A new internet site has been created in Austria which offers a new opportunity for many farmers to boost their direct selling revenues. Over Twenty producers from around the country have put their products on myproduct.at and interested parties can buy directly from them. They have dispensed with investing in their own online shops and websites to reach more customers – and to get more money directly into their businesses.

Many farmers already use their own online farm shops but some are overwhelmed by the amount of work needed to keep their pages up-to-date. Either the products they offer are no longer available or there is a lack of security settings and legal notices. And to make matters worse, some of the farmers’ websites have little or no marketing and do not make use of search engines.
Customers are discouraged by poor website designs, high postage costs or unclear order instructions. Many companies squander the opportunity to offer their products with no ongoing costs to an almost unlimited number of buyers on the Internet.
The Austrian website tries to close this gap between supply and demand. It brings together interested customers and local producers. Three students developed the trading platform over a year ago and did most of the work for the farmers, including design, marketing and maintenance. The producers only had to pack and send off their products to customers. The advantage here is that the producers do not have to be Internet savvy to be able to sell something online. All the producers involved are presented in detail on the web page and they can easily promote their products and agricultural businesses. They also come into contact directly with the customers and get feedback on their products. This creates trust and gives farmers an additional income as well as valuable advertising space.

Most agricultural companies are deeply loyal to their home regions. Large agricultural enterprises and small farmers alike know the people who live next to their fields and stables. This is a priceless benefit when selling products in farm shops or small, local chain stores. It becomes even more interesting when different traders and producers of a region join forces and try to persuade people to spend more money on local produce than on imported goods. A good example for this is a regional currency.

Silvio Gesell had the idea for a local exchange trading currency at the beginning of the 20th century. He wanted to break the imbalance of capitalism where money makes more money (for instance if you lend money to someone who has to pay it back with interest). He wanted money to be purely there to exchange for goods or services. This idea can only work in a small area with a small number of participants. Otherwise the exchange item quickly becomes a materialistic item again.

Of course, it is not realistic to think you can simply replace the Pound with a regional currency. It is not legal, anyway. But it is an interesting idea to introduce such a currency alongside the Pound. Local employers could benefit and it would make sure local produce was bought – an ideal tool for farmers to increase their direct sales.

A good partner for local initiatives like this would be agricultural companies with a broad range of products. Regional currencies are only viable for all involved if customers can pay for a large range of goods with the alternative money. A lot of thought has to be put into it if you are interested in introducing a regional currency to your area. A single person will never succeed. Such a project needs a number of businesses to show the connection between the regional money and the specialities of the region. Other local businesses, like hairdressers, midwives and locksmiths to name but a few, have to take part to make it a success.

There are two ways of how to use the regional currency. Either it is closely connected to the Pound, in this case currencies have to be “exchanged”. The other way is to have accounts for each businesses and producers, where the alternative currency is credited. Alternative currency vouchers have to be bought with the Pound to buy goods or services.
An additional benefit of regional currencies is the social aspect. There is a small charge for changing regional currency back into Pounds. This charge is used to finance the alternative currency and the rest is divided between local societies and clubs.

What option is chosen for introducing the regional currency does not matter. One thing is sure, though. It gives farmers the possibility of taking part. You can promote yourself in your area and find new customers. There is also the possibility of providing an incentive to your employees where they can be rewarded with some of the regional currency for good work.

Migrant workers are an essential help for fruit farmers, wine makers and with the strawberry and cucumber harvest. What do farmers have to look out for when employing migrant workers? One thing is for sure – finding British harvest helpers is not an easy task. Most of the British applicants don’t get any further than the first interview.

The physically demanding job and low wages dampen the spirits very quickly. In comparison, finding committed migrant workers is quite easy. Advertising a job is either done online or in one of the eastern European agricultural newspapers. Or the workers come recommended or through one of the informal migrant worker networks.

