Table 4.

Ranking of importance of marketing outlets by farm size

By gross farm income	All	Less than $50 K			$50 K or more, less than $500 K			$500 K or more
	Na	Rankingb	Average scorec	N	Ranking	Average score	N	Ranking	Average score	N
Values-based supply chains	179	1	1.57	35	1	1.76	74	2	1.77	70
Direct sales to individual consumersd	167	4	2.04	26	3	1.85	81	3	1.83	60
Retail outletse	160	6	2.33	24	6	2.17	65	5	2.14	71
Wholesale buyers, brokers, or packers	141	3	1.75	16	2	1.82	39	1	1.74	86
Food cooperatives	49	2	1.67	9	4	2.05	20	6	2.45	20
Growers/farmers cooperatives	42	5	2.25	4	5	2.17	12	4	2.08	26

By acres operated	1 to 9 acres			10 to 49 acres			50 to 99 acres			100 to 219 acres			220 to 499 acres			500 + acres
	Rankingb	Average scorec	Nd	Ranking	Average score	N	Ranking	Average score	N	Ranking	Average score	N	Ranking	Average score	N	Ranking	Average score	N
Values-based supply chains	1	1.75	40	1	1.66	47	1	1.63	19	3	2.00	18	1	1.64	11	2	1.73	44
Direct sales to individual consumersd	4	1.89	38	2	1.74	58	3	1.75	20	2	1.88	16	2	1.88	17	6	2.39	18
Retail outletse	6	2.14	36	5	2.27	49	4	2.32	19	5	2.08	12	4	1.95	21	5	2.22	23
Wholesale buyers, brokers, or packers	3	1.87	15	3	1.77	26	2	1.75	24	1	1.78	18	3	1.90	20	1	1.66	38
Food cooperatives	2	1.86	14	4	2.23	13	5	2.43	7	4	2.00	5	6	2.33	9	4	2.00	1
Growers/farmers cooperatives	5	2.00	1	6	2.50	4	6	2.60	5	6	2.50	6	5	2.33	3	3	1.83	23

^aNumber of respondents including the outlet within their top three choices

^bRanking based on the average score

^c1 = top choice, 2 = second choice, 3 = third choice

^dIncluding roadside stands, farm stores or U-pick sales, farmers markets, Community Support Agriculture, mail order, or Internet

^eIncluding restaurants, grocery stores, schools, hospitals, or other businesses) that in turn sell directly to consumers