With the prices of some fruits and vegetables depressed, many growers are looking for an alternative crop that will net them higher returns.
But before you put that first seed, transplant, tree or vine in the ground, experts recommend that you have a market for that crop, accompanied by a marketing plan.
“I think it’s a little bit more important in these specialized niche-type of situations, because there’s a much more limited market demand for those,” says Bob Hochmuth, a multi-county University of Florida Extension agent based in Live Oak, Fla.
That means a market could be quickly saturated if several growers in an area all decide to plant the same crop.
Only once you have completed a marketing plan should you even think about the cultural practices associated with that crop, says Hochmuth, who also is one of the driving forces behind the University of Florida’s Small Farms/Alternative Enterprises Program.
“What are the special cultural practices? What are the kinds of pests that are likely to be? And it can get a little more challenging because there’s a lot shorter list of pest management chemicals that are going to be available,” Hochmuth says.
Post-harvest handling also may be a consideration, depending on the crop, he says. Basil, for example, is very perishable and can’t be chilled below about 50 degrees. Will you pack in a clamshell or other specialty container?
Start small, then build
When Ervin Lineberger of Kings Mountain, N.C., first entered the blackberry market in 1982, he started small with a u-pic operation.
Slowly he built his acreage, and his markets have evolved to where he sells only wholesale now and has eliminated retail sales.
And with the market changes also came new requirements, such as cold storage facilities, food safety plans and food safety audits.
Those are just a few of the factors that Lineberger says growers need to consider with any new crop.
“I recommend everybody do a self-inventory before they plant any plants,” says Lineberger, who also is president of the North American Blackberry Growers Association. “Start jotting down things. An idea might come out of the blue.”
Selling directly to the consumer, whether it’s through a farm stand, farmers market or U-pick operation, is a typical starting point for many first-timers, says Linda Landrum, a regional specialized Extension agent in Live Oak specializing in marketing and rural development.
Before you go that route, Lineberger says you should ask yourself, “Do people turn me off or do I want to deal directly with a buyer?”
“I started small and with a customer base that I knew. I started with resources that would handle it,” he says. “I didn’t have to go to a large truck or cooler to store them like the wholesale people want.”
Eventually Lineberger expanded sales to a regional grocery chain. Despite his success, he says he became burned out dealing with the public and has since gone entirely to selling wholesale through Winter Haven, Fla.-based Sunnyridge.
“If you’re successful at growing this crop and selling it directly to the consumer, then you can start building your resources, work to add a cooler and work to buy a truck,” Lineberger says.
Regardless of the sales outlet, he says you must have integrity.
“You’ve got to do what you say you’ll do,” Lineberger says. “It doesn’t matter whether it’s to a retail customer or wholesale customer. Personal integrity and product integrity are the two main features.”
Help with marketing plans
Several resources are available to help you draft a marketing plan, Hochmuth and Landrum, his colleague in the Small Farms Program, say.
• The University of Florida has developed a Web site, smallfarms.ifas.ufl.edu, that provides a one-stop source of information for growers who want to examine alternative crops and ag-related enterprises.
And don’t let the name, Small Farms Program, deter you, Hochmuth says. The program is equally tasked with providing information for current growers who seek ag-related alternatives.
• The workbook titled “Building a Sustainable Business” can provide growers with a step-by-step guide on how to develop a market plan, says Landrum, who helps lead the business side of the Small Farms Program.
Published by the University of Minnesota Cooperative Extension, it’s a farmer-friendly resource that Landrum says she and Al Wysocki, a UF associate professor of food and resource economics, use regularly as a teaching aid.
The workbook also contains a segment on discovering marketing opportunities.
“I think what people need to do is figure out their resources and current production and see what might fit in,” she says.
It may not necessarily involve growing a new crop but finding a new use for a byproduct, such as using citrus pulp and rind for ethanol production or turning it into palletized cattle feed, Landrum says.
• To help growers locate potential markets, the University of Florida is developing the Florida MarketMaker database, Wysocki says.
The database program was originally developed by the University of Illinois. About a dozen states, including Georgia, currently have MarketMaker databases that include lists of buyers, sellers, processors and retailers, among others. Growers also can list their products to sell.
”It’s another outlet to connect buyers and sellers, but it’s only as good as the information they put into it,” Wysocki says.
Landrum calls it an “incredibly powerful tool” for growers who are seeking new markets. Potential buyers and sellers can search by a number of different criteria, such as ethnic markets, geographic regions and commodities. It even has a component similar to eBay, where growers can put product up for bid.
“We have 48,000 farmers in this state, and it’s hard for people to sometimes find them,” she says. “It’s not just the general public but also the intermediaries like Sysco because they want to buy locally.”
The program costs about $60,000 per state to develop, with an additional $15,000 for annual updating, Wysocki says.
“The hardest part is probably the producer’s side, and that is where Extension comes in,” he says. “We encourage people to sign up during meetings.”
Wysocki says he hopes to have the database fully operational by this summer.
For more information or to find states with MarketMaker sites, visit the national MarketMaker portal at http://national.marketmaker.uiuc.edu/.
Contact Vicky Boyd at vlboyd@att.net or (209) 571-0414.
Do your homework first to avoid a failing grade
As president of Duarte Nursery Inc. in Hughson, Calif., John Duarte says he wants his customers to succeed.
Regardless of the crop, he and his staff encourage customers to have a home for it before they plant the first tree or vine.
“The issue, as a nursery, is we need to visit with [customers] about the market and give them the broad spectrum of what it entails to farm that particular commodity,” says Steve Scheuber, a Duarte field rep covering the northern San Joaquin Valley and an almond grower.
The Duarte staff draws from years of experience with the individual crops and information they’ve gleaned along the way. They work with individual producers to help them find a crop that bests fits their existing operations.
“We help growers figure out whether the crop will fit into their mix, then we classify the risks, inputs and volatility,” Duarte says.
With California’s burgeoning olive oil industry, for example, three major mills as well as a number of smaller, boutique operations serve the state.
“So I think it’s important that anyone going into olives sit down with all three major mills and find out what the processor offerings are,” he says, adding that each mill offers a slightly different contract.
