Resources for Farmers
This page provides you with sources of information and resources for direct marketing.
Getting Started
Here is a link to a Guide for Farm Direct Marketing for Rural Producers made available from the Government of Alberta’s Agriculture and Rural Development ministry.
This Direct Marketing Overview from the ATTRA (Appropriate Technology Transfer for Rural Areas) provides a good introduction to direct market alternatives, its significance, and ideas on how to get started.
The Agricultural Marketing Resource Centre provides a concise and useful introduction in the world of direct marketing.
The Direct Farm Marketing and Tourism Handbook, from the University of Arizona, is quite extensive (over 200+ pages) but contains a lot of great stuff. Although not all of the information may not be relevant to you, be sure to check out the section on Direct Farm Marketing Options.
Once again, the ATTRA provides a great resource on Beef Marketing Alternatives. This introduction covers adding value to beef production, alternative marketing methods, and additional resources.
A guide to Marketing to Local Institutions, from ATTRA.
A guide to Selling to Restaurants, from ATTRA.
Promoting Your Farm
A short overview of different ways of Promoting Your Farm. From the Rutland Area Farm and Food Link.
This is a short article on the Importance of Social Networking from the Manitoba Agrotourism Blog. Stay tuned for additional information on how to use social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter to maximize your reach to consumers.
Farm Directories
While marketing is still crucial, there actually are plenty of consumers out there who are already looking for you. List your farm on sites such as the following, which act as a directory pointing interested to consumers to farmers in their area.
www.eatwild.com/products/canada.html
http://forum.stopthehogs.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=3
http://www.aquarianonline.com/guide.htm#directory
http://web2.gov.mb.ca/agriculture/upick/index.php
http://www.winnipeghumanesociety.ca/animal_Issues_And_News/WHS_Certified.php
http://www.eatrealeatlocal.ca/
http://www.gov.mb.ca/agriculture/food/consumers/index.html
http://www.winnipegbuyandsell.com/
http://www.buysell.com/root/Manitoba/index.aspx
There are, of course, many more great resources out there to help you get started. Please feel free to share other great resources that you may have come across.
