Farmers turn to marketing

Published 9:00 pm Saturday, September 10, 2005

Life on the family farm isn’t what it used to be. While hard work is still a hot commodity, it takes a little something extra to make a living off the land these days.

It takes innovation.

Gone are the days when a dairy farm could get by with 50 cows and a little luck. With food processors consolidating in other parts of the country and farms facing expensive environmental regulations, the number of farms in Snohomish County fell 13 percent from 1997 to 2002, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. That’s a drop from 1,819 farms to 1,574.

But there is hope for the small farm if owners are willing to change their approach to doing business, said Mike Hackett, a faculty member with Washington State University’s Snohomish County Extension Service. And a growing number of farmers markets, corn mazes and U-pick berry fields indicate that some farmers are willing to capitalize on the county’s growing population.

Eliminating the middlemen – wholesalers and processors – and marketing distinctive products directly to consumers could be the future of small-time farming, said Hackett, who coordinates training for farmers on sustainable agriculture. He emphasizes that adding value to a commodity is the key.

“Instead of just producing blueberries, make blueberry vinegar, blueberry wine,” said Hackett. “These are things people are looking into as a safety net.”

But marketing a farm business directly to consumers isn’t an easy task, said Tristan Klesick, owner of the Organic Produce Shoppe in Stanwood. The Klesick family operates a home delivery business, selling organic fruits and vegetables grown on their farm or bought from other Washington producers.

“The biggest challenge is probably the marketing end of it,” said Klesick. “People need to be marketers. It’s not for everybody.”

Images of gruff, grizzled farmers cruising around the fields on John Deere tractors are being replaced with business-savvy entrepreneurs who know what consumers want and go the extra mile to give it to them.

Jay Gordon, executive director of the Washington State Dairy Federation, said tailoring their products to satisfy consumer demand is the strongest approach to marketing farmers could take.

“They say there are two styles to marketing – big and efficient or small, fast and sneaky,” he said.

But direct marketing can’t cure the ailing industry, said Gordon.

“A lot of people think the solution to saving agriculture is direct marketing,” he said. “It’s a piece of the puzzle, but it is always going to be a small piece.”

Nevertheless, Hackett recommends that those interested in starting an agriculture-based business take the plunge.

“I think it’s an excellent time to (own a small farm).” said Hackett. “I advise people all the time in my job to do this – start a new enterprise. But before you do that, check out the market. Ask, ‘What can I sell, and where can I sell it and do I have a secure customer base?’ Then start producing, not the other way around.”

His enthusiasm partly stems from a renewed show of faith in farming from the county government. Snohomish County is behind farmers 100 percent lately, said Hackett. Their support comes on the heels of a wave of environmental protection laws and other problems seen as unfriendly to farms.

They include:

* Stream buffers that require farmers to plant crops farther from rivers traveled by salmon.

* Rules for how cow manure can be stored and used that have made it more expensive for farms and dairies to operate.

* Zoning that had restricted the types of businesses farmers could engage in on their land.

* Banks that are less familiar with how small farms work and therefore less likely to offer loans when needed.

The county has been taking an active role in preserving farming lately, Hackett said. The Snohomish County Agricultural Action Plan, released in March, identified ways environmental regulations and economic development plans can be made more farm-friendly.

Snohomish County Executive Aaron Reardon has also backed initiatives permitting farmers to build larger produce stands and processing facilities as well as to sponsor commercial social events.

The steps were long overdue for Ben and Carol Krause of Snohomish, who opened their farm up to school tours after deciding that owning a small dairy was too expensive in the heavily regulated climate. The couple now depends on attracting tourists with a corn maze, a pumpkin patch and other seasonal activities.

But recent support has made Ben Krause more optimistic about the fate of the county’s 1,600 farmers.

“When the leaders started talking about farming, others started realizing (its importance),” he said.

Hackett is also optimistic about the direction the farming industry is headed in.

“I think (Snohomish County) farming is here to stay,” said Hackett. “I think it will be alive and well in 20 years. It will just look different.”