When considering the basics of marketing selling produce from a small farm, you have to consider what it means when you say local. The advantages of selling what you grow to people who live nearby are pretty clear: it costs you less in fuel and time to transport them and – if you sell at farmers’ markets – to spend that time interacting with your neighbors. But not every small farming operation has sufficient outlets for its wares within a short drive. And even those that do may find that they can make more money selling in wealthier communities a longer distance from their farms.
This situation is described very well in this article posted on the Gristmill blog. The account was written by someone who works on a small vegetable farm in Montezuma County, Colorado – an area with a fairly modest average household income, where the sale price of fresh-from-the-field vegetables must be limited by the customer’s willingness to pay. But by driving 90 minutes to the trendy and wealthy town of Telluride, the farm’s owner can ask and receive premium prices for the same vegetables.
I find the same situation in our local farmers’ market in Marin County where produce is transported from as far away as Fresno – a good 5-hour drive from here – to reach the affluent buyers in this very affluent San Francisco suburb. But as fuel prices rise, the economic equation changes as profit margins are trimmed. I’m not one of the wealthy in my own town, but I have been known to pay $4.00 for a luscious heirloom tomato.
Add to these factors the location of affordable land – usually distant from the most affluent residential areas and markets – and you get an idea of how complex the business equation can get.
These are not, I’m sure, new challenges for farmers, who have always had to consider many factors in making decisions about planting, harvesting and selling their crops. There’s only so much they can control, which is part of the adventurous nature of their vocation.
