Ways to Earn Profit as a Small-Scale Farmer: 10 Strategies for Success
Selling the produce you grow can be personally fulfilling and financially rewarding. There is a high demand for fresh farm goods, value-added products such as soaps and jams, and agritourism experiences like visiting local farms.
Recent data from the 2022 Census of Agriculture (released in February 2024) shows that farms generated $17.5 billion in food product sales through direct marketing channels, a 25% increase since 2017. This indicates that there is money to be made by selling directly to consumers rather than through wholesale distribution channels.
If you are interested in making money from a farm business or hobby farm, here are 10 ideas to consider, along with examples from Shopify businesses that continue to earn money from farming even after the growing season ends:
1. Value-added products: Creating products like jams, body butters, and snacks using ingredients from your farm can increase profitability.
2. Farmers markets: Selling your products directly to consumers at farmers markets allows you to keep the markup for yourself.
3. Community-supported agriculture (CSA): Members sponsor a farm’s costs and receive a share of the harvest, helping fund your farm’s operations.
4. Farm stays: Offering accommodations on your property for visitors can provide an additional source of income.
5. Classes and field trips: Providing educational workshops, farm tours, and field trips can generate income while engaging with the community.
6. Beekeeping: Cultivating an apiary and selling honey and beeswax products can be a profitable venture.
Value-Added Farming Ideas for Entrepreneurs
On an episode of Shopify Masters, a business podcast powered by Shopify, a successful entrepreneur focuses on consumers who are now “willing to pay more for honey and invest in their local beekeepers.” She sources all of the honey for her products from her family’s honey farm in Alberta, Canada, and adds value by infusing her honey with various ingredients like orange zest or vanilla bean.
Flowers
Sales of domestic cut flowers amounted to $763 million in 2022, a $90 million increase from 2017, according to the United States Department of Agriculture. Flowers are a scalable crop you can start as a side project and expand as you learn what varieties of flowers grow best where you live and what your local florists want.
Curated Butcher Boxes
Curated meat boxes, sometimes called butcher boxes, are like a CSA box for meat, usually produced with a method like grass-fed, regenerative, antibiotic-free, or organic farming. Some even offer ways to order a share of a whole animal, which gives customers access to farm-fresh, high-quality meat, and helps farmers keep more of the profit instead of letting the retail markup go to grocery stores.
Sheep
If you’d rather not cultivate crops, you can get your hands dirty raising sheep, and then create value-added products like sheepsmilk cheeses, sheepsmilk soap, sheepskins, and wool yarn. You can either sell these to distributors and wholesalers or sell them on your own at a higher profit.
Skin Care
Value-added skin care products are part of the clean beauty and farm-to-shelf movements, where goods are made with non-toxic, natural ingredients sourced at the farm. If you have farm products like beeswax, honey, tallow, olive oil, herbs, and other botanicals, you have some of the key ingredients for the growing market in farm-made skin care.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which farming activities are the most profitable?
Direct-to-consumer sales are one of the most profitable income streams for a farm business. For example, making and selling food products from raw ingredients, offering agritourism experiences at your farm, or selling your crops directly to consumers at a farmers market all have higher profit margins than selling your goods wholesale.
How can you make money on 20 acres?
If you have a hobby farm of 20 acres, that’s enough space to develop a market garden to sell produce at a farmers market or supply your own community-supported agriculture (CSA) program, raise a small herd of sheep for wool production, and offer agritourism such as private events, farm stays, and classes.
Can only large farms be profitable?
How much land you have doesn’t define how profitable you can be, but your business plan does. Supplementing your produce sales with agritourism, value-added products, and online sales can help a small farm succeed.
What are some profitable value-added products for farmers?
Some profitable value-added products for farmers include honey-infused products, curated butcher boxes, sheepsmilk cheeses, and farm-made skin care products. These products add value to the farm’s offerings and cater to consumer preferences for high-quality, locally sourced goods.
How can farmers expand their market reach with value-added products?
Farmers can expand their market reach with value-added products by utilizing ecommerce platforms like Shopify, participating in local farmers markets, collaborating with local shops, and offering subscription boxes. By showcasing the unique qualities of their products and connecting with consumers who value sustainability and quality, farmers can increase their sales and brand awareness.
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