The Marketing of Farm Products in Falls County, Texas

The goods that farmers grow and sell must be stored, transported, processed, and delivered in the form and at the time and to the places that consumers desire. This is in itself the basic problem of marketing. The welfare of farmers who produce for market depends upon the solution of the problem of efficient marketing of their products. A high standard of living for the millions of consumers who cannot grow their own food or even see the farm where it is grown is impossible without an efficient marketing system.1 Marketing agencies cannot stay in business without finding solutions to marketing problems and making the necessary changes in their operations. This land cannot support its present population and the increases to come without producing food and fiber where it can be produced best, and such specialized production is impossible without a complicated marketing system which must be continually improved. Hence, we can see the problem of marketing farm produce is not localized, nor is it limited to the producers. It is a basic problem for all of the people of the United States, consumer as well as producer. It is felt that marketing practices engaged in by the farmers of Falls County contribute to their economic status in direct proportion to the efficiency of these practices. The purpose of this study is to investigate the practices as they are carried out by the Negro farmers of Falls County and suggest areas of improvement. 1U.S., Department of Agriculture, The Yearbook of Agriculture, 1954. Marketing (Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1954) pp. 19-21