How to Direct Market: Starter Check List

Photo by Shelley Pauls on Unsplash

When we look at the current state of Agriculture and how farms are growing larger and larger, the small guy is having a harder and harder time keeping up or in many cases there is a child who wants to come back to help out on the farm, but the farm is not able to financially support both interested parties. in many cases they have to get an off farm job to supplement the farm income.

I don't mean to sound all doom and gloom, but this is currently where we are at as farmers and producers. But there is hope because even though farms are growing larger there are a growing number of individuals who are wanting to know where there food is coming from and are looking for a better quality product. I grew up on a small dairy farm and we often had ground hamburger and I never knew how fortunate I was until I went off to college an had to buy my own. Lets just say it made me realize how fortunate I was to have the opportunity to grow up on a farm and be able to grow my own produce and meat.

So what is the answer to how the little guy can make it? Well, the answer is many, but I want to focus on marketing your produce directly to consumers As mentioned earlier this has been a growing trend and has gained a lot of ground in the last few years due to the shortages due to Covid. We have all heard and seen on the news many pictures of bare shelves and the fear that these shortages caused. the result of these shortages caused individuals and families to go directly to the producers of these products. I was recently talking with a worker at our local meat market and he said the are booked out a year for processing beef and about 3 months for pigs. He said they were never this busy before Covid.

We have now identified the growing demand for these farm products and that on consumers are looking to learn where their food is coming from. The next question is how do I get started. Below I have attached a starter check list for you. Please keep in mind this is not an exhaustive list and you will also need to do some research in your local state, because regulations are different from state to state.

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