Research

Shermain Hardesty is an Emerita Cooperative Extension Specialist in the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics. She is also the former Director of the University of California's Small Farm Program. Her research and extension activities focus primarily on local foods marketing, cooperatives, and identification of new marketing and specialty crop opportunities for smaller-scale farmers. Before returning to academia in 2002, Dr. Hardesty worked as a produce market research consultant for 10 years and conducted marketing and financial analyses for a rice marketing cooperative for four years.