Choices of Marketing Outlets by Organic Producers: Accounting for Selectivity Effects

Organic farmers have traditionally relied on a variety of marketing channels, suggesting that earned organic income will depend on the farmer's experience in producing and selling organic products and their comparative advantage in bargaining and marketing skills. A discrete choice model of the choice of marketing channels is developed which accounts for the role of selectivity bias. Farmers who are most likely to sell through a diversified set of outlets or to use a single outlet have increased earnings relative to farmers who overlook these marketing options. Producers with less experience gravitate toward use of a single marketing outlet while more experienced producers tend to diversify and market through all three channels. Constraints in selling organic products tends tend to have a negative effect on farm income.