|
|
Article: Direct Marketing
|
|
Direct Marketing - Jon Radojkovic
With farmers losing ground to large wholesalers and retailers who seem to be making all the profits there is still a good way to make money from the farm and avoid the middleman by direct marketing what you grow and raise.
Ann Slater, president of the Ecological Farmers of Ontario, makes living from a one and a half acre market garden and Tony McQuail grows vegetables and raises livestock and markets all of it directly to people. Both were heard at a Grey County National Farmers Union meeting last week.
"It's a leap of faith and pricing," said McQuail, who farms in Huron County with his wife Fran.
"Decide what your market is going to be before you grow it," added Slater, who grows her garden near St. Mary's.
Slater does about 75 percent of her business at a local farmer's market and also operates a Community Shared Agriculture enterprise for about 15 to 20 families.
McQuail also runs a CSA garden for about 50 to 60 families, sells three kinds of meat -- pork, beef, lamb and apple products such as butter.
They explained that with direct marketing a farmer gets the most money for his efforts by cutting out the middleman, can control what and how he produces and gives a personal touch to their customers.
It's not easy and there are reasons why it's not for everyone. such There is the extra time it takes to deliver produce and take livestock to abattoirs as well as more regulations to follow while the farmer is more accountable for those regulations and time taken out for dealing with people.
"Still it's one good way to keep farming and make a living and I enjoy it," says Slater.
"If you have a feedlot forget it," added McQuail, who started farming in 1973. There is a point of diminishing returns where being large doesn't give you the flexibility of avoiding middlemen and the only course is then to sell on the open market.
Both producers say pricing is all-important and you have to be able to pay yourself a fair wage. "I'm not interested in selling cheap," McQuail says. Although finding customers and building up the market takes time, a farmer has to be firm on pricing. "Understand what your customers want and grow for that," said Slater. She began her operation in the early 1980's by first examining who her customers were and what they wanted. Slater read a lot of books on direct marketing to learn from other people's experience. She keeps strict records of what she produces and how much she makes.
"Don't just stick a small sign at the end of your driveway and think you'll make it," McQuail advised.
Good quality produce and lean meat is what will sell. Put up a large professional sign at the farm, write a well thought out brochure that explains how produce is grown and livestock raised that you can hand out and put up at local places and look for customers at local unions and workplaces.
"It builds community," said McQuail, who is passionate about his farming experience. He pointed out if there are just large monoculture farms left, schools, small town business areas will all fail for a lack of people and community feeling. McQuail feels the University of Guelph and the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture are only promoting large scale agriculture with it's diminishing returns, while not looking at the whole picture of how that form of farming also destroys community and middle and small sized farmers.
"No one should belittle you because of the size of your farm," he warned. "This 'have to get bigger' gives you more debt and less profits per animal," he added.
McQuail broke down his enterprise and showed how a small enterprise can still make a farmer a good living. In gross dollar terms from 8 beef cows he makes $20,000; 25 lambs amounts for $7,000; 17 pigs results in $8,000 to $10,000; the CSA garden makes $20,000; the bush lot averages $5,000 per year and apple products account for $5,000 to $8,000 annually.
The two entrepreneurial farmers listed some of the direct markets available for farmers. These included farmers markets (in this area there is Keady, Flesherton, Owen Sound and one starting up in Durham next year), health food stores, CSA's, pick-your-owns, restaurants, mail orders, and educational gardens where local schools will come for petting zoos and to look at produce growing.
"Restaurants are good as they also promote your produce," says Slater.
McQuail advised to keep your operating costs down. He farms with horses, buying a tractor only after he sold enough colts to pay for it and does it organically, reducing his input costs. He now uses both horses and the tractor, while living in a solar and wood heated home he built, in this way reducing daily living costs as well.
|