Local Market and Farm Direct Marketing: A County-Level Analysis of the Northeastern United States

Abstract

As articles on local foods appear frequently in the mass media, interest in local food markets has increased significantly around the United States. Local food markets typically involve small farmers, various products, and farm-direct marketing channels. Growing consumer interest in fresh and local foods, sustainable agriculture, and local community development fueled demand for purchasing from farm. Many small and medium farms have adopted direct marketing to consumers as an alternative to sustain business vitality, obtain higher prices, and maintain a competitive edge in the market. Local food has also generated great enthusiasm for its potential benefits such as reducing transport distances for food, or food miles, and preserving farmland and rural culture. In the United States, food travels from the farm to the consumer through a highly efficient processing and distribution system that takes advantage of economies of scale and specialization. However, selling directly to consumers is growing in popularity with some producers. According to the latest census data, farm-direct marketing sales account for a small, but fast-growing segment of U.S. agriculture, increasing by an inflation-adjusted 59% from 1997 to 2007 and reaching $1.2 billion in 2007. The role of farm-direct marketing sales in the Northeast region of the United States is most prominent. All six New England states, New Jersey, and New York are on the list of top ten States in farm-direct food sales as a share of total agricultural sales. In addition, New York, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts have appeared as one of the top ten States in terms of overall direct marketing sales over the three census years from 1997 to 2007. The recent increase of farm direct marketing has led to a need for understanding about the significant variation in direct food sales across states and regions. Assessing the future growth in the local food market require to understand the factors that influence farm-direct food sales. However, there is limited research on examining relationships between farm size and location, mix of products and marketing options, land and operator characteristics, and socio-economic characteristics associated farm-direct food sales. This study appears to be a unique examination on these relationships in order to understand how and why farms sell products directly to consumers in local markets.This study uses the USDA Census of Agriculture data and regression analysis to identify major factors associated with farm-direct marketing sales in the Northeast region across counties. The preliminary regression results show that the variables, including average farm size, type of farming such as vegetable production, beef production, available farmland, number of farmers markets, participation of the farm to school program, available farmland, farming as operators’ primary occupation, farms with high-speed internet access, household income, and population, together explain most of the variation in farm-direct food sales in the Northeast. These findings serve as a baseline for our further research that intends to understand the recent growth and trends of farm-direct food sales in the Northeast, using previous USDA Census of Agriculture data. These results can imply potential marketing plans and policy constructed for the future.