A marketing board is an organization created by many producers to try to market their product and increase consumption and thus prices. It can also be defined as an organization set up by a government to regulate the buying and selling of a certain commodity within a specified area. They most commonly exist to help sell farm products such as milk, eggs, beef or tripe and are funded by the farmers or processors of those crops or products. Marketing boards often also receive funding from governments as an agricultural subsidy. The leadership and strategies of the marketing boards are set through votes by the farmers.
Marketing boards also sometimes act as a pool, controlling the price of farm products by forming a legal cartel. They also fund other ventures beneficial to their members such as research.
Marketing boards differ from industry trade groups in that their primary goal is marketing towards consumers, not governments, but they may also lobby on behalf of their supporters. Industry trade groups might also advertise directly to consumers.