Find a Niche for Your Farm

Basil decorates a plate of goat cheese, sliced and ready to eat.
iStockphoto.com/Joan Vicent Canto Roig

MAIN STORY:
Niche Markets and Small Farming are Types of Farming Viable to New Farmers 

Simple steps to creating a niche product: 

• Look up your nearest agricultural extension agent; their goal is to help you find the right niche for your enterprise, www.CSREES.usda.gov/Extension/
• Take local ag workshops and classes offered through your county’s extension office.
• Visit farms within your county/region to get a feel for what is and isn’t in production.
• Visit gourmet food stores to learn about the products other people are producing. Gourmet food stores and cooperatives are great places for ideas.
• Determine the space you have to work with, the time you can devote to farming, and your retail market accessibility.
• Once you’ve found your niche product, research the ins and outs of producing it. Visit farmers in other states who might offer you personal advice. Norma Burns visited a lavender farm in Virginia before purchasing her first lavender plants. The farmer was quick to tell her what had and had not worked for him, giving her hands-on information that informed and improved her process tremendously.
• Create a business plan that includes costs for creating value-added products. Will you need to purchase canners (jams and jellies), distillation units (essential oils), larger ovens (baked goods), or find a processing plant for your animal products? Include those costs in your initial set-up.
• Get growing!

List of products/services that fill a niche: 

• Bottled milk and ice cream
• Hay for horses
• Homestead cheese
• Pastured pork
• Free-range chickens
• Grassfed beef and lambs
• Organic vegetables
• “High-quality” (emphasis intentional) mushrooms, other than shiitakes
• Truffles
• Freshwater prawns
• In-tank (live) tilapia  
• Horse boarding
• Landscape ornamentals
• Herbs
• Community Supported Agriculture (CSA food shares)
• Local organic wheat
• Deer corn
• Bees and honey products
• Composting
• Vermicomposting (composting with worms)
• Growing mats (of sedum) or green roofs
• Fruit orchards (selling fresh and dried fruits and juices)
• Nuts
• Growing seed for seed companies
• Generating solar energy for urban neighbors
• Season extension and year-round production in high tunnels. Meaning you could have product to sell during under-supplied seasons.