Pricing

Pricing your products can be a difficult exercise. In the long run, the price paid to the producer has to be high enough to sustain the production and distribution costs; yet it has to be low enough to allow a profitable retail (or wholesale) sales margin. Factors involved in your pricing decision include your production and marketing costs; plus your processing, packaging, and delivery costs. Just how much more should you charge for a “locally grown”, “sustainably produced” or “farm-fresh” product?  How much less than farmers’ market prices should you expect a restaurant to pay? These are all helpful questions to ask yourself. Below we have a variety of resources to help you answer these questions.  

Center for Crop Diversification Budgets: (large and small scale) linked here. Budgets are useful for planning your operation and identifying where costs occur. 

Center for Crop Diversification Price Reports: (for the farmer's market, produce auction, etc.) linked here. Check out the Three-Year Average Price & Quantities at Kentucky Produce Auction and the Three-Year Average Weekly Prices at Kentucky Farmer's Markets below. Price reports can be used as a great tool to give you an idea of what other producers are selling their product for and where they are selling.    

The Packer: Prices Around the Nation - linked here

University of Tennessee's Guide to Pricing: linked here  

University of Vermont's Guide to Pricing Your Farm Product: linked here