Feb 1, 2012
The recent LA Times article, Farm Team: Two chefs spend a year at Windrose Farm, lending labor and know-how, and learning from the ground up is an interesting and entertaining article related to the business of farming.
Farmers are busy, multi-talented people. They must have skills in a wide variety of areas for their business to survive. As the LA Times article explains slight adjustments in operations have the potential to make a profound difference on the bottom line.
UC’s Farm Business and Market Place has many resources to help food producers strengthen their business. Including:
- Customer Service and Relationships
- Building trust with consumers
- I’m right and you’re wrong: Do’s and don’ts in customer service
- Selling strategies for local food producers
- Strategies to attract and keep customers
- Promotion & Branding
- Adding value to agriculture: Branding and certification
- Building your brand
- Creating a winning display for your farm products
- Reputation as your brand
- Budgeting
- Projecting costs and returns – enterprise budgeting
- Cost and return studies
- Determining prices for CSA share boxes
- Enterprise budgets – 100 foot rows
- Partial budgeting
- Using enterprise budgets to make decisions about your farm
- Marketing Channels & Strategies
- A guide to understanding the value chain
- Adding value to farm products: An overview
- An overview of Small Farm direct marketing
- Bringing local food to local institutions
- Community supported agriculture
- Direct marketing of farm produce and home goods
- Guide to marketing channel selection: How to sell through wholesale and direct market channels
- Marketing 101
- Marketing alternatives for fresh produce
- Marketing strategies for farmers and ranchers
- New markets for your crops (available in Spanish)
- Niche market pricing and strategies for maintaining price
- Pricing for profit
- Selling directly to restaurants and retailers
- Selling to institutions: An Iowa Farmer’s guide
- Selling to Restaurants
- Strategic marketing management: Building a foundation for your future
- Value added agriculture: Is it right for me?
- What are niche markets? What advantages do they offer?
To be successful, farmers must have skills and knowledge in a wide variety of areas.