Economic Realities of Working with Local Farmers
As we've grown our sustainable agriculture activities, we've started working with multiple farmers for our CSA, Farmer's Market etc, and are developing relationships with the Federation of Mass Farmers Markets (FMFM) and Northeast Organic ﾠFarmers (NOFA) as well as the state Agricultural Resources Dept (MDAR). In the process, we're learning a lot about the economic realities of farming in New England. ﾠ To illustrate, I had lunch with one of our farmers last week, since he's in the "off season" and starting to plan for next year. ﾠOut of it came two brainteasers, we've yet to solve...
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Our Sunday Farmers Market began last summer with just one farmer, a bakery and several other vendors (coffee etc). ﾠThe farmer and other vendors seemed really happy with our outreach to draw a crowd and the customers seemed excited to support this new community resource. ﾠAfter several weeks, we added a second farmer to diversify the offerings and encourage more customers to visit the market. ﾠWe were careful to pick a second farmer that ﾠshould have complemented the selection of the first one. ﾠUnfortunately the numbers of customers each week didn't go up, but rather went down over the course of late summer/fall. ﾠWhen I met with Farmer #1 last week, he brought along graphs and spreadsheets to illustrate his sales for the season, which dropped off precipitously when we added the second farmer. ﾠ He limped along through the fall, but can't afford to join us next year unless we can develop a plan to improve his sales. ﾠDo we go back to one farmer, invest in more marketing to draw a bigger crowd, or move the market off our property to another location, which might help the farmer but would not serve our own marketing needs for the agency and our food programs. ﾠIdeas?
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We also asked Farmer #1 if he would be interested in growing crops specifically for our kitchen and meals program. ﾠAn institutional CSA, I think it's called. ﾠBeautiful local fare for our sick clients, and a large guaranteed contract for the farmer to grow one crop earmarked specifically for us. ﾠ"You can't afford me," he said. ﾠ"Farmers in New England can't grow crops at a low enough cost to suit the institutional buyer. ﾠWe can only make the numbers work, selling retail to the customer willing to pay a premium for local fare." ﾠBrad, our Executive Chef, responded, "But the ﾠveggies we buy now are trucked across the country and often frozen. ﾠWe're prepared to offer you the same price we pay the long distance wholesaler with his mark-ups. ﾠWe can guarantee you a high volume of sales, pay up front if necessary." ﾠThe farmer rattled off his numbers, "you can probably afford to pay $120 a case, but I need $300 a case to make it worth it. ﾠWith the cost of labor and land in New England, I can't compete with the out of state growers, unless you can pay the premium for local." ﾠOuch!
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ﾠﾠI'm not giving up on either project, but we haven't come up with an obvious solution to these new economic realities. ﾠFirst step is to talk to other farmers to confirm the info. ﾠBut if readers have ideas you've seen work elsewhere, we'd love to hear it! ﾠComments?
Have you tried reaching out to the Farmer's Market community via Facebook or another social networking tool? This type of marketing really works and can be done cheaply. I think trying to get more people to the market should be a priority over acquiring new vendors. Some people, especially those in urban areas, are turned off from farmer's markets because of prices and the times the markets are held. Where is the farmer's market located?
If there is a way to keep the prices low, you may be able to attract more people. With more volume, you can then start to look for and attract other vendors.
Good luck!