Agile Agriculture – Connecting Small Farms with Large Markets and Providing Benefits for Agricultural Producers, Food Distributors and Retailers, and Consumers

The goal of Agile Agriculture is to facilitate the availability of a safe, consistent and reliable supply of relevant products for purchase in the marketplace by large-scale buyers.  Unmet market demand for locally produced agricultural products has created opportunities for small/mid scale producers to choose marketing strategies that best fit their individual operations; strategies range from direct marketing (i.e. farmers’ markets and CSA’s), specialty wholesale and can also include large scale wholesale under some conditions. 

The University of Arkansas Applied Sustainability Center has taken several approaches to facilitate entry of small/mid scale producers into large markets with the foundations of promoting sustainable agricultural production systems, ensuring profitability to producers and distributors, providing social benefits of local food systems and delivering healthy products to consumers.  Potential benefits to producers of this type of market opportunity include increased profitability when certain requirements are met, and allowance of focus on operational efficiencies.  Benefits to food distributors and retailers can include meeting consumer desires for local and regional products, reducing transportation costs and greenhouse gas emissions, providing fresher products to consumers and reducing food waste, and development of business opportunities due to robust local economies.  Consumers can also benefit from these type of systems, as confidence is increased by forming connections with agricultural supply chains, local economies are enhanced and availability of fresh, healthy affordable products is increased.