From Seed to Sourdough & Barley to Beer: Partnership Strategies & Governance Mechanisms Supporting Regionalized Grain Value Chains in the Upper Northeast

Elise Neidecker, Graduate REsearch Assistant

This project examines the partnerships and decision-making strategies in three localized grain value chains in the upper Northeast U.S. (the six New England states and New York), where farmers, millers, bakers, maltsters, and brewers are working collaboratively in relationship- and values-based grain supply chains. Understanding the collaborative nature of these three, established grain value chains—including risk-sharing, joint decision-making, and other value chain coordination strategies—could support the development of new localized grain chains as well as the broader regionalization of the food system in the Northeast. Forty interviews with actors along the supply chain and other key informants result in a comparative case study revealing the similarities and differences in supply chain structure, partnership strategies, and governance mechanisms among the three grain value chains, in addition to the broader challenges and opportunities for local grain in the Northeast.