On Assistance to Farm Managers - Report Example

REPORT ON АSSISTАNСЕ TO FARM MАNАGЕRS IN MAKING DЕСISIОNS REGARDING THE АDОРTIОN OF NEW FARMING РRАСTIСЕS Name Institution Proposed new farming practices: Online and media marketing practices Introduction and summary of the proposal Marketing is essential in every industry because it leads to the industry’s improved performance and realization of the target revenue. In the Australian potato industry, the production of potato is very efficient and farmers produce variety of potatoes for human consumption and for industrial uses. Potato production in Australia is a very essential undertaking, which enables many farmers to make a living and enhances healthy food consumption among the Australians. The major area of potato production in Australia is New South Wales, South Australia, Queensland, and Western Australia. The potato-planting farm is very large and due to improved technology, and research and development practices, the production development in the potato industry is realized on daily basis. One of the Australian potato industry objectives is to enhance communication and well-founded understanding of the market for the fresh potatoes. Growers work together in the production of the potato crops and they sell their crops through the potato marketing corporations. This leads to problems associated with marketing of the potato crops to diverse markets because of the need to register a potato-growing farm, take a license, and have the potato crops being delivered by the corporation. Individuals are not allowed to interact directly with the consumers or customers of their products. Many farmers who cultivate potato develop worry during the wet seasons because of the probability of their products getting bad while in the stores because of lack of a direct market or delayed plans on how to deliver their products to the available markets, as they have to rely on the assistance from the potato-marketing corporations. When the industrial consumption falls, the market for potato deteriorates especially for areas where potato is grown for industrial processing. There has been an increased potato production since 2015, thus the need for a wider market. The current marketing process does not satisfy the marketing demand for the potatoes growth in the entire Australian states. Through the online platform, the Australian potato farmers would reach the international market and acquire better means of transporting their potatoes to the international consumers (Harris, 2012). Additionally, getting direct in the field to market the potatoes would enable the potato industry to meet the needs and wants of the local consumers in the remote and local areas where potatoes are not grown. Current state of play & project justification The potato industry has poorly conducted marketing practices because the potato-marketing corporations conduct marketing in the diverse states. This prevents potato farmers to interact freely with their customers. The corporations look for the markets for the potato products and distribute the potatoes to their desired markets and not the markets that farmers would support. Moreover, it prevents farmers from realizing of the potential markets for the potatoes. Despite the production of quality potato products and setting of prices, the promotional practices have issues because of lack of a good marketing and promotional plan (Vreugdenhil, Bradshaw, Gebhardt, Govers, Taylor, MacKerron, & Ross, 2011). The potato markets are poorly reached markets during the Australian potato marketing practices because of lack of a unique focus. Majority of the supermarket customers purchase even the farm crops from there because of lack of time to go to the open markets or to the farms to buy. This gives a better opportunity for the potato farmers to reach their customers through marketing their potatoes and supplying them in the supermarkets. Field marketing is very limited in the potato industry. Despite the conduct of media marketing, there is no provision of display samples in different areas as a way of promoting, marketing, and advertising potatoes in Australia. Potato is grown in many locations and in a very wide area, but less is done concerning its marketing. In Western Australia marketing of potatoes, which is the Potato Marketing Corporation’s obligation, is only done to benefit the officers in the corporation and not the individual farmers or the potato industry in general. The packaging, processing, and transportation of the potato products in Australia is majorly done with the intention of the improved performance of the potato marketing corporations, but not for the benefit of the potato growers in the potato industry in Australia. The farmers meet heavy costs while trying to improve their farming practices because of the need to pay for license, and other regulatory things (Bernet, Devaux, Ortiz, & Thiele, 2011). The potato farmers are not adequately supplied with the potato seeds an issue, which makes majority to implement their skills in making seeds from the yields. In Queensland, there is an ongoing production of potatoes throughout the year because of favorable climate and the geographical diversity of the districts where potatoes are grown. In some regions, the production of potatoes is only conducted during the summer season. Consequently, potato farmers in different regions need to have an opportunity to explore the diverse markets where there is potato production in specific regions (Veerapa, Singaraju, & Muthaly, 2012). Potatoes are of different health benefits including, controlled weight gain, carbohydrates, efficient digestion, brain functioning and nervous system health, skin health, and heart health. Moreover, potatoes are taken with the aim of prevention of some kinds of cancer, control over the high blood pressure, prevention of kidney stones, and improvement of the immune power. Due to these potato-related benefits, it is necessary to create awareness to the consumers about why they should purchase potatoes from the farmers or from the diverse markets where potatoes are readily available in Australia. Because of lack of efficient marketing practices in relation to potato products, majority of the potato consumers just eat potato as a type of food to be eaten during different meals, but do not know the advantages they would have after taking potatoes on regular basis (Argent, 2011). The fresh potatoes need to be transported to the local markets for accessibility by the potential customers. Lack of legally recognized group of