If your farm is located within easy driving distance of a Wal-Mart, you may have just found a new market for your produce. The largest agricultural customer in the country has just announced a major commitment to purchase locally-grown fruits and vegetables in its stores throughout the country – and my suspicion is that this is not a fad, but a genuine trend.

Advocates for local agriculture have long argued that the environmental and economic impacts of trucking food great distances outweigh the benefits. In terms of dietary diversity, they’re probably wrong on this one; nobody wants to live on just the crops that will grow close to home. But there are a lot of crops that can be grown nationwide, or at least across huge areas of the country. It makes sense to import the crops that just won’t grow in a particular region, but it also makes sense to grow locally where that’s economically sensible. Rising fuel costs are making it increasingly economically sensible. 

Wal-Mart’s move is tied closely to the company’s emphasis on low prices. The company says that the average piece of produce in its stores travels 1,500 miles to get to the customer. No matter how efficiently they pack the trucks, there’s a pretty hefty fuel bill attached to that tomato. The company says that its new emphasis on locally-grown produce will save millions of food-miles each year. No word on what a “food-mile” is supposed to represent, exactly, but the key point is that this represents a great opportunity for local growers. More than 70% of Wal-Mart’s produce comes from US-based suppliers, so the potential market space is enormous. (Bad news if you’re a farmer currently shipping to Wal-Mart, unfortunately.)

One word of warning to farmers planning a selling trip to Wallyworld – the company is notorious for its stringent requirements for suppliers, and that includes farmers. You’re likely to have to invest in the “right kind” of containers, the right RFID tags for your flats, and other hoops to jump through. On the other hand, the upside of selling to Wal-Mart is that they’re likely to order in bulk. The company says it will top $400 million in local ag purchases this year. That’s a lot of asparagus and carrots.

One exciting opportunity for farmers looking to diversity their crop base – Wal-Mart says they plan to work closely with state agricultural departments to encourage new plantings of crops that aren’t commonly grown in the areas around their stores, like cilantro in Florida. Putting in a new crop is always a bit of a risk, but having a guaranteed buyer at the end of the season sure cuts down on the worry factor.