Marketing clubs come and go, but good ones evolve and change with their
membership.
The popularity of marketing clubs, created to bring farmers together to
share ideas, network and learn, has waned since their heyday in the
mid-1990s, said Irvin Wiebe, farm management specialist with Manitoba
Agriculture.
Citing the experience of about 15 groups in his Pilot Mound region, he
said the average lifespan is around five to seven years.
“As individuals start improving, there’s a little less reason for the
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club,” he said, noting the longevity of clubs depends on their
leadership and initiative.
Marketing clubs are cyclical, agreed Mark Sloane, another Manitoba
Agriculture representative. Farmers start by looking at one aspect,
then the clubs transform to become more production-oriented with a
focus on grazing or crop production. Marketing remains a part of these
clubs, but sharing of practical information becomes the club’s core.
Sloane said the internet has affected club participation, allowing
access to a broader resource base and instant information.
“It reduces the need to come to a meeting,” he said.
But clubs still serve a role, he said: “Anytime you have more
information, you have more need to discuss it.”
Gary Berger, cereal and oilseeds specialist with Alberta Agriculture,
has been part of a longtime club at Athabasca.
He attributed its long life to his office being used as a focal or
central point, where members can drop by and hold regular meetings. He
said it is important to have a co-ordinator or facilitator for members
in his district, who can be 130 kilometres apart.
“We are successful because they (members) take some responsibility to
make events happen,” said Berger.
The Athabasca Grain Club meets each month, with its 20 members paying a
fee of $50 annually.
They host speakers and public meetings on various topics and arrange
field tours in the growing season. Each October the members decide what
they want to do in the coming year.
One member might research a topic and present his findings to the
group, said Berger, noting, “They learn from each other.
“There is a lot of fellowship, a lot of information exchanged between
individuals.”
The club members also support one another through personal crises,
helping with combining when an individual became sick.
Berger said these clubs are often formed around a single aspect and
disband once they accomplish what they set out to do.
The Athabasca club has evolved into a production club and some original
members have been replaced by new ones, but it still retains a
marketing component.
Barry Rapp, an extension agrologist with Saskatchewan Agriculture in
Regina, said there are fewer clubs in his region than in the past.
In the 1990s, a host of marketing alternatives cropped up and people
wanted to learn more about them. Much of that service is now offered by
grain buyers and brokers, so there is less need to do it alone.
“Their knowledge of marketing has improved dramatically,” said Rapp.
“That lessens the need for the club.
“You operate for a while and you do a few things and you run out of
ideas and things to do and the novelty wears off,” he said. “Unless
there is a real purpose and tangible benefits to members, it’s easy to
let things slip.”
He said people are increasingly busy and have less time for regular
meetings.
In her research on what makes marketing clubs successful in Alberta,
Nicole Witwicki of Alberta Agriculture found a winning formula among
clubs that were structured and had clear goals.
“Ones that lasted longer evolved,” she said.
Female members, while few in number in these male-dominated clubs,
often were younger with higher levels of education. The clubs tended to
attract farmers who made $100,000 to $500,000 in annual income.
Witwicki found that the benefits of marketing clubs are in motivating
members and building networks.
They enable farmers to foster a management mindset, access timely and
relevant information and respond to changing markets.
Witwicki’s study led to the creation of an informational package called
Club Works that helps jumpstart an agricultural marketing or production
club. It is available free of charge from ag rep offices in Alberta.
Ron Hockridge of Alberta Agriculture in Wetaskiwin said marketing clubs
best serve their members when they provide the tools and information to
make the best decisions back on the farm.
They can accomplish that by meeting regularly, having a formal
structure and active members.
“What they’re trying to do is feed off each other,” he said.