farmers prevents them from assisting each other with the necessary skills concerning how to sell and market their yields. Farmers sell their potato products at low prices because of lack of efficient markets where they could be selling their potatoes and make more profit as they expect during their farming activities. The management of the potato industry by the potato-marketing corporation prevents farmers from distributing their potato yields in the desired markets. Some markets are supposed to be shared by farmers from different regions, but because of lack of knowledge, farmers take their sales in their regional and local markets where they do not meet their target sales. Envisaged project plan In order to have effective marketing practices, which would lead to improved farming practices in the Australian potato industry, it would be necessary to engage in marketing practices in diverse platforms. Moreover, because of large scale production of potatoes in Australia, the potato industry needs to establish a marketing strategy for sale of the products in bulk and in the diverse markets (Aji, 2016). There are different marketing methods that can be applied and it would be essential for the potato industry in Australia to engage in various marketing platforms. Field, online, and media marketing of the potato crops in Australia would be more efficient for the industry since it would allow the individual potato farmers and their groups formed by the potato farmers to reach the diverse market for their products and earn the expected revenue. It would be necessary for the potato industry to form a marketing team that would be selected by all farmers in the entire Australia (Tegg, Corkrey, & Wilson, 2014). This marketing team would be mandated to conduct all the marketing and promotional activities efficient for the improvement of the potato farming in Australia. It would be vital for the marketing team to conduct a thorough research about the nature of the market in order to market the potatoes with clear information regarding the potato sale in different places. The potato industry needs to open a website over the internet, which would enhance an effective communication between the farmers and the potential customers 9Vreugdenhil, Bradshaw, Gebhardt, Govers, Taylor, MacKerron, & Ross, 2011). The website should embrace the entire Australian potato farming in order to allow all farmers market their potato products and communicate directly with the international customers. The industrial marketing team needs to allow the functionality of the website at 24 hours basis in order to allow customers’ accessibility of the variety of potatoes grown by the Australian farmers (Wellard, Glasson, & Chapman, 2012). It is also necessary to collaborate with the media in order to conduct an effective media marketing practice, whereby through the media, it would be possible to display the potato farms, the potato products, and the nature of the potato market. The consumer choice, which is rarely enhanced through the potato marketing corporation, needs to be considered during the marketing practices in to enhance competition in the potato growing regions (Bernet, Devaux, Ortiz, & Thiele, 2011). There are many potato markets, such as residents, supermarkets, hotels, organisations, and institutions. Such markets need to be focused at and the marketing team should collaborate with such potential markets in the conduct of successful marketing activities (Escobal & Cavero, 2012). Moreover, the marketing team needs to go direct to such potential markets and promote their products in order to realize some increased sale of the potato products. It would be important to display the varieties of potatoes in the supermarkets and provide the efficient information about the accessibility of the potato even in other markets (Argent, 2011). Fig 1: The potato market information The potato industry should abolish the service of the potato marketing corporations, which dictates on how farmers can grow the potatoes the sorts to be grown, and the prices to sell their potatoes at. Farmers need to be allowed to make their own decisions concerning the sorts of potatoes to grow, their prices, and the methods through which to grow the potatoes. Marketing needs to be an ongoing practice in order to enhance the industry’s sustainability and continued improved performance in the market (King, Hebden, Grunseit, Kelly, Chapman, & Venugopal, 2011). The face-to-face marketing needs to be conducted directly to the potential customers in the open markets and in their residents and workplaces in order to get a direct response or feedback from the potential customer. Media marketing is essential if conducted over the diverse media, such as TVs, Radio, Newspapers, Magazines, and Posters (Scully, Wakefield, Niven, Chapman, Crawford, Pratt, & NaSSDA Study Team, 2012). The potato industry would need to plan well on how to implement the marketing investment plan as follows; Invest 2 million Australian dollars in online, field, and media marketing Marketing platform Cost in Australian Dollars Online marketing 500,000 Field/ face-to-face marketing 700,000 Media marketing 800,000 Total 2,000,000 Project outcomes The engagement in an efficient marketing practice would enable the potato farm managers to make effective decisions concerning the improvement of the farming practices. Marketing practices in the Australian potato industry needs would be conducted in different platforms in order to reach the entire market and to realize some improved performance of the industry. Among the most efficient marketing platforms are the online marketing platform, marketing through the media, and face-to-face or field marketing practices, which lead to efficient reaching of the market (Gray, Oss-Emer, & Sheng, 2014). Online, field and media marketing of the potatoes grown in Australia would work as a benchmark for the market research because it would be possible for the potato farmers to acquire comments and opinions from the potential customers. The potato farmers would be able to identify factors leading to the reduced consumption of potato, the areas with high demand for the potato crops, and when the demand is high. Given that potato farm managers are constantly seeking to improve the operation, profitability and sustainability of their farming enterprises, marketing of the products would need to be considered. Marketing is an investment practice that leads to yielding of the desired outcomes in a business. Potato farm produces enough potatoes for consumption by the Australian