Assessing the Returns from Organic Marketing Channels

Organic farmers face heightened pressure in developing a portfolio of different marketing channels and in bargaining competitively with increasingly sophisticated marketing participants in the supply chain for organic products. This research assists producers by identifying specific farm and demographic factors that enhance earnings given the choice of marketing outlet. The two significant selectivity coefficients confirm that organic earnings when marketing through a single outlet are biased upward since farmers who are better suited to market through multiple outlets have already moved away from this marketing strategy. An accurate evaluation of the projected earnings from any marketing strategy must account for selectivity effects.