Source: POLITICO'S MORNING AGRICULTURE, 3/31/20

Farmers are increasingly rethinking their business models to include delivering their products straight to consumers, while those who have been doing so for years have seen a spike in traffic with people stuck at home, cooking their own meals and wary of venturing out to the grocery store, Pro Ag's Liz Crampton writes this a.m.

"I think it was a wake up call for consumers to realize they can easily go directly to the source and buy from farmers who ship right to doorsteps all over the U.S. as easily as an Amazon package," said Mary Heffernan, a cattle rancher in Fort Jones, Calif.

Heffernan's operation typically ships about 15,000 pounds of beef, pork and lamb per month, she said. But her sales have swelled to more than 35,000 pounds in the last two weeks, and the farm is racking up orders from returning customers and a wave of new buyers.

But, but, but: Local farming operations aren't immune to the nationwide demand crunch that's leaving some grocery shelves barren at the largest U.S. supermarkets. National and regional grocery chains have been hiring tens of thousands of workers to keep up with the surge in shoppers.

— South Mountain Creamery in Middletown, Md., which delivers milk, eggs, produce and meat in the D.C. area, has been "overwhelmed with orders," said CEO Tony Brusco, forcing the operation to stop taking new customers and scale back its meat and ice cream orders.

The big picture: Farmers that deliver to consumers are a small piece of local ag markets, which could lose nearly $700 million in sales from March to May, according to estimates by agricultural economists.