Do you haggle at the farmer's market?

I don't haggle at the supermarket, why should I haggle at a farmer's market?

 

my daughter is on the other side of the table. they work 70-80 hours per week and have to find winter work to survive. we both appreciate your genorosity.

 

I never haggle because I know how much work and effort go into growing respectable produce.
As for your hummus situation, if it's really good stuff, I wouldn't bother haggling because it all works out in the end.

 

In this area, most of the "farmer's markets" are really just roadside stands. Typically they aren't manned, so you don't haggle. A sign says how much things cost. You put your money in the jar, take what change you need, and you are on your way.

Tom

 

^ Oh how I love the Midwest.

 

A similar situation exists here in the Sacto Valley, except our unmanned roadside stands feature sturdy slotted lock boxes which are secured to or even welded to the stand itself. The unguarded fruit and veggies are usually set out in Ziploc® baggies.

 

We are starting to see some of that, due to the unfortunate fact that some stands get ripped off. It usually turns out to be kids, but it's hard to catch them with unmanned stands.

Tom

 

No haggling. I know a lot of the farmers and ranchers so I like to pay for the full value of their work. Especially the ranchers since some of their product is a by-product of them raising herds on our lands.

 

I appreciate the local, organic vendors that provide me with an option to get away from factory farming so, no, I would never beat these people up on price. It costs them more money to treat the animals humanely, provide sanitary housing and not contaminate our environment. I'm willing to help foot the bill so long as I'm able.

 

Oh my, I would not do that at a farmers market. They work hard, most of them only make money seasonally, and need other income to get by. And I get great produce, chicken, lamb, etc. in the nice new facility here in the Santa Fe Railyard.

Going off-topic. Sometimes one learns where not to even try to shop. Buying Native American-produced products is hopeless at the glitzy tourist-oriented shops: overpriced or fraudulent stuff made in Asia. Go to the Palace of the Governors, where sellers are there via a daily lottery, and must attest that their jewelry is made by them or by a family member. The other reliable places to buy are in Albuquerque, at the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center, a co-op of all 19 NM pueblos, where stuff ranges from T-shirts to things I cannot afford; or at the pueblos themselves. At these sites the good stuff is fairly priced, and I don't haggle.

Since I am already wildly off-topic, a sweet little trip out in the boonies is the Hubbell Trading Post, at Ganado, AZ--the place to shop for Navajo rugs. There are also periodic auctions in that part of the country for the hard-core, and if you are one you already know about them.

Sorry.

 

It's one thing to go to whole foods and pay retail, they have an enormous overhead, it's quite another to go to a farmers market where the price is
"market", then and there, of course you haggle, they have almost no overhead, no employees, rent, heat, electric etc, why pay retail when they are selling wholesale? You can't expect to pay wholesale but you can certainly negotiate between the two.

 

From where are you getting your information that farms don't have overhead? All the farmers I know incur all of these expenses mentioned. Don't forget debt is overhead. I don't know of any farmer not incurring debt for capital expenditures. Capital expenditures are only useful if they yield future income to offset the expense. That's where the cost of their product comes into play.

Farms may have flexibility as to allocation of some "overhead" items to direct costs, or have other entities to which overhead may be funneled/absorbed, but this won't change the net affect of all of these expenses.

 

I have to drive a couple hours to the larger cities to have access to a quality farmer's market. I've haggled a couple times, but usually the prices and quality is so good that I don't feel the need to haggle. I like to buy landscaping and produce at the farmers markets.

What's most curious, is my local roadside stands and pickup truckers usually charge more for their produce than the local grocery stores. Yikes, what's that all about?

Happy Motoring,

Tom

 

around here, the local organic farms have very high overhead including local labor rates, health care and other benefits. we don't have much immigrant or seasonal pickers. certafied organic methods are more costly and time consuming. being in the northeast, farmers have to try to make a living in 8 months and many have to work in the other 4 months to make ends meet. all the while doing winter prep on and for the farm. it would be difficult to compare their overhead to places like whole foods simply based on the fact that they have bricks and mortar locations. it might make for a funny youtube video if someone were trying to haggle in a whole foods!

 

According to every AG business seminar and workshop I've been to, the overhead involved with running a farm or ranch is just as tangible as running a supermarket. From the running of the coffee pot to nutrient inputs, fuel, wear and tear on farm equipment and vehicles, products lost to disease and bad weather, to land taxes. These are all overhead costs and must be calculated in a business plan if one expects to succeed in today's poor market. If a landwoner is lucky they may have an agricultural easement on their producing land or are enrolled in the Williamson Act to ease the tax burden but most do not and they must find other ways to make farming/ranching profitable. In most cases, being a farmer or rancher simply does not supply one with enough income to make ends meet and they must hold other jobs. This is the case with just about every rancher I know in Placer County including those who contract to graze my lands.

 

I have a small family farm, It is just my wife, mother in law, father in law and myself. We are not major producers or anything nor do we sell our wares retail at a Farmers Market. We grow mostly asian produce that we sell to wholesalers or to people who sell at the open/farmers markets or the local swap meets. We do have a low overhead but then again we have all the same bills as any other business. Both my wife and I maintain full time jobs and farm part time in the evenings and weekends. My in laws are old Mom (77), Dad (66) and just do what they can or want to around the place during the day. My father in law can not sit still he is always outside doing something.

As far as pricing goes it is all about supply and demand sometimes the market is flooded and we can't sell some of our items or if we do it is for a lower price. But then there are other times when we can not grow stuff to sell fast enough and get top dollar. Use this example we sell our Lemongrass for an average price of $0.80 per pound, I will see our Lemongrass for sale in a local supermarket for over $3.00 for a quarter pound. You can get the same quarter pound at the open/farmers market for around a dollar and a half. Support your local farmers and ranchers, buy local, chances are you will get a cheaper fresher product than you would get at a supermarket. Next time you go to your supermarket, big box, or wholesale club try and look for the country of origin of the produce you purchase you might be surprised. You will find many items from Mexico that were formerly grow in California, along with items from other Central and South American countries or as far away as China.

I am not in it to get rich, I am in it to get by.....and to pay for my Prius. Making its first delivery this past weekend Mustard Cabbage and a couple of rouge Squash.

Thanks Tony. Keep it real.

I second that!

Thanks.

No overhead? How's about Mortgages, Property Taxes, Water, Fuel, Equipment purchase/maintenance and repair, Chemicals/Fertilizers, Seeds, Consumables, just to name a few. There are also failed crops and mother nature to worry about.

Thanks well put and appreciated.

Thanks again also.

 

Wow, that's your farm? Looks like you're making up for diminished income with quality of life. Beautiful! How do you get your water?