work. We traveled extensively to build relationships with other farmers, plant breeders, and seed growers. For each of these activities, our overarching long-term goal is the development of new crops and growing methods for carbon-sequestration, improved soil health, and ecosystem services. We also continued and expanded our work of seed "rematriation" (defined similarly to "repatriation", but using a word that recognizes and honors the role of women as seed-keepers in most traditional societies), returning heirloom seeds to the communities from which they originally came, and developing long-term mutually-beneficial relationships with members of those communities, including through offering programmatic support wherever possible. Revenue related to these fundamental programs came from online sales and distribution of seeds, which not only serve to support all of our charitable work, but are also fully part of that work (since getting a wide range of seed varieties, landraces, and breeding populations into the hands of gardeners and farmers is fundamental to our work of facilitating sustainable agriculture research and plant breeding, and inspiring growers of all stripes to become agricultural researchers and plant breeders).