Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
In order to find potential customers, you must research the market in your area, and
work to develop your clientele. Know your particular area and what people desire, and
then go for that particular avenue.
Colorful Eggs
Colored eggs can be lucrative! For example, even though there is no content difference
between brown eggs and white eggs, people think brown eggs are fresher, and will
dole out more cash for them. A marketing ploy some years ago gave consumers the
idea that brown eggs were fresher because they came from local farms, and white eggs,
more common in the supermarkets then, were shipped in and therefore older. This gave
brown-egg sales a boost over white-egg sales for a time.
Although there is something aesthetically pleasing about those deep, dark brown eggs
that makes one think of a farm in a rural peaceful setting, the difference in egg flavor
depends solely upon what the chickens have been fed. A stale egg is a stale egg and a
fresh egg is a fresh egg, regardless of the shell color.
If you want to make a little extra cash on eggs, keep in mind that you can develop
niche markets among people who enjoy getting an assortment of colored eggs. You can
provide a colorful variety in the egg carton: blue, green, tinted off-white, white, light
brown, and a deep, dark, almost chocolate color. The eggs' colors are almost as diverse
as the birds that produce them. A flock made up of Ameraucanas, Orpingtons, Leghorns,
Rhode Island Reds, Langshans, and Marans will provide a customer with the delight that
comes with a pleasing color palette.
Locally Grown Meats
You may find a niche market for fresh meats in your area. Search out those who long
for the taste of real chicken — not the tasteless flesh that must be prepared with a salty
coating or broth injections to provide any semblance of flavor. By selling a young chick-
en that has a traditional texture, you provide customers with an intensely flavorful meal
unlike what most people have experienced. Even older hens will produce a rich, tasty
broth for chicken and dumplings, chicken and noodle combinations, or other comfort-
food dishes.
Some ethnic cultures that prefer dark-feathered or other particular types of birds have
created a demand for live birds. Southeast Asians value Silkies; dark-feathered birds
are prized by all cultures other than European-descended U.S. residents. In the United
States, many folks seem to like their chickens with white feathers and yellow legs, and
they have to be easy to dress. Other cultures don't always share these values, and once
they find you are a source for the type of chicken they prefer over others, you can easily
develop a working relationship and perhaps profit for your farming venture.
