1

Farmers Marketing 

Direct sales through markets, roadside stands, and other means up 8 percent since 2007.

United States Department of Agriculture

National Agricultural Statistics Service

www.agcensus.usda.gov

(800)727-9540

ACH12-7/August 2014

Highlights

A small but growing number of farms and ranches are pursuing new ways to 

market their products and connect to their communities. Their strategies include 

selling agricultural products directly to consumers, marketing directly to retail 

outlets, creating and selling a variety of value-added products, or promoting 

visits to their operations.

Direct Sales to Consumers

Farmers sell fresh agricultural products directly to consumers in a variety of 

ways – through farmers markets, roadside stands, pick-your-own operations, 

community supported agriculture (CSA) arrangements, and other efforts. 

Throughout the United States, 144,530 farms sold $1.3 billion in fresh edible 

agricultural products directly to consumers in 2012. This was a 6 percent 

increase in farms, and an 8 percent increase in sales, over 2007, the last time 

the agriculture census was conducted. 

Farms with direct sales to consumers were 6.9 percent of the nation’s 2.1 million 

farms in 2012, but those sales accounted for only 0.3 percent of total agriculture 

sales. Three states (California, New York, and Pennsylvania) accounted for 27 

percent of direct 

consumer sales. 

The average 

value of direct 

consumer sales 

per farm was 

$9,063. Counties 

with higher 

average sales 

were largely in 

the Northeast 

and California.

29 percent . . . 

. . . of farms selling directly to 

consumers specialized in vegetable, fruit, and nut farming in 

2012, and 25 percent

specialized in beef.

Top States in Direct

Consumer Sales

($ millions)

California 169.9

New York 100.6

Pennsylvania 86.0

Michigan 58.8

Massachusetts 47.9

Wisconsin 46.9

Ohio 46.6

Washington 45.1

Oregon 44.2

Virginia 41.7

Average Value per Farm of Direct Sales to Consumers, by County, 2012

< 2,500

2,500 - 4,999

5,000 - 9,999

10,000 - 24,999

25,000 - 49,999

50,000 +

U.S. Average = $9,063

dollars

Source: USDA NASS, 2012 Census of Agriculture.
2 USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.

Direct Sales to Retailers

Nearly 50,000 farms in 2012 sold some or all of their products directly to retail outlets such as restaurants, grocery 

stores, schools, hospitals, or other businesses that in turn 

sold to consumers. Across the country, 2.3 percent of farms 

sold their products 

directly to retailers. 

California had the 

largest number of farms 

(4,432) with such sales,

followed by Texas, New 

York, Pennsylvania, and 

North Carolina. But

Hawaii, Alaska, and 

New England had the 

the largest percentages of farms with direct 

sales to retailers. California ranked eleventh.

Value-added Products

Farmers add value to their agricultural commodities when 

they process them to produce items such as beef jerky, fruit 

jams, jelly, preserves, floral arrangements, cider, wine, etc. 

Nationally, 94,799 farms produced and sold value-added 

products in 2012. States with the most farms doing so were 

Texas (11,544 farms), California (4,281), Kentucky (4,117), 

Missouri (3,926), and Oklahoma (3,815). 

In the United States overall, the share of farms producing 

and selling such products was 4.5 percent. The top states 

in percent of farms were Vermont (14 percent), New Hampshire (13 percent), Maine (11 percent), Rhode Island (11 

percent), and Alaska (10 percent). 

Agritourism

Just over 33,000 farms offered agritourism and recreational 

services such as farm or winery tours, hayrides, hunting, 

fishing, and other such activities in 2012. 

Farm Size. The majority of farms selling fresh edible 

products directly to consumers are small. Three fourths 

had annual sales of less than $5,000 in 2012, and together 

accounted for 11 percent of total sales. The 3 percent of 

farms with annual direct-to-consumer sales of $50,000 or 

more accounted for 58 percent of the total.

Direct Agriculture Sales to Consumers, by Per Farm Sales, 2012

(number of farms and $ millions)

Per Farm Sales Farms Sales

No. % $ millions %

$1-$499 37,398 26 7.8 1

$500-$999 20,170 14 13.7 1

$1,000-$4,999 52,750 36 121.8 9

$5,000-$9,999 14,452 10 97.3 7

$10,000-$24,999 11,045 8 164.8 13

$25,000-$49,999 4,244 3 143.7 11

$50,000 or more 4,471 3 760.8 58

Total 144,530 100 1,309.8 100

Note: Excludes craft items and processed products such as jellies, sausages, hams, cider, and wine.

Source: USDA NASS, 2012 Census of Agriculture.

Producer Characteristics. Nearly 70 percent of principal 

operators who sold directly to consumers were established 

producers who had 10 years of farming experience or 

more; 73 percent were 45 years or older. Nearly 90 percent 

lived on the farm, but 68 percent worked at least some 

days off the farm and 42 percent did so 200 or more days 

during the year. Of principal operators selling directly to 

consumers, 18 percent were women. Women made up 14 

percent of principal operators overall.

CSAs Connect Farms and Households

In a community supported agriculture arrangement, a 

farmer or rancher delivers food to subscribers who purchase 

shares in that season’s products. Such arrangements give 

producers cash at the start of the season and a market for 

their products. In turn, by participating in a CSA, subscribers 

receive fresh food and have a connection with a farm in their 

community. 

Nationally, 12,617 farms sold fresh produce and other 

products through a CSA in 2012. States with the largest 

number of farms selling through a CSA were California (1,015 

farms), Texas (590), North Carolina (579), New York (578), 

and Pennsylvania (551). 

Ten counties in the country had more than 50 CSAs; seven of 

the ten counties were in northeastern states.

Top States in Direct Sales to Retailers 

(percent of farms) 

Hawaii 18

Vermont 16

Alaska 15

Rhode Island 14

New Hampshire 14

Massachusetts 13

Maine 13

Connecticut 10

New York 7

New Jersey 7

Source: USDA NASS, 2012 Census of Agriculture.

To learn more about farmers’ new marketing strategies, 

the 2012 Census of Agriculture, and how to access 

national, state, and county data, go to:

www.agcensus.usda.gov