Market Operations

Welcome to the Market Operations Blog!

This blog is hosted by the Farmers’ Market Federation of NY and in this blog we will address some of the day to day duties of farmers’ market managers. As the moderator of this blog I will post on a monthly basis and welcome any input, comments or questions to what I post. I promise I will answer any posts within 48 hours.

According to the Farmers’ Market Coalition there are eight skills/qualifications which an effective farmers’ market manager should possess:

• Effective problem-solving
• Creative thinking
• Self-motivation
• Organizational skills
• Communication skills
• Marketing skills
• Financial skills
• Passion and dedication to the community

Each month I will focus on each of these skills as they become relevant throughout the market season. Since this is February and most markets are still in the planning stages for their season we will talk about organizational skills. As market managers our peer group is often transient due to the volunteer nature of farmers’ market managers in general. Thus these blogs sponsored by the Farmers’ Market Federation of NY will be extremely important in acting as a conduit of information to keep us up to date on the industry and best practices.

Being highly organized is integrally connected to being a great market manager, in my opinion, since each vendor relies on the manager to ensure the market as a whole operates smoothly during the season and all the groundwork is laid up to that opening date. Depending on where your farmers’ market is located there are various programs which require yearly enrollment. As a farmers’ market manager in upstate New York, it is about this time of year that I start working on the paperwork for the Farmers Market Nutrition Program through NYS Department of Agriculture & Markets and the EBT program through the Farmers’ Market Federation of NY. Each of these programs require paperwork to be filled out by both the manager and participating vendors. These programs taken together increase access to my farmers’ market for those on food stamp benefits and those who benefit from the WIC program. These are a great boon to my market, especially the produce vendors and I highly suggest your market enroll in these programs if they haven’t already. I have also submitted for a resolution from our county legislature so we can use the space within the county park where the market operates.  I have also renewed my insurance policy for the market, as required by our sponsor, Brooome County.  All of these taken together mean that being able to plan ahead is important.

This is also the time of year for a refresher on requirements for certain products. There are constantly changes with regards to meat & poultry. In NYS you can check with either the Farmers’ Market Federation of NY, or the Cornell University Small Farms Program Livestock Processing Work Team for the most up to date information. The Farmers’ Market Federation of NY also offers a great primer for managers detailing which permits are required for each commodity, from flowers to baked goods, from dairy products to fresh produce.

Being organized means being able to plan ahead. I will soon start to schedule media/pr and special events for the farmers’ market. Operating on a small budget means that I look for all the freebies as I can get. These might include press releases, psa’s (public service announcements), newsletters for schools, hospitals or service clubs; or use of electronic media such as local listserves, or starting a page on Facebook. Press releases are very helpful since newspapers always have space they need to fill, and if your market has a non-profit sponsor they can post these for free. Electronic media has become the up and coming way to communicate with customers and interested parties about what is going on at your market. This is the perfect time to start a Facebook page for your farmers’ market. You can invite customers and also your farmers. Farmers can then inform customers what will be in season each week at the market. You can use an application to invite customers to market each week or any special events happening.  If you choose to go this route, remember that you want to be updating this page on a regular basis and keep encouraging people to join your group so you can have the greatest reach with information. Whatever path you choose, getting out information early regarding when your season will start and what types of products will be there will help to whet the appetite of your customers and get them excited.

I will address event planning next month, but let me just say that event planning could be someone’s full-time job and is just one tool in the arsenal of a farmers’ market manager.

Laura Biasillo is the author of this blog on Market Operations. She is the Agricultural Economic Development Specialist with Cornell Cooperative Extension of Broome County, located in Binghamton, NY. She has helped start six farmers’ markets in the past 3.5 years and provides technical assistance to nine farmers’ markets in the county. She also operated a farmers’ market in a county park for 2.5 years which grew to 28 vendors after two full seasons. She sits on the Board of Directors for the Farmers’ Market Federation of NY and is a member of class 13 of the LEAD NY program.