- Organic Supply and Market Analysis in the Four Corners
- Extension Agents as Marketing “First Responders”
Organic Supply and Market Analysis in the Four Corners
Project Plan: Initially, there was no clear understanding of certified organic product supply in the Four Corners region, or of the opportunities for specific certified organic product market development within the region or beyond. A team of us from the states of Arizona (Russ Tronstad), Colorado ( Jim Dyer, Katy Pepinsky, and Dennis Lamm), New Mexico (Pam Roy and Le Adams) and Utah (Seth Winterton and Robert Newhall) along with some external experts (Nessa Richman and Lydia Oberholtzer) led a research project funded by the Western Sustainable Agriculture Research & Education (WSARE) program. The project, titled “Supply and Market Analysis for Organic Producers in the Four Corner States,” focused on developing a better understanding of the regionally-grown certified organic product market in the Four Corners states.
Specifically, the project hoped to evaluate the market potential for certified organic products from the region through a survey of certified organic producers in the region and a targeted series of expert interviews. We hoped to answer supply-side questions including: What is being grown? How are products being marketed? and What value-added and collective initiatives hold the most potential? On the demand side, we wanted to find answers to questions like: What regional products do regional consumers wish to buy? What premiums are they willing to pay? and Where do consumers prefer to make their certified organic product purchases?
For project outcomes, see our Organic Survey Report page
Extension Agents as Marketing “First Responders”
As part of a two-year grant from the Western SARE program, workshops held at the 2006 and 2007 SWMN Annual Conferences were aimed at exploring how to help Extension field agents-especially those without special expertise in marketing-respond to inquiries from producers about alternative marketing. Over 50 agents discussed the difficulties of providing this assistance while they are spread so thin across their respective regions, but agreed that such assistance is very much in demand.
With help from marketing specialists and veteran agents, the group began the task of identifying some of the most effective techniques for “first responders”- field agents who typically provide the first critical guidance to their producer clients. Work was begun as well on identifying the resources and experts from the region that agents can refer their clients to for more in-depth assistance.
Results of this intensive needs assessment workshop will be invaluable as we develop the guidance, marketing resources, and a directory of regional experts for use by field agents. These resources will be developed and posted on our SWMN website in coming months.
For more information, contact Jim Dyer at jadyer@frontier.net or 970-588-2292.