Dan Guenthner and Margaret Pennings established Common Harvest Farm in 19890, originally in Orono, Minnesota, outside of the Twin Cities, in an effort "to shorten the distance" between the farmers and a community of forty households. After development forced the farm to relocate a number of times, Common Harvest moved nearby to land near Osceola, Wisconsin, the site of another community supported agriculture (CSA) farm, Philadelphia Community Farm, operated by Rick Hall and Verna Kragnes. A study group led to the development of the Minnesota/Western Wisconsin Community Farming Association, and several other CSA farms were established. In 1992, a number of these early CSA farms held a conference in Minnesota in which both farmers and members participated. Subsequent years saw the development of more CSA farms in other states, continued cooperation between the farms, and research into the CSA movement as a whole.
