FEATURES Bring your farm animals to attract customers at farmers’ markets
Let Your Animals Speak for You!
|
As you plan for the upcoming farmers’ market season, you may be thinking about how you can get customers to better connect with your farm. You not only have your products to sell and display, but you may be going the extra mile and providing a brochure/price list, business cards, recipe suggestions and even pictures of your animals and farmstead.
What about bringing along your best public relations staff to greet your customers? Your animals.
Farm animals will attract attention
You can be sure that when you bring along your hens, calves, sheep, llamas or other farm animals, you will get visitors to your farmers’ market booth—and lots of attention and questions.
“Be prepared to talk, nonstop,” says Nicole Carter, who runs Upper Farm Alpacas of Pownal, Maine, with her husband, Greg. The couple has been bringing their alpacas to farmers’ markets since 2006. They currently attend three farmers’ markets in Maine, including one winter market. They bring a pair of their “PR” alpacas to one market in Brunswick, Maine, which takes place in an open field.
“With the amount of attention and sales they generate, it’s really a two-person job for us,” says Carter, who sells yarn, as well as hand-knitted and crocheted fiber products at the farmers’ markets and also promotes their wood products and services business.
“It’s constant conversation, it never breaks,” says Carter, but the extra work pays off. When the Carters bring their animals, they attract more people, give out more brochures and sell more products, she says. The added attention the animals generate is also a plus for other vendors at the market, she adds.
“Even though we intended to make exhibiting [our alpacas] as part of our market plan, I think other vendors would have been disappointed if we hadn’t … everyone is well aware how much a draw live animals are to the public,” she explains.
Turn curiosity into sales
The crowds the animals attract are the perfect opportunity to educate and sell to a captive and receptive audience.
“People [in farming] can relate to the fact that marketing a business is a lot of work and very expensive,” says Terry Miller of Snowshoe Farm in Peacham, Vt., also an alpaca farmer who has brought her animals to a variety of venues.
“Whenever we can take advantage of a low-cost marketing opportunity that’s close to home, we do it,” she says.
Miller said bringing along her animals does have a direct impact on sales for her as well. “People love the idea of purchasing something that comes from an animal they have met. We often hear from people months after we meet them at an event. They might contact us to buy yarn or to bring guests to visit our farm—or event to buy an alpaca,” she says.
|
Tips for making good use of your PR animals:
• Pick the Right Animals
Remember that not all animals will be suited for the PR job. Don’t bring shy or aggressive animals; you need to know the animals you bring will stay calm with the noise, unusual smells, crowds and even dogs.
You can start the animals for their PR assignments when they are young, suggests Carter, who usually brings alpaca weanlings or geldings. “It is good training for young animals,” she adds.
Depending on the type of farm you run will depend on the animals you bring, but make sure they are small and/or and manageable. If you are a dairy farmer, stick to calves that are easier to manage. A small flock of chickens—or even chicks—enclosed in a simple pen is perfect marketing exposure for a chicken or poultry farmer.
• Make Sure the Animals are Comfortable and Safe
Make sure your animals are comfortable and have enough shade (bring a canopy along with your pens). Check to see if there is electricity at the booths in case you need to run a fan for the animals if it gets too hot. Also bring a water bucket, hay or feed. If you are on a grassy area, make sure that the area has not been sprayed with chemicals that can harm the animals.
Position the pens so the animals are not completely surrounded by foot and vehicle traffic. Make at least one side inaccessible to people in case the animals are feeling stressed and want some downtime. Make sure this “people-free” corner also has shade and water. Try to avoid farmers’ markets in paved areas, which can get too hot for animals’ feet in the summer.
Dogs are often welcome at farmers’ markets, which can cause a problem for farm animals. You can avoid any problems by putting “no dogs” signs on the pens; most people with leashed dogs will be respectful and keep their distance.
Even if your animal is young, prepare them gradually. Take them for walks and rides and bring them to short events close to home. Gradually expose them to strange noises, dogs and venues, in a safe manner.
• Be Prepared and Patient
Be prepared for weather extremes, such as rain, hail and strong winds.
Also be prepared for extremes of visitor personalities, warns Miller. “Be sure someone will always be there with the animals; be firm with people who are not interacting properly with the animals [such as] teasing, feeding them foods they shouldn’t eat,” she says. Hang any special instructions outside the pen for people to read.
“Just be prepared to pack up and head home if it’s not working out for the animals,” says Miller.
You also need to be prepared to do a lot of educating. Make sure you have enough brochures, information and patience to handle the onslaught of curious visitors to your booth.
• Be Mindful of the Farmers’ Market Customers
Not everyone likes the sights, sounds—or smells—of animals. Be sensitive to the fact that the main purpose of a farmers’ market is to sell food—both prepared and harvested.
Give a heads-up to your stall neighbors to make sure that they are OK with live animals next door. When animals relieve themselves, immediately scoop up the droppings and keep it out of sight inside your trailer or truck.
|
• Be Aware of the Potential Disease Exposure to Your Animals … and People
Taking your animals out in public always carries the risk of exposing them to diseases or parasites not usually found on the farm. Miller puts her PR animals in a quarantined area for a few days after they return, away from the rest of the farm animals. “Our goal is to minimize the risk to the rest of the herd,” she says.
Animals can also pose a health hazard to humans as well. You should consider downloading and posting a sign about public safety, such as one provided by the National Association of State Public Health Veterinarians, which can be downloaded at www.nasphv.org/Documents/AnimalExhibitsSafety2007.pdf. You should also provide antibacterial wipes or lotions for your visitors if they touch your animals.
• Know Your Local Laws and Requirements
Approach your farmers’ market association first before bringing your animals to the market. There may be special rules or regulations in your area about displaying live animals. You may also need liability insurance, disease transmission certificates, etc. There are also local and state rules and regulations you may have to follow, including disease testing.
For more information about using animals in a public setting, download the following report from the National Association of State Public Health Veterinarian: www.nasphv.org/Documents/AnimalsInPublicSettings.pdf.
The author is a freelance writer from Keene, N.H.