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FLOWERS
COUNTRY-STYLE, BACKED BY THE GROWER
Buying direct
from the grower
means knowing who to turn to if you have a problem. And being
successful at farm-direct sales of any product involves being reliable,
responsible and available to the customer. Lynn Ivey, the owner of
Ivey's Country Store in Macon, Georgia, grows pretty near everything he
sells in his nursery, from bedding plants and roses to ornamental
shrubs and perennials. He offers free advice, based on his 40 years of
horticultural experience, to any customer that asks, even a month after
the original purchase. Farm
Direct Profile
BUFFALO GUYS GO
OUT DIRECT
Based in
rural Kansas, The Buffalo
Guys are "going out direct" -- producing buffalo meat and selling it to
customers all across the U.S. Seeking alternative ways to market their
buffalo, the owners sold locally at farmers' markets, they
tried
selling to four- and five-star restaurants. Finally, they set
up a
Web site and started shipping buffalo products directly to people's
homes... Farm
Direct Profile
SMALL FARM DIRECT
MARKETING
Direct
marketing refers to selling that is based on a personal, one-to-one
relationship that ties farmers and consumers together. Many times this
relationship is face-to-face, like at farmers' markets. Other times,
the consumer and farmer may not actually meet, for example, Internet
sales.. Farm
Direct Tip Sheet
MANAGING
TIMBERLAND AS AN INVESTMENT
If you're a
savvy investor, you
know your financial portfolio should include a retirement plan, some
stocks, some bonds, a money market fund -- and that timberland you
inherited from your grandfather 20 years ago. Timberland as an
investment? Absolutely. Timber is a commodity, and it needs to be
treated like any other investment a landowner manages. Farm
Direct Tip Sheet
RAISING MEAT GOATS
Increased
market opportunities
have led many folkss to consider raising meat goats, but many are
unfamiliar with modern production techniques. And because the interest
in meat goat production is new, there are few experienced goat
producers in most areas to help newcomers in their desire to learn as
much as possible The following tip sheet covers a range of topics that
potential producers should understand before launching a meat goat
enterprise. Farm
Direct Tip Sheet
MARKETING MEAT
DIRECT
TO THE CONSUMER
Selling
directly to the
consumer may significantly increase profits and prices above those
received
in conventional markets. Small-scale operators and part-time producers,
in particular, have the opportunity to market additional services or
special
aspects of their product and realize significant price premiums. Farm
Direct Tip Sheet
GROWING A HOME
BUSINESS
WITH HERBS
Phyllis
Shaudys of Bucks
County, Pennsylvania, turned her hobby of making herbal sachets from
dried
home-grown herbs and flowers into a full-time business, Herbal Acres.
In
a profile of her enterprise in Mother
Earth News she explained: "I had always made potpourris and
sachets
to give as gifts, but it had never occurred to me to go into business."
Shaudys sold small pillows filled with fragrant herbs, packages of
potpourri,
and herbal wreaths.
ORGANIC DELIVERY
SERVICES
GROW
"The
rising popularity
of organic produce actually has wilted small growers who used to
dominate
organic sales to grocery stores. Large farms have plowed into the
organic
market attracted by the hearty profits and federal rules setting
nationwide
standards for organic food. So small growers are focusing on selling
directly
to the customer, playing up that their fruits and vegetables are
locally
grown and freshly picked, specializing in heirloom or unusual produce,
and promoting their activism in the local community. Increasingly they
are reaching out to customers at farmer's markets, in catalogs or on
Web
sites and through home delivery." Contra
Costa Times
THE BEST MARKET
Some
one has said that
the great difficulty with farmers is that they sell at wholesale and
buy
at retail; and this difficulty is nowhere better shown than in the
fruit
business. The less fruit you can sell a customer, at one time, the more
he is willing to pay for it. Did you ever stop to think of that? Traditional
Orcharding
MICRO-ECOFARMING
Micro
eco-farmers across
the nation are profiting from small acreages to small-town backyards.
Larger
farms are adding ‘microfarm’ segments to their
larger operations. Their
livelihoods restore the planet while creating an abundance of healthy
products
produced in very small spaces. Micro
Eco-Farming (.pdf file)
SELLING PRODUCE TO
RESTAURANTS
A
survey of members of
the Chefs Collaborative, a national network of more than 1,000 members,
found that the majority of them prefer to purchase direct from a
farmer.
The survey revealed that purchasing decisions were based on a product's
quality, a product's taste, the knowledge of how a product is raised or
grown, a product's freshness, the ability to guarantee consistent
quality,
strict adherence to food safety, a thorough knowledge of the producer's
product and its uses, and the ability to deliver the quantity needed by
the establishment. Producers must address these attributes when
marketing
their products to foodservice establishments. Ninety percent of the
foodservice
establishments surveyed promote the use of locally grown food on their
menu or in their promotional material at one time or another, and 49%
of
those who had promoted consider the promotion to be very effective. The
North Central Initiative for Small Farm Profitability
OHIOANS WANT TO
BUY
DIRECT
Ohioans
are unquestionably
interested in buying high quality fresh produce, according to an Ohio
State
University survey of "Ohio Consumer Opinions of Roadside Markets and
Farmers'
Markets." The survey of the general population in Ohio was designed to
gather information regarding purchasing behavior and attitudes in
regards
to fresh fruits and vegetables. Over 88% of Ohio households said they
believe
they receive higher quality produce directly from the farmer and an
even
greater percentage (90%) of the households said they prefer to buy
their
fresh fruits and vegetables directly from the farmer, whenever
possible. OSU
Horticulture and Crop Science
CSA FARMS PAID TO
GROW
There
are close to 1,000
other mostly small family farms taking payments for food they haven't
yet
grown as part of a movement called consumer-supported agriculture, or
CSA.
Farmers say the programs help them share their risks - and their
bounties
- by taking money up front. They also help keep chemicals out of the
ground,
educate people about where food comes from and, maybe most important,
do
something to save the farmers. Baltimore
Sun
ORGANIC FARMERS
PUSHED
INTO EXOTICS
Organic
produce is the
fastest-growing part of the agriculture industry, but as mainstream
markets
seek to meet consumer demand their favorite fruits and vegetables
year-round
it's making things tough for local organic farms that are limited to
producing
what is in season. Many wholesalers won't bother with small producers
when
they can get all they need from one large grower. To survive, some
family
farms are offering what the big guys can't: hard-to-find, heirloom or
specialty
crops. Associated
Press
BUYING LOCAL
PRODUCE
BOOSTS PROFITS FOR CHEFS
Buying
locally grown seasonal
produce can be a profitable move for food service establishments, a
University
of Nebraska market survey indicates. Market researchers at the
university's
Food Processing Center surveyed members of the Chefs Collaborative, a
national
network of food service professionals that promotes sustainable cuisine
by using local, seasonal and specialty ingredients. The poll identified
specific reasons for buying locally grown food and factors that
motivate
chefs to continue buying from local farmers and ranchers. Leading
reasons
included: locally grown foods have higher or better quality and are
fresher;
positive relationships with producers; customer requests for local
products,
especially after carrying local foods for a period of time; and the
availability
of unique or speciality products. University
of Nebraska, Lincoln
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