Posts by Tara Hammonds
Back to the Guide to Urban Farming Table of Contents>> Value Added Processing for Urban Farmers For urban farmers whose production is limited by space or other constraints, value added processing provides a way to increase the profitability of harvest. When deciding what product to produce and sell, research your target market and distribution outlets…
Read MoreBack to the Guide to Urban Farming Table of Contents>> What are food security and food access? Food security is the extent to which a person or family has sufficient, safe, nutritious food to maintain a healthy and active life. Food access, which is part of food security, is the state of having sufficient resources…
Read MoreBack to the Guide to Urban Farming Table of Contents>> Marketing Regulations Urban Agricultural Legal Resource Library (https://urbanaglaw.org/) provides general information about food, agricultural, and health regulations for commercial farmers in urban centers. Note that individual cities may have unique regulations pertaining to the sale of farm products, and be sure to consult your city’s…
Read MoreBack to the Guide to Urban Farming Table of Contents>> What is a CSA? Community supported agriculture (CSA) is a direct marketing relationship in which farmers sell their products directly to consumers. Farmers receive payment up front at the beginning of the season, and CSA member receive a share of the farm’s produce throughout the…
Read MoreBack to the Guide to Urban Farming Table of Contents>> Marketing in Urban Environments The unique characteristics of urban environments offer some urban-specific market niches, such as producing crops that do not transport well, taking advantage of warmer urban micro-climates to produce crops earlier or later than the average season, and cultivating specialty crops in…
Read MoreBack to the Guide to Urban Farming Table of Contents>> Benefits of Direct Marketing The main attraction of direct marketing, compared with selling through traditional wholesale markets, is that you receive the full share of the consumer dollar and have more control over the price you receive for your products. Additionally, you have ample opportunity…
Read MoreBack to the Guide to Urban Farming Table of Contents>> Price Information for Urban Farmers When finding price information, it is especially important that urban farmers check local distribution outlets and with other area farmers, as crops produced and sold in urban centers often command different prices than those indicated by general price monitoring programs…
Read MoreBack to the Guide to Urban Farming Table of Contents>> Know Your Costs and Price for Profit Price is the dollar amount that you ask for sales of a product or a service. There are various costs that go into deciding what price you will charge for your product, including: Variable costs (VC): Costs of…
Read MoreBack to the Guide to Urban Farming Table of Contents>> Market Analysis: What is My Target Market? A target market is a well-defined group of customers. Markets can be found within any broad category, such as consumers, businesses, industries, or institutions. Consumer groups, for instance, can be characterized by demographics, geography, lifestyle, values, leisure, or…
Read MoreBack to the Guide to Urban Farming Table of Contents>> Risk Management for Farmers The primary goal of risk management and insurance is to protect your assets from claims and lawsuits that may result from injury to persons or damage to property from accidents that are associated with your business. Effective risk management depends on…
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