Southern SAWG Newsletter, Volume 3, #4 May 2007 Article Continuations...
July 1 Deadline for Southern SARE Administrative Council Nominations
Criteria for Administrative Council appointment include the following:1. Experience in the area of sustainable agriculture;
2. Demonstrated ability and willingness to help address sustainable agriculture needs and methods;
3. Ability to work effectively as a member of a team dealing with contemporary issues facing agriculture.
Written nominations should include:
1. A statement of the nominee’s ability to work collaboratively to
address sustainable agriculture needs;
2. A description of the person’s interest in and contributions to
sustainable agriculture;
3. A description of teamwork capabilities;
4. Confirmation of the nominee’s consent to be nominated;
5. Demographic information (sex, race, type of farm or NGO, and address
and telephone contact information).
To be considered, Dr. Jeff Jordan (address below) must receive your
nomination (including self nominatons) by July 1, 2007. Please limit
your written nomination to a maximum of two pages. Including a resume is
certainly appropriate, but not sufficient without a cover letter that
addresses the above items.
Mail, fax, or email nominations to:
Jeff Jordan
University of Georgia Campus at Griffin
1109 Experiment Street, 203 Stuckey Building
Griffin, GA 30223-1797
Phone: 770.228.7231 ext. 106
Fax: 770.412.4789
Email: jjordan@uga.edu
The Southern SARE Administrative Council
The Administrative Council is the governing body of the Southern SARE program, and is composed of 24 members. Twelve members are selected by the AC through an open nomination process serving 3-year terms (renewable for a second term), two members are appointed to the AC representing the Professional Development Program and serve a 3-year term, and ten members are appointed by our partner agencies. These agencies include 1890 Extension Institutions, 1890 Research Institutions, 1862 Extension Institutions, 1862 Research Institutions, State Departments of Agriculture, USDA-Agricultural Research Service, USDA-Natural Resource Conservation Service, US Environmental Protection Agency, US Geological Survey, and a representative from the SARE National office. Of the twelve members selected from open nominations, seven are producers, three represent non-governmental organizations, one represents agribusiness, and one reflects quality of life issues for the AC.
Cooperative Marketing:
The Indian Springs Farmers Co-Op in Mississippi
Market Research
The members talk with vendors and utilize the co-op’s marketing person, as
well as Alcorn State University, Mississippi’s 1890 land grant university, to
develop the marketing strategy for the season. “We try to coordinate markets
with other cooperatives in the state, so that if one co-op is not able to
produce what it needs for a market, another co-op can help,” said one member.
“We are constantly searching for new markets and new concepts of
collaboration.”
To fulfill its marketing goals and contracts, the co-op currently affiliates with four other cooperatives in Mississippi.
Payments to Co-op Members
When produce leaves the co-op, the member fills out a tracking form. The
co-op works on an honor system, and members are generally paid within 30
days.
Processing, Markets, and Transportation
The co-op owns a state-of-the-art packing shed in Petal, Mississippi. It
has a cooler for storage, washing tubs, sorting tables, and other equipment for
processing the produce from co-op members.
Farmers’ Markets
The co-op direct markets its produce at farmers’ markets in New Orleans,
Chicago, Memphis, and Jackson (MS). The markets are managed differently
depending on the distance from the co-op. For example, for the New Orleans,
Memphis, Jackson and Chicago markets, the co-op will send two co-op members for
one day of marketing. Produce for farmers’ markets is generally delivered in a
co-op owned truck.
Some members say that farmers’ markets offer the best “immediate” money;
they are, however, the co-op’s secondary markets.
The Alliance Food Service, A&P in New Orleans, and Red Tomato in Boston are the primary commercial markets for the co-op, where they can get a better overall price for the products. The co-op also sells to restaurants.
Businesses generally make payments 45 to 60 days after the sale. The co-op, however, has an account from which it will pay farmers within a 30 day period, prior to the actual payment from the business.
For some shipments, such as watermelons sent to Boston, the co-op will contract with a shipping service.
Pricing of ProductsThe cooperative conducts extensive research to determine prices. Internet sources feature prominently, such as the daily pricing information available online from the farmers’ market in Thomasville, Georgia, and the departments of agriculture across the South. Members say that the pricing depends on the cost of production, including labor costs, factored with current market price. Transportation costs are also included in the price. One farmer noted, “Supply and demand determines the price as well. With high supply, the prices are lower--low supply, the prices are higher. Consumer demand sets the stage.”
Promotional Efforts
A number of methods are utilized for promotion, including branding,
word-of-mouth, and mailing. The co-op is also in the process of developing its
own website. One of the most important marketing concepts used by the co-op is the branding of its products by the use of its logo placed on products.
Advantages to Marketing Cooperatively
Described by Michael McNair, Federation/LAF Cooperative Marketing Specialist:
- When one co-op member can bring his 20 boxes of bell peppers and another co-op member can bring his 20 bushels of peas over…we can market as a group. Then we command a better price on the market and can fill a large order at one time. That comes back to the farmer and he gets his check.
- We’ve got to compete with today’s market, and being able to wash, grade and bag it and put our name on it helps considerably. We’re selling to restaurants and you can get good prices from them.
- The cooperative provides services that members wouldn’t normally have as an individual, like being able to purchase equipment of the magnitude we have at Indian Springs.
- When you get large quantities sometimes you need to store it for several days before you can get it to market or until you can get enough volume out of that field to take to market and the co-op provides the opportunity to store these large quantities.
- The cooperative members can also help with and share
their time at direct markets rather than having this responsibility fall onto
an individual.
The Federation of Southern
Cooperatives/Land Assistance Fund research was conducted thanks to an
RME-CSREES Cooperative Marketing Grant. They are developing a Cooperative
Marketing Manual, and will be posting some of this information on their website
in the Cooperative Marketing section:
www.federationsoutherncoop.com/coopmarket/coopmarket.htm.
The Federation of Southern Cooperatives/Land Assistance Fund, now in its 39th year, assists Black family farmers across the South with farm management, debt restructuring, alternative crop suggestions, marketing expertise and a whole range of services to ensure family farm survivability. For more information visit www.federation.coop.