Fairgrounds to be home to farmers' marketplace
By TOM BERRY
Staff Writer
The Farmers Market Murray-Calloway County Board of Directors has announced plans to construct a community farm marketing facility at the Calloway County Fairgrounds this spring. County farmer Curtis Bucy, president of the newly-organized board, and Jamie Potts, who serves as secretary, made the plans public during a meeting with Todd Powell, county extension agent for agriculture at the University of Kentucky Extension Service Office in Murray, Thursday afternoon.
Both Bucy and Potts have lobbied state agriculture officials over the past two years with assistance from Powell and others to obtain funding for the project. The effort paid off in October when the Kentucky Agricultural Development Board allocated funds to construct a 50 foot-by-100 foot metal-frame pavilion.
Bucy, a Gibbs Store Road grower who gave up a career in accounting to farm, plans to sell his tomatoes, sweet corn, cucumbers and other produce at the market. He currently sells at Murray Main Street's Saturday Market, but is glad to see a larger and more accessible facility constructed in the county that will allow sales during the week.
“I've sold up here in the court square for the past couple of years, but I've always wanted more outlets to sell my produce,” said Bucy, who heard about the project by word of mouth and got interested enough to take a leadership roll. “I kind of like where it's going to be located. I think it will provide a better place for both the consumer and the producer to sell their product.”
Potts, who was serving as a member of the state Farm Bureau Horticulture Advisory Committee in 2006, helped to kick off the effort after finding out during a meeting there were 114 farmers markets across the state, but not one in Calloway County. Potts said he came home and worked to find as much support as he could to kick off an effort to build one.
“We met and worked on it for about a year. We got a list of folks together to work with us that were interested in growing some things and marketing it themselves and it went on from there,” Potts said.
Other members of the Farmers Market Murray-Calloway County Board of Directors are Evelyn Wallis, vice president, and David West, treasurer.
Todd assisted by providing information through contacts at the University of Kentucky and other agriculture-related offices across the state, filing for grants and getting the participants together with state officials whose help was essential to moving the project forward.
“He's been the mainstay in this as far as getting a grant put together,” Potts said.
Todd said the state agricultural development board approved $16,500 in state funding to the Jackson Purchase Resource Conservation and Development Foundation to support the 2007 Farmer's Market Competitive Awards Program. “Then our local (agriculture) development board put up another $16,500 of the money,” he said. “The (Calloway County) Fair Board put up $25,000 in cash and $8,000 in land in a match for the grant for a total of $66,000.”
Todd said the funds will pay for the construction of the pavilion, as well as tables for the vendors, scales advertising and promotions.
Potts said locating the market at the fairgrounds was fortuitous and thanked the fair board for their assistance in the project. “It will be centrally located and I think that's important,” he said.
The facility is designed to offer a retail outlet for agricultural and horticultural crops. Todd said the market is expected to open for business sometime around mid-May.
Those wanting more information about the project may attend a public meeting scheduled for 7 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 11, at the Kentucky Farm Bureau office on Ky. 121 North in Murray. Powell is also sponsoring an agricultural extension office booth at the Home, Lawn and Garden Show at MSU's Regional Special Events Center Feb. 8-10. Information about the project will be available at the booth all three days of the show.
Anyone that cannot attend either event may call Powell at 753-1452.
Story created Feb 01, 2008 - 23:55:42 EST.
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