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market-farming - RE: [Market-farming] Farm markets vs. getting out of farming

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  • From: "Rick Williams" <mrfarm AT frontiernet.net>
  • To: <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: RE: [Market-farming] Farm markets vs. getting out of farming
  • Date: Sat, 8 Feb 2003 00:13:22 -0600

Rick W. asked:
> Have you looked a forming a coop? We have several successful coops in
> operation and new ones forming regularly.

I used to be favorable disposed to coops but the more I learn, the less
interested I become. We have passed up the "opportunity" to be on the board
of the Sustainable Woods Coop in our area. At first it looked like a good
way to go but the more I looked into it, the less I liked in terms of the
structure and the way coops reward the players.

Coops work well in monopoly situations such as phone and especially power
companies which we all collectively own and control in our region through
the Dairyland Power Cooperative generator. That makes sense. Also, when you
can not get a private to operate a service (such as milk pickup) it may be
necessary for farmers to pool their resources. But for most services such as
a coop hardware store? Forget it. Prices are higher and service often not
that good compared to a private company.

We were approached some time back to form a meat processing plant coop but I
am not sure if that went anywhere. It was to be located in Iowa.

> I live in the largest calf producing county in the U.S. so I am familiar
> with a potential for market saturation. I still encourage others to enter
> the direct marketing channels as the demand is there for the
> right product.

> Have you surveyed your customers or potential customers for their
> preferences? I don't think you can sit and wait for the consumer
> to change
> their preferences. Find out what they want today, then worry about next
> week. Supply side economics don't work with beef.

If you are marketing any product, you are surely getting feedback from your
customer. Some have told us that they are just not willing to pay our price
and there is not much you can do about that. Others want thicker steaks, so
we did change to a nominal 1". Most people say they just don't get around to
stopping by even though the meat was delicious and tender.

> We are also diversified and continuing to diversify considering I am only
> one farm hand. I don't know much about growing market garden
> produce, but I
> am moving into it this year because I see a market for it. In
> other words I
> am doing it for the money, if you can understand that concept.

Nope I really can not. You need to really like that kind of work and believe
in it or you will not likely stay with it for long:) When a person's
primarily motivation is money, in most endeavors, but particularly in
farming, I think that they are not going to be as happy as those of us who
do it for other motivations and the money is factored in but not the
overriding principle.

> What is your perception of a huge population?

Million plus.

> It appears from the map you are closer to La Crosse than I am to
> Springfield
> and the per capita income in La Crosse is around $6000 a year higher than
> Springfield. I think you have a market there, you just haven't identified
> it.

We are 30 miles from the south end of La Crosse and and just under 40 miles
to the north side. We have sold at the farmer's markets at several locations
a couple of years ago to test market our beef. We are prohibited from
selling any meat or egg products in the whole of La Crosse County.

We sold a token amount of vegetable produce but that was mostly to have more
to attract customers to hand out our brochures which are similar to our web
site. This is a VERY competitive produce market with many Hmong sellers who
are now close to 1/3 the total vendors. We had direct contact with hundreds
of potential customers but only picked up a couple.

People just do not like the idea of coming out to the farm except maybe once
for a little drive. The road goes along the Mississippi River from La Crosse
to Genoa and then through the Romance Valley area until they get to the
ridge that our farm is located. It is one of the most scenic routes in the
U.S. Egrets, eagles, and often flocks of birds in the flyway. We promote
that too of course:)

Most people want to buy their food at a large discount grocery store for
convenience and price and choice. We have three big ones within a mile of
each other on the Onalaska/La Crosse interface so they have a lot of
"choice." Buying grass-fed beef is not one of their choices. Most are only
interested in tenderness and taste. And we have that. They will tell us
that. But it is not often that someone comes all the way from the greater La
Crosse area. It is a sort of inertia thing when I ask them.

Even with our current special for the month of February on our steaks ($1/lb
discount) and free delivery if over $50, we have had almost no takers. This
was to a small mailing of what we viewed as highly qualified prospects.

Sincerely,

Rick Williams





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