I made a trip up to Mount Jackson, VA to interview Mr. Steve Baker about his hog operation and his involvement in direct sales. I met Mr. Baker at his USDA inspected processing facility, located across the road from his hog farm. It only took me driving past the big, red building twice, a phone call, and Steve coming to find me on his four-wheeler to locate the facility; this goes to show my great sense of direction and how it fit right in with the scenery.

Mr. Baker has a strong history in agriculture. He has two Century farms on both his mother and father’s sides of the family. Steve’s passion for hogs started when he raised his first pig as a 4H project to compete at his county fair when he was about 9 years old. At the time he graduated high school, his herd was around 12 sows. After graduating community college, he decided to make a living out of raising hogs. Today he runs an operation of about 80 sows in an all outdoor, labor intensive operation.

Baker Farms, Mount Jackson, Virginia

In 1998, when the hog market crashed and the prices dropped out, Mr. Baker decided to move into the direct marketing his own pork products. He capitalized on this idea by transitioning from just selling a commodity to processing a commodity into a food product. Baker Farms started out by going to their local farmer’s market with just one processed hog to test of how their product would be demanded. Although they didn’t know whether consumers would like their product, their products turned out to be a big hit. As Mr. Baker said, “Our product sold itself.” Since that initial farmer’s market, they have expanded to other farmer’s markets, restaurants, and schools.

Mr. Baker also touched on how he runs his business. One important area he focuses on is having competent and dependable employees to represent your product and your business. He emphasized how employees are the face of any business and must be able to answer questions about the business, and market the product to customers. His hog operation is managed so that the end product sells itself.

Mr. Baker graciously gave me some of his products to try after our interview and I enjoyed some bacon from Baker’s Farm Fresh Pork the other day for breakfast. I would definitely buy it! The amount of fat contributes to the wonderful flavoring.

Farming is a full-time job, and then some. When it comes to farming, there is never a day off. The animals still must be cared for, no matter if the calendar says it is a holiday. Selling your product direct takes a lot of effort, but getting your foot in the door is usually the hardest part. It is obvious how much care and pride Mr. Baker puts into his operation. At the end of the day, repeat customers are what keep him in business and hearing customers praise his product is one of the most rewarding and humbling experiences.

Morgan Meador
mmorg14@vt.edu
October 18, 2016

On the morning of October 17th I got in my car and drove 4 hours to conduct an interview about direct sales. The interview exceeded my expectations and made that drive entirely worth it. The information I learned was great, and hearing Cathy Powell Cavender’s story about their family farm warmed my heart.

Cathy Cavender was born and raised on her family’s farm. She decided, when it came to building a life for herself she would move away from home. She built her life in North Carolina with her husband, but soon it came time for one of her family members to return to the family farm and work with her aging father; she decided she would make the move.

Upon returning to the farm, she realized that not all operations on the farm were covering input costs, so Cathy and her husband looked for ways to improve profit margins for existing farm operations. The family farm originally was only selling their beef cattle through another company like Sysco that is a multinational corporation involved in marketing and distributing food products to restaurants, healthcare and educational facilities, and other foodservice and hospitality businesses.

The Cavender’s decided to dive into direct sales, and Cathy Cavender believes that was the best decision they could have made to increase profits on their family farm.

Selling direct to restaurants is a full-time job, but, according to Cathy Cavender, it allows the family to set their beef at prices that cover all costs and include a reasonable profit.  Cathy currently sells direct to around six restaurants all across Virginia and is looking to expand by increasing her advertising efforts by using more marketing tactics. Currently, she uses Facebook and word of mouth to advertise.

One of the biggest problems she faces in direct sales is that restaurants will be interested in having farm fresh food on their menu, but not realize that it is completely different than ordering through a company. The quality is better, but she cannot provide multiple cases of one cut of beef at a time like a company would since she has only so many beef cattle on her farm.

The benefits of direct sales outweigh the negatives. Cathy says the best moment is when she takes her dad to a restaurant, that her sister owns, and they eat a steak that is from their own farm.  It is so rewarding for the Cavender’s to enjoy the work they do, and see the creations that chefs come up with from their own beef cattle.

The wisdom and story behind Monrovia Farm excited me; it made me eager to gain more knowledge on farm to fork in upcoming interviews and through the market trainings. I encourage you to learn more about farm-to-fork and Monrovia Farms by visiting their website http://www.monroviafarm.com/about.htm

Emilie VanDyke
emiliev@vt.edu
Monrovia Farm
October 17, 2016