CSA members' agreement

A template, and the reasoning behind each clause. Fill the blanks, delete what does not apply, and give every member a copy before you take their money.

A CSA runs on an unwritten promise until the first bad week. This document is what stops that bad week becoming a dispute: it says what a share is, what it costs, what happens when the crop fails, and how someone leaves without wrecking the season for everyone else.

1. The parties

This agreement is between [farm / grower name], of [address] ("the grower"), and the member named at the end ("the member"). It applies to the [season, e.g. 2027] growing season.

2. What a share is

A share is a share of the harvest, not a fixed box. The member receives [describe: a weekly share / a collection-point entitlement / a set number of boxes] for [number] weeks, beginning [date] and ending [date].

Contents vary with the season and the weather. The grower commits to [a minimum basket: e.g. at least 6 items] in an ordinary week, and does not commit to any specific variety, weight or item.

3. Price and payment

Payment in advance is what makes the scheme work: it pays for seed, compost and labour before there is anything to sell. [Optional: instalments over N months, first payment by DATE.]

4. Collection

Shares are collected from [place] between [time] and [time] each [day]. Shares not collected are [donated / kept for a member who missed a week / composted] and are not refunded or carried over.

Members who cannot collect arrange for someone else to collect on their behalf and tell the grower in advance.

5. Sharing the risk

The member understands that a farm is not a shop. In a bad week — drought, frost, flooding, pest loss — the share may be smaller. In a failed crop, an item may not arrive at all.

The grower will tell members as soon as a problem is known, and will [state the remedy, e.g. add later in the season / extend the season / offer credit next season]. Where the whole season fails, the grower will [state what happens — be specific and be honest: this clause is what your members are actually buying].

6. Leaving, pausing and behaving

Pausing. A member may pause for up to [2] weeks per season on [7] days' notice; paused weeks are not refunded.

Cancelling. A member may cancel with [30] days' notice. Refund: [state it — e.g. no refund after the season starts, or pro rata at the grower's discretion]. Payment in advance buys a share of a harvest already planned and planted; say so plainly rather than leaving it implied.

Membership. Members are [customers / member-owners — pick one and be honest about which]. Members do not direct how the farm is run. If the scheme has a members' meeting, say what it decides and what it does not.

Conduct. Members treat the collection point, volunteers and other members with respect. The grower may end the agreement for behaviour that makes the scheme unworkable.

7. The clauses that actually get used

1. "A share of the harvest, not a fixed box." Without it, a thin July becomes a complaint about value.
2. Payment in advance, stated as a condition. It is the model, not a preference.
3. Collections not collected are lost. Otherwise every missed week becomes a negotiation on a doorstep.
4. Who members are, and are not. Confusing customers with owners is the most common source of resentment in small CSAs.
5. A named remedy for a bad season. "We will sort something out" is not a clause.

8. Signature

Signed for the grower: [name] — Date: [ ]

Member name: [name] — Address: [address] — Email/phone: [contact] — Date: [ ]

Share type: [full / half / supported / supporting] — Amount paid: € — Received by: [ ]

Not legal advice. If your scheme takes significant money up front or is run by a registered body, have a solicitor look at it once — the wording is worth it, and after that you can reuse it every season.

Free to copy, adapt and pass on.