Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
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begrudgingly did it out of desperation, financially. That's how we got into
the farmers' market. I always thought the farmers' markets were a big pain,
but I don't think that anymore. It is fun and good income. Going directly to
the consumer with chickens and beef - that's marketing. All of those extra
dollars in processing go in your pocket. You cut out everyone else, and that
is how it should be, if you ask me. I am anti-big establishment.”
Instability
Overall, though, there tend to be problems with organic markets because
they are relatively new and thus somewhat unstable. Naioma describes sell-
ing their Colorado grains: “A major downside to organic is dealing with
exporters. There is a need for bonding of export buying agents. Since it
is a rapidly growing industry, the downside is the flaky people you have
to deal with.” Indeed, it took them eight months to get $60,000 from one
buyer. Another time they had to hire an attorney to get the money they were
promised because a buyer arbitrarily decided to pay a lower price than they
had originally agreed upon.
Since organic markets are growing rapidly, some wholesalers and dis-
tributors see them as a good way to make some fast money, which can be
problematic for farmers. In California, Phil explains,“There have been some
stressful times, too, that have probably been very uncomfortable. Sometimes
when the money came in slow, some people that we marketed through went
out of business and we had to wait for money from them.” By doing their
own local sales, they have “solved some of those things,” but “there are still
a lot of stresses that go along with it.”
Mary, in Florida, sums up the pros and the cons to organic marketing:
“The reason I do this work is because I love dealing with the people I deal
with. You can do a handshake deal with them. Their words go. But I dealt
with one person and their word was not good. They call me every year, and
I will not deal with them. I think I made myself clear that they will never
load at my place again.”
But Joel describes the situation as improving, at least in terms of some
grain markets. “There is a lot better market now for wheat. Back in the
1990s you were limited to one or two people, but now with the cracker and
bread market, pastry dough, pizza dough, tortillas, more and more organic
products are in that area, so there is a greater market for wheat.” As these
markets strengthen, organic farmers will be less vulnerable to unreliable
brokers and wholesalers. At the same time, a stronger market may pave the
way for larger agribusiness interests to expand within organic production
and sales.
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