Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

market-farming - Roadside Stands

market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: Market Farming

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: "Rick Williams" <mrfarm AT frontiernet.net>
  • To: "Market Farming" <market-farming AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
  • Subject: Roadside Stands
  • Date: Thu, 26 Sep 2002 23:23:08 -0500


We live right on a state highway, but in a fairly rural area of SW
Wisconsin. One of the considerations for buying the farm was that we thought
that we should be able to do OK with someday selling from the farm. After
living here for 6 years, and developing our stocker cattle and dairy heifer
contract grazing and then the last couple years with direct marketing
grass-fed jersey beef, we did start to also sell some surplus produce at the
area farmer's markets.

This summer we also really tried to promote on-farm sales of produce. We
have displayed such produce specific signs "SWEET CORN" and currently
"PUMPKINS". We have also completed a routed cedar sign with the farm
logo/name and space below for replaceable signs approx 4 feet long and about
7" high that can be changed with the current products for sale. {The
replaceable signs are not yet ready, but we do put the large computer
generated signs in the immediate vicinity for the specific produce
available.}

The problem is that as we were told by our more experienced neighbor, who
tried this up until 5 years ago, the sales are almost non-existant. Maybe a
couple stops a week. He says that at one time he could market many thousands
of dollars of produce (he says around $6000) but it continued to decrease
each year and he gave it up when he dropped to something under $2000 for the
season.

Are others experiencing this kind of problem? Or are there some methods to
improve on-farm sales of produce? Are some areas declining in roadside
marketing? And some areas doing OK or building their market?

Sincerely,

Rick Williams
Misty Ridge Farm
Dairy heifers and dairy beef graziers
Viroqua, WI

www.mistyridgefarm.com





Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page