Reference no: EM133039745

Mini case study:

Helping the jones farm adjust to the new food marketing environment

Farmer Matt Jones and his wife, Peggy, operate a grain farm in Iowa. The farm has been in the family for three generations, and the two Jones children plan to return to the farm and operate it when they complete their B.S. degrees from Purdue University next year. The Jones's own 1,000 acres and rent another 1,000 acres. Normally about half the acres are planted to corn and the other half to soybeans. These crops are sold to local elevators and through the grain marketing cooperative which the Jones family is a member.

Matt and Peggy are considered progressive, profitable farmers. They have a well-planned farm, own and operate the latest equipment, typically are among the highest yield farmers in their area, and are usually among the first to adopt new technologies among the local farmers.

In preparation for the two children, Bill and Kim, to return to the farm, Matt and Peggy have been reviewing their entire operation to see what their strengths and weaknesses are and how they could improve their profits in the future.

The Jones's have concluded that their farm production is efficient, progressive, and reasonably profitable. However, they believe that more attention must be given in the future to the marketing side of their business. They recently heard a professor say that future farmers must be good business managers and marketers, as well as agronomists. That is why they enrolled Bill in Agricultural Economics and Kim in Business Management, where they would receive a good education in production agriculture but also be trained in modern farm and business management.

They have now asked Bill and Kim to put their education to work advising them of new farm product marketing technologies.

Q. Help Bill and Kim outline the major marketing problems that farmers are now facing and will need to solve in the future. Then, suggest ways that the Jones farm might change its farm product marketing programs in the future to improve their prices and profits.