But the employer has to keep an eye on the costs. The wages for migrant workers are a lot lower than wages for British helpers and the pay can be discussed individually. But the best way is to pay for performance and not per hour. Most companies also provide food and lodgings even if it is only a place to sleep in a converted stable or a Portakabin. National and health insurance also have to be paid.

A few guidelines should be adhered to in order to really make a success of working with foreign helpers. It is always best if the same helpers come back for next year’s harvest. They already know you, your farm and your rules and requirements. Working together in that way means less hassle. But only about half the migrant workers return to farms they know the following year. Most important, if you want to keep them on for a long time, is a fair relationship between you and your helpers. If they feel like part of your business, the payment is on time and the contact with the Germans is friendly and open then you have won half the battle.

They turn a head or two when you see them on a field. No you are not looking at an ordinary cow, but at a burly, shaggy animal with huge horns. After being introduced to Germany over ten years ago, water buffalo are still an unusual sight and quite an attraction. The breeders, though, are not after a show effect, they are more interested in the special characteristics of the “bubalus bubalis”, an animal that cannot be cross bred with cows. The buffalo haven’t got anything in common with Bison.

“They are primeval animals – robust – with pure genes,” says Peter Biel. “This is what makes them interesting for breeders. They are not picky when it comes to food either, as they eat grass, thistles, nettles and sand couch grass and they are comfortable in boggy and marshy areas. Therefore, the water ox can be used in areas not used for normal cows.”

With his Büffelfarm Hatten he is one of the pioneers in water ox breeding in Germany and also president of the International Alliance for the use of water buffalos as landscapers in Europe (Internationalen Förderverbandes zum Einsatz des Wasserbüffels als Landschaftspfleger in Europa (IFWL)).

There are about 2,500 of these animals in Germany, says Peter Biel, most of them in those counties with natural grazing land. Statistics say the main water ox areas of Germany are Saxony, Brandenburg, Lower Saxony and Baden-Württemberg. Not only are these animals well-behaved, undemanding and can be kept without having to comply with special regulations (as you have to when keeping bison or elk), they also have great stamina. You can keep one animal on one hectare of land all year round. If there is enough extra land available, the shaggy beasts can even go through the winter without you having to feed them extra hay or straw.

Not only is the water buffalo interesting for farmers because they can be used to graze on land after other farm animals cannot be used on it anymore, but also because if they are used on land bordering your farm for landscape purposes, you can get grants from the government. In Rhineland-Palatinate six water buffalos were used on 16-hectare land and the county awarded them a grant of about 96.000 Euro, says Peter Biel.

The price for one animal depends a lot on supply. Many animals are exchanged between breeders around Europe. Peter Biel says you can expect to pay about 2,500 to 3,000 Euro per beast. This is more than for a cow but you have to look at the bigger picture. The water ox breeder also has special products like the milk, which for instance, is used for the famous buffalo mozzarella cheese, or the high-quality meat, which reaches very good prices.

Farmers selling their produce directly to the customer have to be creative. They have to check out the market of the surrounding areas, for instance, to see if there are any gourmet restaurants or similar. Or maybe even an attraction like the “Buffalo-Bratwurst” as seen in the part of Germany known as the Oldenburger Land.

In our blog we have already emphasised how gruuna is being introduced at customer events. In this way, farmers, directors of agricultural companies and also other interested parties like machinery dealers have received a lot of information about the online agricultural market place.

