Your marketing strategy is crucial to your farm's success.
In this Farmbyte, we're sharing:
- A perspective on marketing local food from Extension Educator Ryan Pesch (video).
- Marketing Local Food: An excellent resource with information specific to Minnesota from the Minnesota Institute for Sustainable Agriculture (MISA).
- Marketing strategies for farmers and ranchers: Similar to Marketing Local Food, in a shorter version, from Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE).
You can learn...
- In the video, Ryan Pesch explains how to assess yourself, your product, and your customer to develop a marketing strategy.
- The two additional resources provide information on market outlets for local food, their characteristics, along with examples of how different farms use these outlets, how to evaluate a new farming enterprise, and much more.
Recommended resources
Marketing local food (PDF)
Minnesota specific information on local food markets, business planning, self-assessment, regulations, branding, pricing and more. From MISA
Marketing strategies for farmers and ranchers
Shorter publication with similar information to Marketing local food. From SARE
Final points
- Develop a marketing strategy that fits your product, your target customers, and yourself.
- Marketing is about communicating and delivering value—use markets that will recognize the value of your products.
- Take the time to analyze new enterprises, be realistic.
Reviewed in 2015