While you continue to explore new ways to generate income and profits for your retail site, there might be one audience you may not devote enough time to now — but maybe should. That audience is small farmers (however you might define that term).

A report released recently by The Context Network, an Iowa consulting firm, says small farms, defined by USDA as having less than $250,000 in sales, still carry some significant weight. Now before you start listing the reasons not to devote a lot of time to this group, here are some facts you might want to know:

• Small farms still account for 48% of corn and soybean acreage in the Corn Belt.
• This acreage is less saturated with targeted marketing programs. (In other words, these folks need a marketing program different from the one for larger customers.)
• A majority of these growers rely on off-farm employment for their household's livelihood. How can you make their life easier?
• These growers have differing management tendencies, translating into differing service needs that present an opportunity for alternative marketing programs.

So what does that mean? Although the importance of maximizing profits from your biggest farmers is clear, there may be marketing opportunities for the smaller guys that, collectively, can be developed to gain some crucial additional income for your operation.

The new year is here. See if there's one new marketing angle you can use with your “smaller” customers to grow that end of the business. Maybe there are some product offerings or services for these folks that you're not currently providing. It might just be worth a shot as you continue your quest for better efficiencies and higher profits!

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