Farmers and ranchers reaped most of the profits from the sale of food and fiber products. With the emergence of national and global markets, supermarkets and changes in the structure of agriculture, the producers share of food and fiber profits decreased substantially. Since the 1970s, state and local governments and nonprofit organizations have been helping farmers and ranchers develop new products, processing facilities, services and marketing strategies to increase farm profits. They are designed to build and support local agricultural economies and to improve the economic health of individual farms and ranches. Some jurisdictions also use agriculture as a foundation to develop other industries, such as food processing and tourism.
Programs use different strategies to achieve different objectives.
Some local governments are incorporating agricultural business strategies into their traditional economic development plans. Four local governments in Maryland employ economic development specialists who advise farmers on new products, services, marketing strategies and management techniques to increase profitability. New York s county Agricultural and Farmland Protection Boards have the authority to receive state matching funds to develop and implement county agricultural and farmland protection plans. Many of these plans include the promotion of economic development initiatives for agriculture. Preparing a business plan can allow farmers and ranchers to examine a range of strategies to increase profits.