Finding the Market that Fits Your Farm Business

By Becca Toms

It doesn’t matter what kind of farmer you are; finding the right market for your products is a journey every farmer must undertake. For most of us with limited experience in professional marketing, this journey is often filled with trial and error. We navigate countless opportunities, striving to get our meats, grains, vegetables, flowers, mushrooms, and more into the hands of those who will appreciate them. Yet, even after securing a market, the question often lingers: “Is this worth my time?”

While only you can make that final determination, many farmers have wrestled with this question, navigating hurdles, performing calculations, and weighing considerations to find a solution that best suits their farm business. The Solid Ground Program at UConn Extension seeks to share these collective experiences, hoping to reduce trial and error and increase farmers' profitability.

Over five years ago, Connecticut farmers collaborated with Solid Ground to create a publication for new and beginning farmers called “Finding Your Market.” Given the many changes the world has seen since then, the Solid Ground team recognized that it was time for an update. This revised edition will not only expand on marketing channels the previous guide addressed, such as farm stands, farmers markets, CSAs, value-added products, and selling to restaurants and schools but will also delve into new opportunities. These include pick-your-own operations, food aggregators, institutions, co-ops, grocery stores, farm-to-food assistance programs, and online ordering platforms.

Solid Ground is again partnering with farmers in Connecticut and across the country to ensure this new version meets their current needs. The guide will provide valuable insights into the advantages and disadvantages of various marketing channels and suggest additional efforts you might need to consider. Scattered throughout are quotes from farmers, offering a glimpse into how these ideas have been successfully implemented in real farm businesses.

This guide will be available in late fall 2024, both in print and digital formats, through the Solid Ground website (solidground.extension.uconn.edu/). It will be offered as a Connecticut-focused guide and a broader national version for new and beginning farmers around the U.S. While the Connecticut edition will include state-specific regulations and considerations, the national version will focus on market channels with more uniformity across the country.

Although this guide does not encompass every possible marketing channel, we hope it will address the most common and accessible outlets. By reflecting on the challenges and successes of fellow farmers, we aim to provide insights that can help reduce the burnout many new farmers face. Conventional wisdom suggests casting a wide net - experimenting with all available marketing channels until something sticks. However, this approach can lead to overwhelming demands on your time and resources, particularly during peak harvest and production seasons.

With the shared wisdom of the farming community, we can better prepare farmers at every stage of their journey and foster a collective knowledge base that improves how we serve our communities. Yes, we are all small businesses striving for sustainability and creating positive working environments for our employees. But many of us enter agriculture driven by a deeper sense of purpose - to contribute to the wellbeing of our communities, preserve open and green spaces, and provide access to nutritious, culturally meaningful food. Yet, the challenges of thriving in various markets can sometimes turn a once joyful task into the struggle of simply meeting the bottom line.

If you've navigated these "highs and lows" of farming and gained valuable insights from your experiences with different marketing channels, the Solid Ground team would greatly appreciate your help guiding the next generation of farmers. We are actively collecting quotes from farmers across the U.S. about the pitfalls to avoid, the keys to success, and general advice. To share your knowledge, please fill out the brief form at s.uconn.edu/findyourmarket. If your quote is selected, we will credit you and your farm in the publication.

Becca Toms is a partner farmer at Off Center Farm in Southern Connecticut and a Communications and Outreach Assistant for Food System programming at UConn Extension. If you have any questions or thoughts about this article or would like more information, please reach out to her at rebecca.toms@uconn.edu.