Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

market-farming - Re: [Market-farming] was high value crops/now pricing.

market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: Market Farming

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: "TxBeeFarmer" <TxBeeFarmer AT HotPop.com>
  • To: "Market Farming" <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Market-farming] was high value crops/now pricing.
  • Date: Sat, 8 Dec 2007 10:39:11 -0600

I really don't think low pricing from small scale producers affects farmers at all. They sell all they have in a very short time leaving the rest of the day for farmer to sell at a reasonable price. Actually, it helps draw more people to the market that end up buying more from the farmers than the others. People also tend to shy away from unusually low prices. Farmers tend to have their clientele that trust them for quality and consistency. Price is secondary. As far as price, many people equate higher price with higher quality.

TxBeeFarmer (Mark)
West Texas Zone 7b

----- Original Message ----- From: "road's end farm" <organic101 AT linkny.com>
To: "Market Farming" <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Saturday, December 08, 2007 8:42 AM
Subject: Re: [Market-farming] was high value crops/now pricing.



On Dec 8, 2007, at 3:32 AM, Franklin W. Davis wrote:

Hello John...tnx for the advice. I never thought of pricing maybe
hurting local farmers. A novice question would be...how do you find
out what pricing is for various fruits and veggies in your area?
Franklin<unknown.gif>

Growing for Market (which is a great resource for any form of farm
direct marketing) has a free download of a special issue about selling
at farmers' markets which addresses pricing (among other things). Even
though you're not selling at a market, you'll probably find other stuff
in it useful.

http://www.growingformarket.com/
scroll down the main page to the link for that download.

I also agree with others who have said that you should go around to
groceries, farmers' markets, other farmstands in your area and note
prices. You'll probably find a lot of variation on similar items. My
recommendation is to *not* try to engage in a price war and try to
match the cheapest prices you find, or to undersell everybody.
Instead, sell quality, and price it at or near the top end. You can
sell some "seconds" or "canning grade", clearly labeled as such, for
less, if whatever you grow produces more usable culls than you can use
yourself.

You also need to work out what it's costing you to grow the particular
crop -- and don't forget your time, or overhead costs, such as
machinery and machinery repair, land taxes on your roadside stand, etc.
If the area price for something is lower than your cost of production,
it's wise to grow something else. Note, however, that on some items
specialty varieties and/or packaging may bring you a much higher price
(for instance, potato prices around here are all over the map, even at
the same store).

-- Rivka; Finger Lakes NY, Zone 5 mostly
Fresh-market organic produce, small scale



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


_______________________________________________
Market-farming mailing list
Market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org
http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/market-farming




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


No virus found in this incoming message.
Checked by AVG Free Edition.
Version: 7.5.503 / Virus Database: 269.16.17/1177 - Release Date: 12/7/2007 1:11 PM





Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page