As you know, I'm not against meat consumption - I love a good burger or steak grilled out in the open air on a summer afternoon. On the other hand, considering the state of the world (too many people, not enough farmland) and the various and sundry problems (and questionable morality) of the factory-farm system that raises commercial meat products, it's looking increasingly like meat is going to once again be a luxury item, to be enjoyed on occasion rather than as an everyday source of protein.
This is not necessarily a bad thing, and it's a golden opportunity for ranchers to tap into today's niche markets – where the demand for clean, sustainably-raised meat products is literally exploding.
Now, in case you missed it, 2010 Small Farms Conference at Oregon State University in Corvallis back in February had presentations on this and other issues on topics of interest to small farmers who are tired of struggling and being under-appreciated (and underpaid).
If you haven't been to this conference yet, I highly recommend that you get it in gear and get registered for next year's conference, which is going to be on the 26th of February 2011. What you can learn from this little get-together is how you, as a small farmer, can actually make a decent living at what you do while helping your neighbors and community – all things I tend to harp on a lot on this blog.
This year, the conference at a total of 18 presentations in the areas of production, marketing (the biggie for a lot of us) and government and social policy as it relates to our occupation. If you couldn't get there, here's a sample of what was covered:
- Alternative Meat Marketing Strategies: Pretty much what I started out with. I was surprise to learn that there have been ranchers selling their beef, lamb and poultry direct to high-end restaurants and specialty food co-ops since the 1980s. One lady from eastern Oregon (there's actually some prime cattle country in that area) is now able to sell her grass-fed beef to the Bon Appetit organization, which is introducing this kind of sustainably-raised meat and produce to places where they have to feed mass numbers of people every day – like educational institutions, hospitals and large companies with in-house cafeterias.
- Agri-Tourism: Why not make your farm into a tourist attraction? It's amazing to me how little people know about their food and how and where it's grown and the people who do the work of raising it. It's also heartening to see that those same people are genuinely curious and anxious to learn about how that food goes from seed to the table and are willing to pay good money for an education in this regard. (Hey, remember the story of Tom Sawyer and the whitewashing of Aunt Polly's fence?) Check out the site at http://www.OregonCountryTrails.com to learn about one agritourism model that's working well.
This is just a small sample of what's happening as small farmers reassert themselves. After all, it's what most of America started out as. To find out more (and download the current issue of their magazine), try visiting http://smallfarms.oregonstate.edu/newsletter.




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