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How farmer's markets increase farmer's bottom line

How farmer's markets increase farmer's bottom line
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  • How farmer's markets increase farmer's bottom line

    Post #1 - August 9th, 2018, 1:20 pm
    Post #1 - August 9th, 2018, 1:20 pm Post #1 - August 9th, 2018, 1:20 pm
    I just found this article at Forbes. This week is National Farmer's Market week, and this article gets into why farmer's sell at farmer's markets. At a farmer's market 100% of the money you spend goes to the farmer. If you buy your produce at a grocery store, the farmer only receives 16% of what you pay for your produce due to over head and middle men. Plus most grocery store chains only want to deal with mega farmers that can supply produce for all of their stores, and they also only want to purchase produce that can keep for a week. That is why most of the peaches you get at the grocery store stink When my Father used to sell peaches to the chains when I was a kid, they would reject the whole load if they found one ripe peach, and that is why he mostly started selling peaches at his fruit stand or selling to people that had farm markets. Here is a link to the article.

    https://www.forbes.com/sites/nicolerasu ... c4df042389
  • Post #2 - August 12th, 2018, 8:52 pm
    Post #2 - August 12th, 2018, 8:52 pm Post #2 - August 12th, 2018, 8:52 pm
    Long ago when I was a regular shopper at Tony Titus truck farm in Grayslake, where the Lake County Fairgrounds are now located. When I learned he was farming 200 acres. I recounted I heard a farmer needed to farm 1000 acres to succeed. He indicated if you are in commodity products, then you need 1000 acres. However as a retail farmer, he could succeed with only 200 acres.

    I miss Tony and his family farm very much.

    Regards,
    Cathy2
    Cathy2

    "You'll be remembered long after you're dead if you make good gravy, mashed potatoes and biscuits." -- Nathalie Dupree
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  • Post #3 - August 13th, 2018, 11:50 am
    Post #3 - August 13th, 2018, 11:50 am Post #3 - August 13th, 2018, 11:50 am
    Cathy2 wrote:Long ago when I was a regular shopper at Tony Titus truck farm in Grayslake, where the Lake County Fairgrounds are now located. When I learned he was farming 200 acres. I recounted I heard a farmer needed to farm 1000 acres to succeed. He indicated if you are in commodity products, then you need 1000 acres. However as a retail farmer, he could succeed with only 200 acres.

    I miss Tony and his family farm very much.

    Regards,
    Cathy2


    That size may be right for commodity farming--and one of the reasons commodity farming works so well in IL is that the flat prairie supports such large farms, but most "farmer's market" farms are a fraction of that, like 10 acres, 40 acres, maybe 80. You don't need a lot of land to grow a lot of vegetables.
    Think Yiddish, Dress British - Advice of Evil Ronnie to me.
  • Post #4 - August 13th, 2018, 3:43 pm
    Post #4 - August 13th, 2018, 3:43 pm Post #4 - August 13th, 2018, 3:43 pm
    With commodities farming such as soybeans, you can use a machine to plant and pick the beans, and so it is a lot less labor intensive than most veggies and fruit are. The only fruit that sometimes uses a machine to harvest is sour cherries and blueberries. One of the growers that comes to the Evanston market told me that he raises I believe 700 acres of soybeans, and 100 acres of fruit and veggies. He said his fruit and veggies are way more labor intensive than his soybeans, and he and his family visit five markets in the Chicago area to sell the stuff every week. Hope this helps, Nancy
  • Post #5 - August 13th, 2018, 4:29 pm
    Post #5 - August 13th, 2018, 4:29 pm Post #5 - August 13th, 2018, 4:29 pm
    I looked up nearby Didier Farms and couldn't see from the info on the web what their acreage is (I know they own not only their original farm land around Aptakisic Road but some land they own elsewhere nearby), but they've been making a go of small-acreage fruit and vegetable farming for something like 70 years or more. They sell on site and in local grocery stores too.
    "Your swimming suit matches your eyes, you hold your nose before diving, loving you has made me bananas!"

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