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market-farming - RE: [Market-farming] Making money from farming

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Subject: Market Farming

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  • From: "Rick Williams" <mrfarm AT frontiernet.net>
  • To: <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: RE: [Market-farming] Making money from farming
  • Date: Tue, 28 Jan 2003 19:12:11 -0600

Phil Hackett Shark wrote:

>>>>>I'm afraid we won't even bother to pick for a small market like this.
Our min is $300 or we find another market. We have been known to travel
quite a few miles to find a good market. At present we do 5 market a week.

========
What would you do if you did not have a $300 market for a newcomer, within
say, 100 miles? That is the reality in our area.

Even if we attempt to market in the next county, they prohibit the sale of
eggs or meat, and an increasing percentage of the produce sellers are
Hmongs. They are not following the rule of "all products must be produced by
the seller," and like Allison pointed out they are not able to enforce the
rule and may drop it. None of them even claim to sell any organic food, but
most buyers in our area do not seem to be concerned with that. Mostly it is
buying local.

When we did go to the next county and to several markets two summers ago
with the main purpose of marketing our meat, even though it really meant
just handing out brochures, we did have some vegetables. We sold enough of
them over a number of weeks to at least equal the season fee of $35. But of
course nothing for our time, travel, seeds, etc. Again, we would not have
done this if we were not using this as a marketing tool for our meat.

I do know that there are some market farmers at our local market who do
gross up to $300 per market. But they can only do that because they have
regular customers who only buy from them since they came on board over five
years ago. Even though their prices are higher than others, and the quality,
quite frankly, is not always as good as from other farms.

Some of the younger folks who came in with spectacular greens and many other
fine crops, only sold a small amount each week. Some did go elsewhere, but
that means 100+ miles. Even with that market there are waiting lists to get
into places like Madison, since they exclude newcomers. For the Capitol
Square in Madison, there are hundreds of people on the waiting list. Most
will likely never get a slot there in their lifetime.

Sincerely,

Rick Williams
Misty Ridge Farm
Direct marketed dairy beef and produce
(also dairy heifers and beef stockers)
Viroqua, WI






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