Support Kentucky agriculture during Farmers Markets Appreciation Week

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WKYT) - Kentuckians are celebrating farm families and local fresh products this week.

It’s Farmers Markets Appreciation Week in Kentucky. It’s a time to celebrate the 170 markets and more than 2,400 vendors across the state.

Reported sales in farmers markets for 2022 reached more than $15 million, and as we head into an active fall harvest season, local farmers are hoping to keep those numbers high.

“We are excited for farmers market week. It always falls at the same time as a lot of our products that are coming on. You go to most of your farmers markets, and you are able to find your watermelons, your cantaloupes, your peaches, and apples will start to come here soon,” said Sean Bessin, owner of Bessin Family Farms.

One thing on the mind of farmers this year is both our active severe weather pattern and our dry start to summer and how it has affected crop production.

“We had a drought pretty much the whole winter, made it a little tougher to plant the crop early,” said Bessin. “But then this last month, it’s been pretty wet. We have had a lot of rain. It’s been tougher to get into the field and pick stuff.”

This past June, the U.S. Drought Monitor reported areas of Kentucky to be both abnormally dry and some regions, like Central Kentucky, to be in a moderate drought. After a rainy July, those numbers have shifted entirely, with our Soil Moisture Outlook showing even a surplus by the end of September.

“With the droughts, we had in the fall and in the spring, we had a slower start to getting our products to come out, but I think everybody should support Kentucky farmers cause we care. We really enjoy what we do, and to keep it going, we need the support of the community to keep us upright,” Bessin said.

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