To persuade travelling salesmen and the processing industry to use gruuna to buy and sell products when it launches in summer we decided to contact them directly. At the end of 2009 we set up a call centre which has been contacting companies, travelling salesmen and farmers informing them about the launch of gruuna. We have learned what companies are interested in trading online. Since the end of April two of our colleagues have been visiting those interested companies throughout Germany. Previously they visited cereal dealers, large cooperatives and mills.
One thing is of the utmost importance to us. For successful trading on gruuna we need to get as many buyers as possible to use the website. We would also like to have an attractive range of items like machinery equipment and other items on gruuna when it launches. The more users there are the better the competition. This will lead to a diverse range of products and to better information about everybody and everything in the agricultural trading market. That is not just the opinion of farmers but also of traders and the processing industry. They are looking forward to the launch of gruuna and are very interested to see how it will all work out.
Travelling representatives want to find new business opportunities and mills are interested in finding new distributors on gruuna. All companies we have visited agree that gruuna differs greatly from all existing online trading platforms. The website and trading options are extremely professional due to our experience and our knowledge in the world of agriculture.

Harald Herrmann is mainly responsible for all basic legal matters at gruuna. Whenever we show gruuna to farmers or traders, there is a lot of praise for the user-friendly concept and the well-structured lay-out of the website. But there are also a lot of discussions after each presentation – mostly about difficulties customers feel they may experience while trading on gruuna. There are already answers to most questions in this section of our homepage. In this series we will look more closely at a few issues that are very important to you and explain them in detail. This first part is about describing your items.

What are the possibilities of finding out more about an item than is stated in the description?
It is always possible to contact the seller. If you are unsure about an item, you can contact the seller with the provided form and ask questions. This way you will find out if the product matches your exact expectations before bidding for it.

How trustworthy are the descriptions? Does gruuna check the text?
No, gruuna does not check the text. Here, like in any other online trading business, everybody is responsible for their own product descriptions. But there is an important thing gruuna does to ensure the quality of the products. Most of the important text for products – from cereals and machinery to livestock – are already preset. There is hardly anything extra that needs to be input manually. gruuna helps you by providing quality descriptions. Typing errors are minimised and important points cannot be forgotten.

Can the buyer be sure of receiving the items as described? Or is it possible for the trade partner to say it was a typing error and refuse to put the matter right?
Anybody dealing on gruuna has to know that the item description is binding. If someone offers an item with a certain attribute – for instance certain protein content – then he has to make sure he has the right item in stock. Everything in the item description is part of a written contract – and is therefore binding for both parties.

What is the situation with items that are only checked and used a few months after a deal has been completed on gruuna? Is the item description saved for proof?
Yes. In the category mygruuna all your deals are saved and can be retrieved afterwards.

Do you have more questions about this subject or about gruuna in general? Please use the comment function underneath this article.

Near Freiberg in Germany we found an interesting mix of business, sustainability and focus on the future. Four years ago farmer Christian Hiß founded the Regionalwert AG (Regionalwert plc) there. With assets from the plc he buys agricultural businesses with no family successors and leases them to qualified organic farmers. His concept impresses many investors.

The German media has shown interest in Hiß’s idea. The German edition of the Financial Times and business magazine Brand Eins have written about it. Many people think of business plcs and big money decisions and insane returns. But at Regionalwert, money is only one part of the business. Everyone who buys a share has a vote and can join in the decision on how the farms should work. This involves mainly the intangible assets in the region like production near the point of sale, fair employment or ecological agriculture

The problems which encouraged Hiß to start his company in 2006 is known in many parts of Germany. Agricultural family businesses don’t have successors and the land is rented out to bigger companies. They rely on monoculture and large-scale farming which takes away the control of how to use the land.

Regionalwert AG also buys companies where no successor exists and rents them out. But this only happens with a condition that they are recognised ecological businesses. And they also have to report to the shareholders, for example about their ways of distribution and contracts of employment. Under these conditions the proceeds of those companies are small but the shareholders are only (if at all) interested in a long-term increase of their assets. Nobody relies on a short-term pay-out. The shareholders want to have a say in how their region is developing agriculturally.

Hiß has already received an award for his idea, even though this is not the only way people can have shares in agriculture. Large companies, mainly in eastern Germany, are collectives and therefore have many members who have a share in future development. They do not always work towards the maximising of profits. Most of the time it is just as important to create more jobs in the region and to produce for the region.

