Tennessee Consumers' Views About Farmstead Milk

Packaging of fluid milks can serve as an initial market entry point for dairy farmers to enter into on-farm processing due to the product requiring less equipment and facilities investment than other dairy products. Understanding consumer preferences for milk that is produced and processed on-farm (farmstead) can aid in understanding the share of milk consumers who are interested in purchasing on-farm processed milk, the attributes of those most interested in the product to aid in target marketing, and consumers’ preferred outlets to purchase farmstead milk (FSM) which can assist in marketing the product. In addition, some dairy farmers may host visitors on-farm, either serving as an agritourism venue with educational tours about how milk is produced or on-farm stores to buy the processed milk. FSM is defined in this study as milk where the farmer produces the milk and then processes and packages on a Tennessee dairy farm. FSM may be sold directly to consumers at on-farm stores or farm stands, through farmers markets, through home delivery, or it may be sold by other sellers such as grocery stores, specialty stores or restaurants. The overall goal of this study is to provide a better understanding of Tennessee milk and dairy products consumers’ views about and preferences for FSM. Specific objectives of this study are to ascertain: a. prior knowledge about and purchases of FSM, b. interest in future purchases of FSM, c. how demographics vary across prior purchases and future interest in purchasing FSM, d. projected FSM purchases and expenditures among those interested in purchasing FSM, e. attitudes about on-farm produced and processed milk and dairy products, f. anticipated outlets where respondents would purchase FSM among those interested in purchasing it, and g. on farm purchases and visits by those interested in visiting a dairy farm.