I was talking with a new owner of a farm market store. He had purchased the business from an organic farmer who owned the business for five years. Along with selling their produce, the organic farmer focused on health and organic products. Over time, the market had regular customers purchasing these products, which was the core of their business. The new owner is also an organic farmer but decided to focus more on food and not on health products. Fast forward 1.5 years. The market owner tells me that all of the customers who purchased under the previous owner were no longer shopping at the mar ..read more

Registration for the Kentucky Fruit & Vegetable Conference is open. The event is Jan. 3-4, in Bowling Green, Kentucky, with pre-conference events the day before. The full conference program and registration information are available on the conference webpage. The annual Kentucky Fruit & Vegetable Conference is for Kentucky produce and specialty crop growers to interact and gain valuable production and marketing training. The Kentucky State Horticultural Society (KSHS), Kentucky Vegetable Growers Association (KVGA), Organic Association of Kentucky (OAK) and Kentucky Horticulture Counci ..read more

Registration is open for the Southeast Regional Fruit and Vegetable Conference. The event, scheduled for Jan. 11-14 in Savannah, Georgia, is marketed as the largest educational conference and trade show in the southeastern U.S. that unites growers, vendors and suppliers, according to a news release. The show includes more than 160 grower sessions covering a variety of fruits, vegetables and nuts including onions, cucumbers, peppers, squash, tomatoes, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, strawberries, peaches, watermelons, cantaloupe, Muscadine winegrapes and pecans. Early registration ends ..read more

Recognizing the importance and value of agritourism to the state of Michigan, agritourism promoters are publicizing the inaugural Michigan Agritourism Summit. The event is scheduled for Wednesday, May 8 at the Hagerty Center in Traverse City, Michigan. The summit plans to feature educational sessions and networking opportunities, including the sharing of information and best practices from a variety of sectors: farmers, municipal officials, agritourism businesses and other community leaders with an interest in rural entrepreneurship and economic development. It is also planned to cultivate ong ..read more

Penn State Extension’s Farm Markets team works with a Farmers Market Promotion Program (FMPP) grant from the USDA-Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS). The awarded project is titled Building Dynamic Marketplaces & Stronger Networks for Pennsylvania’s Direct to Consumer Outlets. We are in our second year of the three-year grant and, as part of the grant, we conducted a survey to measure the health of our markets across the state. Survey results Changes in Customer Numbers: Overall, the survey data shows that the majority of respondents (around 55%) saw an increase in customer numbers compar ..read more

Farm costs, inflation and competitors’ strategies influence how farm markets across the U.S. price their commodities and food items. This year’s Fruit Growers News Farm Market Pricing Survey shows what leading farm marketers across the U.S. are charging for fruits, vegetables and other food. More than 180 marketers from 34 states participated, with most participants from Michigan (19%), Pennsylvania (13%), New York (8%), Ohio and Illinois (7% each). Click to enlarge. Photo information at bottom of story. Similar to the most recent farm market pricing survey (2019), conventionally grown, alread ..read more

The weather was cooperative, the doughnuts and cookies were fresh and amazing, and the cider was hard and delicious. The Great Lakes EXPO Farm Market Bus Tour featured six stops in the Grand Rapids area for 112 attendees on Dec. 6, the day before the annual expo. Although many of the participants are directly involved in farm market/agritourism businesses across the country, interested fruit and vegetable growers were also on hand for the tour, along with Michigan State Extension representatives who prompted discussions after each stop. The bus tour was sponsored and presented by Fruit Growers ..read more

Let’s say it’s early June, and markets are revving up. The top items I’m looking for at a market are strawberries, asparagus, snow peas and salad greens. As a former market manager, I knew how much these items would draw customers to our market, but I didn’t want to see these items left over at the end of the market day. There is no way I want to see my produce farmers having to take those delicate items back home, and they don’t want to either. We know it is a tricky balance of having enough product and not too much. Ideally, we want to sell out somewhere in the last hour of the market, and a ..read more

The weather was cooperative, the doughnuts and cookies were fresh and amazing, and the cider was hard and delicious. The Great Lakes EXPO Farm Market Bus Tour featured six stops in the Grand Rapids area for 112 attendees on Dec. 6, the day before the annual expo. Although many of the participants are directly involved in farm market/agritourism businesses across the country, interested fruit and vegetable growers were also on hand for the tour, along with Michigan State Extension representatives who prompted discussions after each stop. The bus tour was sponsored and presented by Fruit Growers ..read more

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has appointed 25 industry representatives to serve on the Fruit and Vegetable Industry Advisory Committee. The reappointed and newly appointed members will serve two-year terms beginning immediately and ending in October 2024. New members who are brokers, distributors, wholesalers, importers or exporters: Alyssa Melendez, operations and supply chain manager for Burlap and Barrel: Single Origin Spices; Angel Santiago Colon, CEO of Caribbean Produce Exchange; David Einstandig, senior vice president and general counsel for Mastronardi Produce – USA Inc.; Isabel ..read more