What do you think about shareholding in agricultural businesses? Is it a sensible way to create more agricultural understanding? Or does this cause more businesses to end up in financial difficulties? Do you know more examples where similar shareholding projects have worked well?

Many farmers are thinking about how to make their direct sales to the customer easier and better.
Large agricultural cooperatives and small farmers alike do not want to be dependent on wholesalers – they prefer to make decisions about prices of their products themselves. More companies are selling their products direct “from the farm” – in farm shops, in cooperation with local shops or at markets in the region. And a by-product is the vending machine. Why is that?

When it comes to fresh milk, there are quite a few companies who offer vending machines which can hold a few hundred litres. These machines are hygienic and have the right temperature. There is no need to involve a dairy company for milk from the vending machines because there is no need for pasteurisation. That is the difference between these machines and the simple cooling vending machines with milk in drink cartons that you often find in schools and other places. The farm can reach customers directly without investing in a farm shop and sales staff. This is a great idea, especially for pure dairy farms which would mainly sell products from other producers in a farm shop anyway. Importantly, they are not dependent on varying prices from dairy companies.
These vending machines are already common in rural areas of France and Switzerland and more and more in Italy and Spain. It doesn’t matter whether you position the vending machine in a supermarket, next to a bakery or at the farm – it is a new way for dairy farmers to get started in the direct sales business without high operating costs. There are a few farmers in Germany who would like to give those vending machines a go. But here you are only allowed to sell raw milk at the place of production. Due to hygiene restrictions, transporting to a vending machine in another area is not allowed.

Veggie vending machines

But it is not only milk vending machines that are finding more and more friends abroad. In Japan they already have the vegetable vending machine. In down-town Tokyo you can buy your vegetables around the clock from a vending machine. In Holland, those vending machines have been installed in schools to get children interested in vegetables. Maybe this is an idea for German farmers. Or do you think there is a greater need for milk-vending machines?

What producers in Europe already know will be made known to consumers by July. The new EU logo for organic products. The logo was shown for the first time on February 8, 2010 after an online vote was cast. From July 1, it will be compulsory to mark all packaged organic products, which are produced in the European Union, with this new label. For imported products, using the new logo is optional. Apart from a second new optional label „not genetically modified“ it will be the only state-approved seal of quality for food.

The new compulsory logo displays the EU stars to form the outline of a leaf. The consumer is expected to associate this at once with nature, and ecological and fresh food. It remains to be seen if it works.
The previous logo was first used back in 2000 to label products but it was not compulsory. This will all change from July with the new compulsory EU label. The new logo could be a blessing for consumers in the midst of all the different organic labelling. Other labels – like the German Bio-Siegel will still be used. What does the Europe-wide logo mean in detail for producers and consumers in the EU?

What’s in it for the producer?
With the new logo and the booming organic market, there is a chance to strengthen products on the food market. To obtain the certificate the producers have to keep to the guidelines established in the EC directive. In addition, all producers will be given a changeover period of a minimum of two years, in which the logo will be introduced and established. But this will not worry companies which believe in the success and viability of ecological production. And producers, who already comply with the criteria, can only profit from the new logo. Big companies could also profit from organic production if sales increase. But what are the producers’ opinions? What difficulties and benefits can they expect from this change?

What does the consumer gain?
The new logo is expected to make it easier to find products all over the EU, which are produced according to the organic standards of the European Union. The rules are a little less strict than the ones made by organic organisations.
Synthetic chemical sprays may be used in special cases. Additives, which are produced with genetically modified organisms, may also be used if there is no alternative available. Even if the EU guidelines are less strict, they should still give consumers the security of buying a product which is at least to 95% made from ecologically-produced ingredients. It doesn’t matter in which EU country it is bought. This is expected to gain the trust of consumers. Even before the introduction of the logo, the EU issued warnings of inspections without prior notice and stricter monitoring of ecological production. EU officials keep pointing out the huge impact of the logo for consumer protection. The possibility of the product labelled with the new logo not complying with the asked for criteria is very unlikely. Nevertheless, consumers still have to decide for themselves if production conditions justify the long transportation of organic products right across the EU. The logo does not say anything about the overall ecological balance of the products.

