The number of farmers markets in the U.S. is growing fast, but sales aren’t keeping pace with that growth, according to a new study from the U.S.D.A.

Nearly 30 percent of all seasonal markets in the U.S. are less than five years old, and “most still appear to be establishing themselves economically,” with fewer vendors, fewer customers, and monthly sales that total only half the national average. The disparity raises questions “as to whether current levels of industry growth can be sustained over time,” the study said.

The study is based on data collected in 2006, focusing on the 2005 season. In farmers market years, that already feels like a long way back — I’d be curious to see more up-to-date data. Certainly, in our area, the number of markets has risen sharply even since 2005.

Coincidentally, I had been talking with Chris Curtis of the Neighborhood Farmers Market Alliance for an unrelated story I’m doing on the city’s new 2009 farmers markets (watch for that next week), and she suggested that the saturation point, at some level, is here.

“Some markets cannibalize each other.  They need to be sited so that they serve a specific population, which isn’t easy.  I’d love to see Seattle do what Portland has done – which is a city funded study of farmers markets; how many can the city support, where should they be sited; what food dollars can realistically go through a farmers market, how many farmers need to be involved, etc.,” she wrote.

“Another crucial challenge is the supply of farmers.  Everyone wants a farmers market, but our farmers are getting stretched kind of thin these days – although they’ve grown with the movement and some are able to do 15 – 20 markets a week.  I still don’t see a new generation of small scale direct market farmers on the horizon.“

One of the conclusions from the national study was that organizers need to avoid cannibalizing when setting up new markets, focusing on densely populated or heavily trafficked areas that aren’t already served. Of course, given Seattle’s neighborhood focus, I suspect that “served,” for most residents, means they want a market in their own neighborhood, not in the 5-mile radius the study seems to suggest. 

Other interesting pieces of data from the study:

  • The Western region (including the Northwest) leads the regional pack, by far, in average monthly sales per farmers market. (We averaged close to $57,000; second place went to the mid-Atlantic region, at around $41,000.)
  • Markets were open 4.5 months per year on average, but staying open seven or more months is a sign of success. Year-round markets reported more than three times the sales of markets operating 6 months or less, had more than twice the number of vendors, and slightly more than six times the weekly customers. But the growth wasn’t linear: Seasonal farmers markets that operated for 7 or more months performed similarly to markets that were open year-round.
  • Markets that sold organic products performed better than markets that did not. In the Western region, nearly three quarters of markets had at least some organic products available; in the Southwest the number drops to only 30.4 percent.
  • The number of farmers participating in markets has significantly increased. But the number who used farmers markets as the only outlet for their products is down slightly from an earlier report (25.2 percent, compared with 28.5 percent).
  • Market managers across the country reported the same top three priorities: Support for market advertising/publicity, strategies for overcoming low customer attendamce, and strategies for boosting vendor sales. (Note: I can’t determine from the graph whether managers felt there were problems with attendance or sales, or whether those are just natural priorities under any circumstances.) In the West, about half were concerned with availability of parking, and about a third (only a third?) with availability of bathrooms for customers.
  • Fresh produce, fruit, and vegetable vendors comprised 45 percent of farmers market vendors nationwide in 2005, followed by vendors selling “herbs and flowers” (15.4 percent), “honey, nuts, or preserves” (8.8 percent), “baked goods” (8.6 percent), and “crafts or woodworking” (8.3 percent). Even though sizable numbers of market managers reported that their markets offered meat and dairy products for sale, the actual number of farmers appears to be quite limited—only about 3 percent of vendors were  reported to sell meat and poultry, and only 1.5 percent were reported to sell milk and dairy products.

The study drew on data from surveying 1,292 market managers nationwide, representing about 30 percent of the markets in the U.S. in 2005.

 

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