WASHINGTON, D.C. – The USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) is conducting the 2020 Local Food Marketing Practices Survey this month to look at local and regional food systems, and provide new data on how locally grown food in the United States is marketed and sold.

“Federal funding and policies for local and regional food systems were greatly expanded by the last three farm bills, and it is our job as a federal statistical agency to help measure this part of the agriculture sector,” said Hubert Hamer, NASS administrator. 

“We are excited to provide the first official federal data on marketing practices for local food since 2015, and therefore, a five-year comparison point to inform policies and business in this area,” Hamer said.

First conducted in 2015, this 2017 Census of Agriculture special study is part of the Census of Agriculture Program, and is required and protected by law. These federal laws require producers to respond, and the USDA to keep identities and answers confidential.

The survey will ask producers about their production and local marketing of foods during the 2020 calendar year, including the value of food sales by marketing channel such as farmers markets, restaurants, and roadside stands. 

Other questions seek information on the value of crop and livestock sales, marketing practices, expenses, and federal farm program participation.

Moreover, local foods production is linked to USDA priorities, including facilitating rural prosperity and economic development, along with providing all Americans access to a safe, nutritious, and secure food supply. 

Researchers, policymakers, farmers, ranchers, industry professionals, and USDA personnel will use the resulting information in their work on local and regional food and agricultural systems. 

Examples of such uses include:

USDA Agricultural Marketing Service’s Farmers Market Promotion Program, Local Foods Promotion Program, Specialty Crop Block Grants Program

USDA Farm Service Agency’s Microloan Program

USDA Food Insecurity Nutrition Incentives Program, a collaboration between the USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture and the USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service

USDA Food and Nutrition Service’s efforts to expand EBT availability at farmers markets

State and local agencies’ support and promotion of local food markets

Farmers’ and ag organizations’ business and marketing strategies

Researchers’ and university extension members’ research

Ben Feldman, executive director of Farmers Market Coalition in Albany, Calif., said the 2015 survey “offered valuable insight, and has had far-ranging impacts.”

“As the most detailed federal research effort on local foods, these surveys impact local, state and federal policy, as well as how the public thinks about local food and farming,” he said. 

He said one of the unique aspects of local and regional food systems is the farmer is typically in direct contact with their customers, which puts them in a unique position as salespeople and educators. 

“Unlike other sales outlets, consumers can ask how to prepare and eat unfamiliar crops from the person who grew them,” he said.

Feldman said much of the new trends in local food marketing practices this year have come in response to the COVID pandemic as farmers and market operators iterate on their approaches as customer shopping patterns have changed.

He said COVID-19 has negatively impacted the farmers market sector in the following ways:

Sharp declines in organizational revenue resulting from disruptions in funding, sponsorships, and decreased vendor participation

Increased expenses related to enhanced public safety measures, including equipment rentals or purchases (i.e., PPE, hand-washing stations), social distancing requirements, and increased staffing needs

Increased and changing vendor needs related to changes in marketing and technology

Market operational restrictions resulting from changing public agency mandates, including forced redesign of typical walk-up market models, and significant physical limitations not generally imposed on indoor retailers

However, he said COVID-19 has positively impacted the farmers market sector in the following ways:

Rapid innovation of alternate market models and marketing platforms, which may become a permanent feature of some markets, providing an additional revenue stream for these vendors/markets

Increased sales for some markets/vendors, due at least in part to a higher demand for local food by consumers and markets’ rapid action in providing contactless purchasing opportunities

An increase in collaboration and data/resource sharing within the sector in an effort to learn from and assist other market operators

Higher interest in farmers markets and other direct-to-consumer (DTC) channels by shoppers new to DTC channels searching for healthy foods;

Attention to the sector by new developers of platforms

The USDA said farmers and ranchers who receive the survey may complete it securely and conveniently online at: www.agcounts.usda.gov, or by mail. The deadline for response is Feb. 16, 2021.

The results will be available in November 2021.