consumers, but due to lack of effective marketing practices, the potato industry earns less that the expected income. Investing in heavy field marketing of the potato crops, this would increase the level of sales in the market, thus the collection of some increased revenue in the potato industry. The industry would get to where the potential consumers are and inform them about the products, thus motivating their interest for potatoes (Puspitawati, Gyau, Stringer, & Umberger, 2011). The field marketing would as well be accompanied with provision of free samples and discounts to the potential consumers, thus attracting more customers to the product. Field or face-to-face marketing also enhance direct interaction with the consumers, thus gathering of efficient and generic information about the consumer, community, and the public attitude towards the potatoes and their purchasing behaviors. Through the face-to-face marketing practices, it would be possible for the potato farmers in Australia to allow the potential customer know more about the varieties of the potatoes grown in Australia and their benefits, thus enabling their informed decision-making. Fig. 2: The uses of potatoes in Australia The online marketing practices would help the potato industry to compare the international and local markets, thus allowing the individual growers improve their farming practices. Marketing through online platform would allow the potato industry to engage in online communication with more than 200 potato growers and obtain their opinions concerning how they should trade their products. Over the internet, companies reach very many people, whom they manage to inform the availability of their products in the market, as well as the acquisition of customer opinions concerning the products (Pritchard, & Tonts, 2011). It is also possible for the potato industry to reach many customers from the diverse locations, thus entering in the international potato market. The ability of the Australian potato industry to open a website over the internet would allow the industry to interact freely and regularly with the potential customers and manage to learn the attitudes and customer perceptions about the potato industry. Marketing of the potatoes through the media would help in the realization of the locations with high population of potential potato consumers (Eady, Grant, & Winter, 2013). This is because the media allows people to raise issues and make comments concerning certain advertisements and after the analysis of the entire consumer opinions, it would be possible to identify the regions with high demand for the product. Through the media, it would be possible for the potato farmers in Australia to reach the diverse markets and allow the potential customers give their thoughts concerning the potato products. In general, marketing would enable the farm managers to engage in more improved farming practices in the Australian potato industry. It would allow the potato farmers to respond efficiently to the market demand and meet the specifications and interests of the potential customers. Marketing would also allow the Australian potato customers to reach the international market. Conclusion Marketing the potato products in the Australian potato industry would enable the potato farmers and the farm managers to make efficient decisions on how to improve their farming practices. It would be possible for the potato farmers to realize their farming goals and advance their trading activities to the international markets. Through online, media, and face-to-face or field marketing, it would be possible for the Australian potato farmers to improve their market share and general performance of the potato industry. References Aji, J. M. M. (2016). Exploring Farmer-supplier Relationships in the East Java Seed Potato Market. Agriculture and Agricultural Science Procedia, 9, 83-94. Argent, N. (2011). Australian agriculture in the global economic mosaic. Globalisation, agriculture and development: Perspectives from the Asia-Pacific, 7. Bernet, T., Devaux, A., Ortiz, O., & Thiele, G. (2011). Participatory market chain approach. Innovation for Development, 133. Eady, S., Grant, T., & Winter, S. (2013). AusAgLCI–the business case for investment in national lifecycle inventory for Australian agriculture to support industry development and competitiveness. In 8th Australian LCA Conference (pp. 16-18). Escobal, J. A., & Cavero, D. (2012). Transaction costs, institutional arrangements and inequality outcomes: Potato marketing by small producers in rural Peru. World Development, 40(2), 329-341. Gray, E. M., Oss-Emer, M., & Sheng, Y. (2014). Australian agricultural productivity growth. Past reforms and future opportunities. Canberra: ABARES. Harris, P. M. (Ed.). (2012). The potato crop: the scientific basis for improvement. Springer Science & Business Media. King, L., Hebden, L., Grunseit, A., Kelly, B., Chapman, K., & Venugopal, K. (2011). Industry self regulation of television food advertising: Responsible or responsive?. International journal of pediatric obesity, 6(sup3), e390-398. Pritchard, B., & Tonts, M. (2011). Market efficiency, agriculture and prosperity in rural Australia. Globalisation, agriculture and development: Perspectives from the Asia-Pacific. Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd: UK, 29-53. Puspitawati, E., Gyau, A., Stringer, R., & Umberger, W. J. (2011). Determinants of trust in the Indonesian potato industry: a comparison among groups of potato farmers. Journal of Agribusiness, 29(1), 117. Scully, M., Wakefield, M., Niven, P., Chapman, K., Crawford, D., Pratt, I. S., ... & NaSSDA Study Team. (2012). Association between food marketing exposure and adolescents’ food choices and eating behaviors. Appetite, 58(1), 1-5. Tegg, R. S., Corkrey, R., & Wilson, C. R. (2014). A comparison of potato seed-tuber sampling strategies using visual and DNA analyses to estimate incidence of major seed tuber-borne pathogens. European journal of plant pathology, 139(2), 359-367. Veerapa, N. K., Singaraju, S. P., & Muthaly, S. (2012, September). Just in time potatoes. In II Asia Pacific Symposium on Postharvest Research Education and Extension: APS2012 1011 (pp. 235-241). Vreugdenhil, D., Bradshaw, J., Gebhardt, C., Govers, F., Taylor, M. A., MacKerron, D. K., & Ross, H. A. (Eds.). (2011). Potato biology and biotechnology: advances and perspectives. Elsevier. Wellard, L., Glasson, C., & Chapman, K. (2012). Fries or a fruit bag? Investigating the nutritional composition of fast food children’s meals. Appetite, 58(1), 105-110. Read More

