The Future of Ag

Today, every market, including locally grown agriculture, is now a global market. This opens up many small farmers, processors, producers, and everyone else in the agricultural supply chain to wide-ranging opportunities. Those opportunities come with an equal and opposite share of obstacles and challenges.

In February, we held our annual Ag Breakfast for ag partners in our region. During these breakfasts, Gary Neuschwander, Trade Development Manager for the Oregon Department of Agriculture presented the future of Oregon agriculture as he sees it.

Here’s the main takeaway of his talk: the challenges are great, but our region is incredibly well-suited to take them on and win. We have the soil. We have the people. We have the supply chain. We have the products customers want and commit to the practices they care about.

Hyper-Segmented Markets: Focus on Your Customer and Be Available “Farmers have to be willing to state the obvious,” says Neuschwander. Now, more than ever, customers want to be spoken to clearly and want their specific desires addressed in a straight-forward, plain way.

“Look at packaging at some of the most successful ag and food products,” says Neuschwander. “They state clearly what it is, how it was grown, what makes it special, and how it can improve the life of the customer.”

If your product is non-GMO, say that. If it is high in protein, fiber, healthy fats, amino acids, make that clear. “Consumers, especially the younger consumers that influence about 40% of all buying decisions, want to be told as quickly and clearly as possible, ‘This food you’re about to buy is tasty, good for you (healthy), and good for the planet.’”

The most successful growers have positioned themselves as planet-savers in the eyes of their customers. Again, this is stating the obvious: the more plants that are planted and grown, the more CO2 we can suck out of the atmosphere, delaying and even reversing the impacts of climate change.

Now, even as the market for food has been globalized, there is still a strong desire for customers to know and personally connect with the person who grew their food. In 2009, Oregon blueberry farmers sold just 2.7 million pounds of blueberries directly from their farm. In 2019, that number grew to 15 million pounds. So, as you’re marketing the food you grow, you can also market the place it is grown and the safe, healthconscious, earth-friendly practices you use to grow it.

Plants, The Other White Meat: Plant-based Protein Market Continues To Grow Remember Tofurky? It’s been around since 1980 and has mostly lived in a small section of your local health food store. This year, Tofurky will break records in sales.

Plant-based proteins have gone mainstream. According to a report by research firm GlobalData, only 1% of U.S. consumers claimed to be vegan in 2014. And in 2017, that number rose to Continued on page 6