Our mission is to grow our local agricultural economy. How? We want small, local farms to succeed. We provide a place where local farms can sell locally-grown produce and other goods conveniently to consumers, year-round!
Argus Farm Stop was featured in the Crazy Wisdom Journal! Click on the cover to read the story!
Here are some facts about the U.S. food system and why we started the Farm Stops. And why you should shop from local farms first.
Here in Washtenaw County, MI, we are at risk of losing the capability to produce food locally.
According to the 2012 USDA Agricultural Census: (the 2017 USDA Agricultural Census is available at https://www.nass.usda.gov/AgCensus/.)
Over 90% of the local farms producing dairy, meat and produce items have disappeared since 1950.
The five year survival rate of new farms is < 50% . The average farmer age is 58 years, and increasing. Once farms and farming skills are lost, they are extremely difficult to replace.
Farmers on average receive only 15 cents on the retail sales dollar when selling through traditional channels. Middlemen and distributors take the remaining 85 cents. Our small local farms just cannot survive on this type of margin. In our model, the farms receive 70% of the selling price.
Only 0.3% of food is purchased directly from producers through channels such as farmers markets and CSAs. These direct outlets foster direct connections with farmers so consumers can know who grows their food. Direct sales generates higher margins for farms. However, direct sales are limited by weather, seasonality and lack of convenience.
Nationally, 99.7% of food is purchased indirectly from producers. Food travels long distances from farm to table - on average 1,500 miles. The current food system is dependent on high levels of fossil fuels and is vulnerable to climate change, oil shortages and other disruptions.
The rate of farms closing continues to EXCEED the rate at which new farmers enter agriculture!
The industrialization of our food system keeps us farther from knowing who is growing our food.
We’re 9 years old! In August 2014 we opened our "every day year-round" farmer's market at 325 W Liberty in a long-abandoned gas station. We immediately saw that consumers who wanted to buy food from local farms were enthusiastic about having a convenient place to shop. And we began creating a community of those folks.
In 2017, at the urging of our farms, who have invested and grown their businesses, we opened our second location at 1200 Packard Road in Ann Arbor. We continue to adapt our business model to best serve our farmers, customers and staff.
In 2020, during the pandemic, we began an online business in response to requests from regular customers who could not get in to grocery stores. That business is now a robust part of our offerings, along with a regular weekly CSA!
In 2022, we expanded the second location by moving the market down the same block, a move that allows us to fulfill our produce box and flower subscriptions. This new location, Argus Farm Stop - Packard Market, is a larger place to shop!
The Argus Farm Stop business has paid over $15 million to local farms and food producers! Again, our farmers receive 70% of the purchase price for their goods. We now have 200+ farms selling here throughout the year. We are happy to say that we work regularly with folks who want to consider this model for their own towns. We regularly offer courses to learn the basics of starting this type of model.