This gives a better opportunity for the potato farmers to reach their customers through marketing their potatoes and supplying them in the supermarkets. Field marketing is very limited in the potato industry. Despite the conduct of media marketing, there is no provision of display samples in different areas as a way of promoting, marketing, and advertising potatoes in Australia. Potato is grown in many locations and in a very wide area, but less is done concerning its marketing. In Western Australia marketing of potatoes, which is the Potato Marketing Corporation’s obligation, is only done to benefit the officers in the corporation and not the individual farmers or the potato industry in general.

The packaging, processing, and transportation of the potato products in Australia is majorly done with the intention of the improved performance of the potato marketing corporations, but not for the benefit of the potato growers in the potato industry in Australia. The farmers meet heavy costs while trying to improve their farming practices because of the need to pay for license, and other regulatory things (Bernet, Devaux, Ortiz, & Thiele, 2011). The potato farmers are not adequately supplied with the potato seeds an issue, which makes majority to implement their skills in making seeds from the yields.

In Queensland, there is an ongoing production of potatoes throughout the year because of favorable climate and the geographical diversity of the districts where potatoes are grown. In some regions, the production of potatoes is only conducted during the summer season. Consequently, potato farmers in different regions need to have an opportunity to explore the diverse markets where there is potato production in specific regions (Veerapa, Singaraju, & Muthaly, 2012). Potatoes are of different health benefits including, controlled weight gain, carbohydrates, efficient digestion, brain functioning and nervous system health, skin health, and heart health.

Moreover, potatoes are taken with the aim of prevention of some kinds of cancer, control over the high blood pressure, prevention of kidney stones, and improvement of the immune power. Due to these potato-related benefits, it is necessary to create awareness to the consumers about why they should purchase potatoes from the farmers or from the diverse markets where potatoes are readily available in Australia. Because of lack of efficient marketing practices in relation to potato products, majority of the potato consumers just eat potato as a type of food to be eaten during different meals, but do not know the advantages they would have after taking potatoes on regular basis (Argent, 2011).

The fresh potatoes need to be transported to the local markets for accessibility by the potential customers. Lack of legally recognized group of farmers prevents them from assisting each other with the necessary skills concerning how to sell and market their yields. Farmers sell their potato products at low prices because of lack of efficient markets where they could be selling their potatoes and make more profit as they expect during their farming activities. The management of the potato industry by the potato-marketing corporation prevents farmers from distributing their potato yields in the desired markets.

Some markets are supposed to be shared by farmers from different regions, but because of lack of knowledge, farmers take their sales in their regional and local markets where they do not meet their target sales. Envisaged project plan In order to have effective marketing practices, which would lead to improved farming practices in the Australian potato industry, it would be necessary to engage in marketing practices in diverse platforms. Moreover, because of large scale production of potatoes in Australia, the potato industry needs to establish a marketing strategy for sale of the products in bulk and in the diverse markets (Aji, 2016).

There are different marketing methods that can be applied and it would be essential for the potato industry in Australia to engage in various marketing platforms.

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