Entrepreneurs can develop small operations to provide supplies to other farmers

Setting up road-side stands can be helpful in getting your product into the market

Markets for Forest Products

Very little information is available for people who want to sell forest crops and similar products.What you can or can not sell will depend on your ability to connect and introduce your crop to potential buyers.With a few exceptions, forest crop growers report frustration with “trial and error” approaches. Since this is the only marketing technique widely used, many people are reluctant to start growing something their not sure has a market.

Overcoming Forest Crop Marketing Challenges: 

  • Start on a small scale so your risks are reduced.
  • Sell to people you know or customers you already have.
  • Regulated crops, like American ginseng, provide well-defined channels for selling your goods.

Possible Marketing Channels:

  • Give away your product (forest berry jam, birch frames, forest potpourri) as a gift with information on how to purchase more.
  • Partner with a local roadside stand.
  • Obtain shelf space at a natural foods cooperative or market.
  • Place a classified ad in a regional publication.
  • Promote your forest crop through a local nature club.
  • Provide an “open house” to introduce your product to neighbors and residents of your community.

Supply Other Forest Farmers

If you have read through this web site, you will see that there are a lot of possible forest vocations. The timber industry is well developed, but hard to get in to if you are new. However, with the emergence of other non-timber forest products in New York, Pennsylvania, and the eastern United States, forest farmers will need supplies.

There is more to come on this topic as updates are made. For now, get out paper and a pencil and just start jotting down the things that can be sold to other forest farmers. A current list of suppliers and dealers is being created by Cornell Cooperative Extension.

Useful Tools

Content for this page was written or compiled by CCE of Schuyler County.

Contact

Brett Chedzoy
Senior Resource Educator in Agriculture and Natural Resources, Regional Director for the CCE Master Forest Owner volunteer program, Forest Manager for Cornell’s Arnot Teaching and Research Forest
bjc226@cornell.edu

Last updated July 26, 2019