Brand Identity

[farmers_son]

I checked out Joel Salatin’s website:

http://polyfacefarms.com/index.html

While I am not sure if this fellow is a genius he does have a flair for marketing. Using the numbers Grassfarmer put up I did a simple spreadsheet with guesses of what the produce would sell for. Hope these numbers line up so they are readable.

Dozen Eggs 30000 $1.50 45,000
Broilers 11000 $10.00 110,000
Cattle 100 $1,000.00 100,000
Hogs 250 $300.00 75,000
Turkeys 800 $25.00 20,000
Rabbits 600 $15.00 9,000
Total 359,000

This fellow’s gross and net are about the same as mine but I do it with a lot fewer people although a lot more land and most years with a lot less rainfall (not counting this year).

This example does point out that primary producers have the option of producing to the retail market with a branded product, if they so choose. Most often the brand identity is closely associated with the actual producer than the product itself. While being close to the city is no doubt an advantage, they charge $300 to $500 for a 2 hour tour of their differentiated farm. Very nice marketing. Reading between the lines I suspect their real genius has been in capturing value, not so much in their production, but in their uniqueness, even eccentricity.

[grassfarmer]

Farmers_son, While I agree with your view that he is a very good marketer and has been successfully able to capture the extra value for his produce, I would disagree when you downplay his genius in production. This output he is achieving is off a little over 100 acres of pasture - he buys in very few inputs and this is genuinely achieved off the pasture. The huge figures of income from the poultry are pasture based not from a confinement based operation. What interests me is much of his model could probably be reproduced in the parklands of Alberta with the exception of the consumer numbers close by. With that kind of soil fertility and output imagine people once again being able to make full time livings off their quarter section farms. Making far above the average returns of producers with 1000 acre places - I think the guy is a genius both in production and marketing.

[rkaiser]

Is marketing the way that Joel does it genius, or is success simply about his will to make a change.

We are living in an industry where we keep telling ourselves - "It is not fair that we need to make such a major change to survive. We are the raisers of livestock and it is only fair that we should be paid a fair price for those livestock so that we can make an honest living."

The problem is - those who buy our livestock have no interest in this little dream world - as fair as it may be.

This little economic nightmare is not unique to our industry as cattle or beef producers, but is certainly made worse when you have a continuous game of control and power going on to keep prices down rather than allow prices at the consumer level to rise.That hunger for power and control by a very few multinational corporations makes it difficult for competition to rise, and volume is the key to profit for these greedy inhuman corporations, rather than a will to see prices rise and allow others a piece of the cake.
Every move made by the packer in our industry is about control and power. They do not want to see competition in any way. The small group in the "Beef Trust" even control our own government and so called industry representation to steer the industry and make it difficult for any and all competition.

We all know these things, but very few will out right admit it.

So how do we remain a viable industry as producers. And by viable - I mean in control of our own destiny and allowed to raise price when it is needed to survive. We have to retain ownership of our product, and not allow our multi billions of dollars in assets to be controlled by two or three companies with a few hundred million in assets. If we as a group for instance, allow "Ranchers Beef" to be purchased by one of the three controlling players in this country we will have no excuse for allowing further demise of our industry. Yes folks - the game plan is set. The brand new and exciting plant at Balzac Alberta is in major trouble and the vultures are circling. Not only are they circling, but they are circling after they sent the hyena's in to pick away until the the victim was in the position it is in.

But - do we, as producers, have the will to change.

We have the will to change like grassfarmer or Cam Ostercamp did. That is to market directly. Or change like Christoph Weder and his gang, Glen Leitch and his gang, or Kaiser and Froeler and Goodrich and a few others in the Celtic beef gang; to join hands and direct market. Rise up from the bottom - invest in marketing rather than a new tractor and truly change our focus.

But do we collectively have any will - or even admit that there is a problem with our current system of supporting these inhuman corporations in their quest to control the ENTIRE industry. My Goodness Kaiser - you're back on that conspiracy shit agin! That is the response from our so called industry leadership.

Not genius folks - just a will to change.

[cakadu]

I believe that Randy has it pegged - there has to be a willingness to change and not get into the mainstream of things. One of the things that hurts many producers is that they are over capitalized and so much money is needed to buy/finance equipment, land, buildings etc.

I would say that Joel runs his operation with a lot less equipment and a lot more labour. If you were at his website farmers_son, you would notice that there is a waiting list of people wanting to work there. Quite a different story with farm labour around here.

The inspection folks down there have tried to shut his chicken operation down many times and stop him from processing right there on the farm. Trouble is that when they do their swabbing etc., he generally comes out cleaner than any facility. He has the advantage over us in that we cannot process on the farm for sale (at least not legally) and we have the chicken supply management folks who would be all over us in a second if we did. When pasture poultry was first brought to Alberta a few years back, the chicken folks were fit to be tied trying to figure out how to charge for quota on the birds because they only operate 5 months of the year.

It seems that whenever one tries to move away from the mainstream, there are always the naysayers and the doubters. One of the other problems that we have here is the lack of willingness to cooperate with one another to gain more of the value of what we produce.

We have been raising and selling our lambs outside of the mainstream for the past 14 years and I have actually given up trying to justify why we do it the way we do to those that are in the "system". They just can't see how we can make any money with the breed we raise and the direct marketing. It hasn't been easy - in fact during the drought and the whole BSE thing it was quite difficult - but we have perservered and are actually now getting somewhere. A success story 14 years in the making, if you will.

Changing mindsets is the hardest thing to do. Think of the possibilities if we could.

