Author: Paul Sizemore
Planning Unit: Owsley County CES
Major Program: Small Farm Diversification
Plan of Work: Farm Profitablity
Outcome: Long-Term Outcome
Tobacco was the primary income for farmers in this area for many years and since the buyout from the Tobacco Companies in 2001 it has been a struggle for farmers to replace it. Farmers quickly realized that they had to start producing something else to sustain their operations and for many the answer was Vegetable Production. It was obvious that the farmers had a good grasp on production but the problem seem to be in Marketing because that was something they had not had to do in Tobacco Production. In 2007 The Owsley County Cooperative Extension Service and a small group of Farmers with the Owsley County Farm Bureau joined together to start a local Farmers Market that would be the center for helping farmers to market their products. The Extension Office took the lead role in providing classes to the farmers on everything from production all the way to the consumer, we were able to secure nearly $60,000 in Grants and Donations to build a 40x80 shelter on the Owsley County High School Property to be called the Owsley County Farmers Market. Owsley County High School was also successful in securing another $35,000 to install walk in coolers for the vendors to use. Over the years it was difficult to determine gross sales at the market but with a new reporting system that was implemented four years ago we can now report that over the last four years the total sales have exceeded $301,000.00. We have Thirteen Vendors total selling at the market with seven of them being steady on a sale to sale basis. Some vendors have reported that their individual gross sales have exceeded their previous income from Tobacco.
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