Tyne Bankester

According to the findings of the 2020 Local Food Marketing Practices Survey, American farmers produced and sold $9 billion worth of edible commodities directly to consumers, retailers, institutions and intermediaries. This represented a 3% increase in direct food sales since 2015, with 33% of this economic activity being the result of direct-to-consumer food sales. From farmers markets to community supported agriculture, more Americans are looking to purchase their produce locally, and for good reasons.

With recent supply issues and inflation, more people are realizing the importance of supporting local farmers through purchasing locally produced commodities. While Louisiana does have a robust agriculture industry dedicated to feeding its residents, the interest shown in purchasing local has been slower to grow than other states. Many people who want to purchase local produce get discouraged because they don’t know where to start. How do they find what they need? Is there anyone nearby they can purchase from? Louisiana MarketMaker is working to address these issues by connecting more customers to producers in their communities.

MarketMaker is an online resource that offers users access to a nationwide network of agricultural growers and producers as well as an assortment of individuals and organizations interested in purchasing the many products grown or produced in Louisiana.

Although MarketMaker is a nationwide network, each partner state has its own MarketMaker platform. The Louisiana MarketMaker team is housed within the Louisiana Farm to School Program under the LSU AgCenter. The goal of Louisiana MarketMaker is to elevate the visibility of Louisiana producers to support more direct food sales between the agricultural industry and consumers, retailers, institutions and intermediaries.

Beginning in January 2023, Louisiana MarketMaker launched the Ask the Farmer promotional campaign through its Facebook page. Each month, a producer growing the declared Harvest of the Month serves as the Louisiana MarketMaker Business Spotlight and the Ask the Farmer featured producer.

All Ask the Farmer Spotlight subjects agree to answer a few interview questions, and some are submitted by Louisiana students. Throughout the month, three posts are released to let followers know more about the featured operation and how to connect with them through social media and Louisiana MarketMaker.

Throughout 2023, 12 unique Louisiana producers connected with students in classrooms across the state. From tomatoes to catfish to mushrooms, Ask the Farmer successfully celebrated many small, independent agricultural operations across the state. These celebrations have generated significant web traffic for these producers as well as the Louisiana MarketMaker platform as a whole.

Compared to Louisiana MarketMaker website metric data from 2022, the Ask the Farmer program helped increase the number of website visitors by 50% and the number of website views by 80%. More and more potential customers, be they local families or larger institutional buyers, are learning just how easily they can connect with Louisiana producers.

Brandt Robin, a Church Point producer, agreed to participate in the Ask the Farmer series. When asked why he agreed to participate in the program during one of the busiest times of the year for his farm, the tomato farmer said, “The younger generation has no clue as to where vegetables and farm products come from. It is critical that the younger generation become fully aware of supporting local farms rather than faceless corporations that don’t support the local community.”

One of the most well-received business spotlights was a New Iberia gourmet mushroom producer. Co-owner Daisy Kerne was recently asked how participating in the Ask the Farmer program benefited her business. Kerne, who sells at many Louisiana farmers markets, said, “We had several customers mention that they read about us and came to our market for the first time. We really love being one of the reasons someone ventures out to support local farmers.” Serving as a spotlight allowed Kerne’s business to also shine a light on the producers it shares space and time with during regional farmers markets.

This innovative approach of increasing visibility of Louisiana MarketMaker and its producers received national recognition during the 2023 National Agricultural Marketing Summit in Washington, D.C. The Louisiana MarketMaker team received the first-place Farm Credit MarketMaker Innovation Award.

“The Louisiana Farm to School Program has led by example with Louisiana MarketMaker for years. They inspire other MarketMaker states to emulate their best practices,” said Dar Knipe, cofounder and National Director for the Food MarketMaker Program. “The Ask the Farmer program is such an effective yet creative way to connect farmers to the classroom and beyond. It’s one of those good ideas that could find a place in farm to school programs anywhere in the country, and it’s why it earned this year’s Farm Credit MarketMaker Innovation Award.”

Since receiving this award, the team continues to celebrate producers across the state while also providing technical support to help users — no matter their size or knowledge of technology — fully utilize the platform and its resources.

Tyne Bankester is the program manager for curriculum integration and MarketMaker for Seeds to Success: The Louisiana Farm to School Program from the LSU AgCenter.

This article appears in the summer 2024 issue of Louisiana Agriculture.

Louisiana MarketMaker launched the Ask the Farmer campaign through its Facebook page. Each month, a producer serves as the Louisiana MarketMaker Business Spotlight and the Ask the Farmer featured producer. Images created by Tyne Bankester