[farmers_son]

I did notice there was a waiting list of people to work for basically room and board. And yes he has achieved a lot of production from a small land base. Yes again, there must be a willingness to change. But the reason Joel S. has people paying to visit his farm and to buy his books is he has successfully differentiated his farm to the point where he can market a brand identity. If I achieved notable production on my farm but did it using traditional methods no one would pay me $500 for a 2 hour tour.

Rkaiser: I certainly agree that the present system is unworkable. Cattle producers will need to find ways to capture a fair portion of the consumers food dollar. Marketing direct is one way, retaining ownership of the cattle past the packing level is another. If BSE was not enough to force change then our rising dollar and stronger grain prices may do the trick. It is just a matter of when it happens not if it happens.

[grassfarmer]

farmers_son, I see you agree that the present system is unworkable and that
cattle producers will need to find ways to capture a fair portion of the consumers food dollar. You comment "It is just a matter of when it happens not if it happens." how will it happen though? that's the problem I have in understanding at the moment.
There are the overwhelming odds of the current processor stranglehold extending down now into the feedlots and even back to the ranches through packer "supply management" as Randy articulates very well. We have politicians who are happy to turn a blind eye (or take a bribe, whichever)we have "industry" politicians who are clearly working for the packers and not the producer. A fine example would be our illustrious CCA leader Hugh Lynch-Staunton who stated that producers have no business being involved in the processing side of beef production "if they want to benefit from further processing of beef they should own Tyson shares like I do" I believe was the quote. No doubt the fact that Ranchers Beef is struggling will be heralded as proof that the ABP/CCA were right all along and there should be no producer owned processing facilities.
I would like to change the industry for the better - see producers get a fairer return for their efforts but how do we start that change happening? It seems to me that I can either spend a lot of time and effort trying to change the system politically (difficult with the other 96% of producers either so apathetic or asleep at the wheel that they won't get involved) or I can concentrate on my own direct marketing operation. I notice that most of the really successful marketers like Salatin do not spend their time trying to change the system for the benefit of the average producer in the conventional system - they work for themselves in business terms and then try to lead others by example outside conventional agriculture.

[rkaiser]

I guess if I were to just stay at home and have my darn bulls delivered each year, my attitude may change to more of that home stuff Iain. But going out and seeing the struggle in the countryside and at the same time appreciating the support some of these struggling ranchers give me incentive to at least try to assist some of them. We are certainly a long way from becoming millionaires from direct marketing, but is is certainly a step up from conventional. It was almost embarrassing to receive a government cheque for assistance for cattle that I had locked in at $1.05 live when my neighbors had similar cattle stolen from them at 30 to 40 cents when BSEconomics first showed how it could be a cash cow for the packers.

I don't think for a minute that we shut up. I am looking forward to seconding your resolutions at the ABP producer meetings again this fall. No we cannot spend a lot of energy or time on it, but we can not give in either. We know that there is potential for profit beyond the farm gate, and that the industry we involve ourselves in has an extremely corrupt and manipulative sector, and I will be damned if I am not going to tell people about it.
When I talked of the whole supply demand consumer pricing thing - what do others think.
I realise that We are still paying the wages of a few too many folks in our little chain, but how is it that our rib eye can sell for $29.99 a pound, and our local steak fry was going to buy there's for $7.00. I had to make a pretty substantial donation to put 200 sirloins on the plates at 6 bucks, but the compliments were worth it. As well as the flicker of awareness in the eyes of some of the producers at the meal.

Got to be a bit of room between that $29.99 and 7 bucks don't you think. And I mean room for cattle producers in general - not just a few of us.

[cakadu]

Maybe the point is as you say, Randy, we just have to keep talking about it and more importantly, keep showing the success of it working. Like you, we've donated an awful lot in order to get people closer to the product and understanding where it comes from.

Joel has access to fairly affluent markets, but in many respects so do some of the rest of us. Calgary has dollars flowing and it is certainly within an 1/2 day's drive for many. It's not a matter of beating the bigger guy, it's a matter of creating what works for you. I don't think Joel has ever tried to compete in that respect, in fact, he goes out of his way to let folks know he isn't. He doesn't ship his product anywhere, but chooses to sell it locally.

Creating and understanding a system that works for you is what counts and puts the extra value of what you're producing into your pocket and not someone else's.

[grassfarmer]

Cakadu, I'm not complaining of a lack of customers in Calgary or Edmonton, we are finding enough for the rate we are growing our direct marketing at - or should I say for the amount of time we put into it. I enjoy the paydays but not chasing up customers for late order forms etc! The problem would be if a large number of other producers wanted to enter the marketplace - say 10% of Alberta's beef producers wanted to market direct. We would run out of customers real quick. I still would like to see small plants around the province that could do federal, custom kill. I could double my sales tomorrow by selling into Yellowknife and the NWT if I could get them legally killed and allowed to go up there.

Randy, in response to your comment about pricing, demand and consumers I find our customers spend less time considering a $50 per quarter price increase than I do. It never seems to be a problem to them - perhaps that is an advantage of selling them beef in bulk once a year versus selling cuts every week?

farmers_son, if you can achieve a $1500/ acre net annual return through "conventional" agricultural production with pasture based livestock I will certainly pay you $500 for a 2 hour tour.

[cakadu]

Grassfarmer I would be surprised if 10% of producers would want to get into direct marketing. If the BSE years didn't get people to change their minds, then I can't see there being a big rush to do so now....but I've been wrong before.

It takes a lot to direct market and as you've stated one of the many pitfalls is getting people to order in a itmely fashion.

There are a number of people who say they believe the theory of it but have a hard time moving beyond the theory.

Farmers_son, whether or not Joel has his marketing down or just what it is that has him making and keepting the profit that he does, he's actually got a system and it is working for him. He's willing to share whatever information he has and would like to see more doing things in a similar fashion. The thing is to figure out what works best for you and then work to make th emost of it.