What is your opinion as a producer? Is the new organic logo a sensible initiative? Or do you think the booming organic market is only a passing fad, and not a viable investment?

The term „breeding farm” reminds most people of a traditional farm where cows and pigs are bred. But there are more and more farms making use of a niche market and concentrating on breeding exotic animals such as bison, alpaca, crosses between house pigs and wild boars or even reindeer.
In Poland a farm in Czelin breeds fallow deer and reindeer. gruuna spoke to farmer Bartosz Woźniak about his special type of business, using the internet and what the European Union means to him.

Bartosz, how long has your farm existed?
In the way it is run now, the farm has existed for four years now. Before that my dad bred fallow deer for a few years. So together we have already got more than ten years of experience.

_Why did you decide to go ahead with breeding for a niche market? _
The main reason was the fact that breeding traditional animals is not viable most of the time and depends a lot on fluctuation in the economic market. There are better years and worse years and the amount of work needed is much more compared to the breeding of our animals. With our breed, knowledge and experience are more important.
The amount of physical labour involved is not as intensive. Anyway, we do it because we love it and we really like those animals. This type of breeding suits our way of life.

Is it complicated running such an exotic agricultural company?
That depends on the animal. Fallow deer and moufflon are not demanding when it comes to food. Hay or forage is enough together with a little concentrated feed. With reindeer it’s a bit more complicated because you need special animal feed which has to be imported from Scandinavia because its components only grow in this region and climate.

Poland is a member of the European Union. What does this mean to you?
We receive regular payments directly and payments for special environment-friendly agricultural procedures. For us this means a healthy injection of money every year. With the prices for selling products or animals today, you could not expect to run a viable business without help. We have not yet applied for a grant for some projects, as it was difficult for us to pin down our exact needs at the beginning. First we want to see in what direction our business develops. This year we want to make use of a grant for modernising as well as a programme which includes the non agricultural work involved. We want to develop an infrastructure for tourists and lead our business in the direction of agricultural tourism. There is enormous potential here.

Does the internet help you run your farm?
I cannot imagine how the farm would be run without the internet. I see my job not as your typical agricultural job, more as the business management of an agricultural company. And to run a modern business you need the internet for communicating with potential customers as well as running your own website. We have a blog where we talk about what is happening or events that are important to us –and we give tips to other breeders. We have found 90% of our contacts for sales and other fields of business this way.

Do you only use the Polish market or do you also use the foreign market?
Our farm is near the German-Polish border and thanks to the European Union and free movement of goods and people we can use this. We have many business partners in Germany. Very good knowledge of the language helps and is very important in such business ventures. Maybe we will add other countries to our list of customers, as not so long ago we had an online inquiry from Lithuania. Mainly the fact that there are no customs clearances and borders anymore and that also the veterinary documentation was made simpler makes dealing with international partners easier. And of course we like to use them.

Is there a lot of competition for niche market agricultural businesses like yours?
It all depends on the type of business. At the moment there is a lot of competition from fallow deer breeders. If you only concentrate on one breed there might be difficulties in the future for your business. We decided to diversify – breeding fallow deer is only one part of our business. This is how we want to protect our business against the competition. It is important to find your own way to be very good at something and to produce your own unique brand. There are many producers who only offer one product. They are too similar. It is better to breed different types of animals, invest in tourism and offer other services (for example hiring out your animals for parties). We are trying to build something special around the niche production of our farm, and then it will not be so easy for the competition to copy our farm.

What do you think? Is it viable to find you own niche with exotic animals? Or is it better to concentrate on traditional breeding? Please write to us with your opinion.