BEND, OR -- The USDA is working to support local fruit and vegetable farmers with more than $90 million in new grant money. Bruce Pokarney, with Oregon's Department of Agriculture, says a lot of the state’s smaller growers – like many in Central Oregon – aren’t able to take advantage of big national marketing opportunities. "Oregon is a specialty crop state. Generally speaking, these are crops that don’t fall into the program-type crops like corn, soybeans and wheat and some of those very large federal programs you see in the Midwest. Oregon, of course, grows a lot of fruits of vegetables and the types of things you see in a farmers market."
The number of farmers markets has grown exponentially over the past 20 years. Pokarney says there are now 150 in Oregon, with many of the new markets east of the Cascades. Those local markets are a key opportunity for small farmers. "It gives a lot of small and local growers an opportunity to market their product. They may not be into the export market, or growing things that end up very far away, in terms of geography, but they do find the local markets very important and sustaining to them. And, it’s a great way to just bring the urban folks and rural folks together." Bend’s Farmers Market is slated to open June first.