Oregon Farmers Markets Association

OREGON'S ABUNDANT FARMLAND HAS THE CAPACITY TO SUPPORT OVER 220 DIFFERENT CROPS, A GROWING MARKET OF RESIDENTS AND TOURISTS AND A NORMALLY VIBRANT STATEWIDE FARMERS MARKET SECTOR. IN 2019, THERE WERE 127 FARMERS MARKETS IN OREGON, SUPPORTING OVER 6,700 VENDOR BUSINESSES, HOSTING 4.2M VISITORS PER YEAR AND AN ESTIMATED $63M IN SALES. UNFORTUNATELY, THESE MARKETS WERE HIT HARD BY THE IMPACTS OF COVID-19 AND ADDITIONAL WILDFIRE-RELATED EMERGENCIES. TOTAL SALES, CUSTOMER VISITATION, MARKET CAPACITY AND VENDOR PARTICIPATION ALL DECREASED DRASTICALLY IN 2020. DUE TO THE HIGH TURNOVER RATE AT FARMERS MARKETS DURING THIS TIME (33% OF STAFF AND 44% OF BOARD MEMBERS), MANY MARKETS LACK THE EXPERIENCE TO REBUILD WITHOUT HELP. THE OREGON FARMERS MARKET LEARNING NETWORK WILL ADDRESS THESE CHALLENGES BY CREATING A STATEWIDE COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE OF AT LEAST 90 FARMERS MARKETS, COMMITTED TO A 3-YR. PROGRAM OF REGULARLY OCCURRING LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES, BASED ON PEER-LED KNOWLEDGE EXCHANGE AND EXPERTTECHNICAL ASSISTANCE IN FOUR HIGH-NEED TRAINING AREAS IDENTIFIED BY OREGON'S FARMERS MARKET COMMUNITY: ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT, BRANDING AND MARKETING, NEW AND BEGINNING VENDOR SUPPORT, AND DIVERSITY, EQUITY AND INCLUSION. TEN OF THESE MARKETS WILL ALSO CONSTITUTE A RESEARCH COHORT WITHIN THE LARGER GROUP TO MEASURE PROGRAM IMPACT. OFMA WILL USE THE KNOWLEDGE GLEANED FROM THESE ACTIVITIES TO CREATE A DIGITAL TOOLKIT FOCUSED ON THE HIGH-NEED TRAINING TOPICS. THERE IS SIGNIFICANT BUY-IN FOR THIS PROGRAM, WHICH WILL PROVIDE MARKETS WITH THE EXPERTISE AND RESOURCES THEY NEED TO IMPROVE IN FOUR KEY INDICATOR AREAS: MARKET STABILITY, VENDOR PARTICIPATION, CUSTOMER COUNTS, AND VENDOR SALES.

THE BEGINNING VENDOR SUPPORT NETWORK IS A CAPACITY-BUILDING PROJECT TO STUDY AND SUPPORT 5 SMALL- TO MEDIUM-SIZED OREGON FARMERS MARKETS IN THEIR ROLE AS BUSINESS INCUBATORS.