Agricultural Marketing

							Agricultural Marketing

What is it?
Agricultural marketing is a well-organized local program that provides area
farmers assistance in selling their products or otherwise benefiting from their
farm. A typical program may include: periodic farmers’ markets, farm festivals,
farm tourism (agri-tourism), and similar activities. Some Georgia communities
already sponsor farming events like the annual Sunbelt Agricultural Exposition in
Moultrie and Cagle’s Dairy educational resource farm in Hickory Flat. The
Georgia Department of Agriculture administers sixteen State Farmers’ Markets
http://www.agr.state.ga.us/html/state_markets.html supporting sales of Georgia’s
farm products in communities throughout the state.


How to do it?

1. Involve stakeholders. Identify stakeholders likely to be affected by the
   agricultural marketing program. Include all those who may participate and
   take some level of responsibility in the program. Stakeholders may include:
   • local farmers
   • agricultural associations like 4H, Farm Bureau, and Cooperative Extension
      Service.
   • bankers
   • local government representatives
   • local tourism and chamber of commerce representatives
   • Better Home Town, Main Street, and Downtown Development Authorities.

      Educate these stakeholders about the purpose of creating an agricultural
      marketing program for your community.

2 Identify agricultural marketing program elements. Involve stakeholders in
  brainstorming to determine elements that should be included in the local
  agricultural marketing program. Present all options (see table below) and
  discuss what has worked in other communities.
          Possible Agricultural Marketing Program Elements

          •   Local Farmers’ Markets (i.e. “Farmers’ Market on the Square”)
          •   Farm Festivals
          •   Agri-tourism (e.g. harvest tours, farm vacations, guide or outfitting
              services) http://www.agecon.uga.edu/%7Ecaed/agtourism.pdf
          •   Georgia Grown – helps Georgia farmers better market their products
              close to home. Provides producers here with a marketing advantage
              over non-Georgia farmers. http://www.agr.state.ga.us/ggindex.html
          •   Agricultural museums (e.g. cotton museum)
          •   Promotion of local cuisine “Slow Food Movement”
              http://www.slowfoodusa.org/about/index.html
          •   Selling products directly to consumers – The North American Farmers
              Direct Marketing Association offers assistance to farmers in selling
              directly to consumers. “Members increase their farm income by
              learning from each other through conferences, international farm tours,
              newsletters, workshops, and trade publications.”
              http://www.nafdma.com
          •   New entrepreneurial agriculture –
              http://www.mlui.org/growthmanagement/fullarticle.asp?fileid=16380 or
              http://www.mlui.org/growthmanagement/fullarticle.asp?fileid=16354


3 Develop program details. Careful planning of all aspects of the program is
  vitally important. Funding sources must also be identified. Attention should be
  paid to the expected number of visitors/participants to ensure that your
  community facilities have the capacity to accommodate these numbers.

4 Publicize your program. Spread the word – make it known to the community
  and others that the program is in place. Encourage them to participate and
  support their local farmers and farmland protection.


Things to consider before using this tool

•    Your program design process should include developing detailed cost
    estimates so that funding decisions can be made early in the process. Your
    staff or consulting team should research State or Federal funding sources to
    supplement local project funds.

•    Put someone in charge (local chamber) to ensure a successful program. A
    good, committed administrator is critical to making an agricultural marketing
    program successful.
Additional Information of Farmland Protection

Background

   •   Is farmland disappearing in your community as development moves
       further out?
   •   Does agriculture support your community’s economy?
   •   Do the farmlands in your community serve as a tourist attraction?
   •   Is your community character at risk due to a loss of farmland to
       encroaching development?

Georgia farmlands are disappearing at an alarming rate. Prime agricultural lands
are constantly gobbled up by new development. In 1997 a study “Farming on the
Edge: Sprawling Development Threatens Our Best Farmland” conducted by the
American Farmland Trust www.farmland.org found that the state of Georgia
paved over 184,000 acres of high quality farmland, ranking third nationally in
prime acres lost to development. The loss of these lands is felt statewide, even in
rural areas outside of smaller cities. “The problem has spread to some of the
more economically depressed areas of the state that you wouldn’t normally think
of as suffering from runaway growth.” (Gerry Cohn, American Farmland Trust)
http://www.farmland.org/farmingontheedge/map_georgia.htm

Georgia’s loss of farmland is more than just a loss of undeveloped acreage.
These agricultural lands offer a variety of public benefits:
• Open Space
• Scenic vistas
• Wildlife habitat
• Food and crop production
• Agriculture related industries, jobs, and tourism
• Protection of environmentally sensitive areas (such as ground water recharge
areas)

Farmland protection programs direct growth to areas with existing infrastructure
such as paved roads, water, and sewer and away from areas used in farming
operations. A variety of methods may be used singly or in combination to
preserve agricultural lands. Some of the most important are addressed in this
toolkit. The most important consideration in developing any program is the
specific needs of the farmers in your area. Before any program can be
successful, it must start with the support of those it is intended to benefit.
Farmers should, therefore, be participants in developing any farmland protection
program from the inception.