If you rely on a farmers market for a good part of your business, like many SPIN farmers do, you have to recognize that you get out of it what you put into it. Because here’s the deal: you’re outsourcing your marketing to a market manager, but they don’t work solely for you, and marketing is only part of what they do. Dealing with management may not be what you went into farming to do, but if you sell at a farmers market it’s part of your job description.
The number of markets has increased dramatically over the years, and that is a good thing for SPIN farmers, since they’re a low-risk way to develop a business. But they may not all be able to support a business long term if they don’t have certain ingredients. Find out what you need to do to make sure yours does here.