Direct Marketing Your Farm Products - 9/5/02

This workshop explored direct marketing alternatives, with emphasis on adding smaller scale enterprises to an existing farm or ranch operation.

Selling direct to your customers can give you a larger share of the food dollar. Niche, specialty, and value-added crops supplementing the existing farm plan can enchance financial stability. Direct marketing alternatives include the development of specialty and niche markets, agritourism, and on-farm marketing.

Speakers:

Karen Bates: Karen is a partner at the Apple Farm in Philo, a multi-faceted fruit operation, which includes the direct marketing of fitty varieties of certified organic apples, an on-farm line of value-added products, cooking classes, and agritourism.

Scott Mathieson: Scott owns and operates Laguna Farms in Sebastopol. He runs a year-round CSA that direct-markets vegetables, fruit, eggs, and bread to his customers. He has sixteen years farming and direct marketing experience.

Debra Walton: Debra is founder and principal of Genus Group, a marketing business. Debra was involved in the early development of Select Sonoma, and brings over thirty years of marketing experience to the panel.

Travis Potter: Travis handles Bay Area farmers' market sales for Prather Organic's Certified Dry-Aged Beef products, which uses only direct marketing as its sales program.

Resources:

Agricultural Marketing Service (U.S. Department of Agriculture) www.ams.usda.gov/directmarketing

Direct Marketing Series (Appropriate Technology Transfer for Rural Areas) www.attra.org/attra-pub/directmkt.html

ATTRA
http://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/markres.html

Sustainable Agriculture & Resource Education
http://www.sare.org/publications/marketing/market10.htm

Niche Marketing
http://www.agrihelp.com/agops1.htm

Sonoma Success story
http://www.agrihelp.com/$$2acre.htm

North American Farmers' Direct Marketing Association
http://www.nafdma.com

Making a Business Plan
Redwood Empire Small Business Development Center
http://www.santarosa.edu/sbdc

USDA Fact Sheet
http://www.fsa.usda.gov/dafl/Downloads/farmbizplan04.pdf

Labeling
http://www.ams.usda.gov/nop/FactSheets/LabelingE.html