Brooker, John R.

Eastwood, David B.

Epperson, James E.

Estes, Edmund A.

Hall, Charles R.

Stegelin, Forrest E.

Woods, Timothy A.

English

Research Papers in Economics

220   
State Department of Agriculture Participation in Fresh 
Produce Marketing in Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, 
and Tennessee
John Brooker, David Eastwood, Charles Hall, Edmund Estes, Timothy Woods, 
James Epperson, and Forrest Stegelin
A continuing challenge confronting fruit and 
vegetable growers in general, and especially 
smaller-scale growers, directly relates to market 
access. Many of these producers are searching 
for alternative enterprises in order to diversify 
their operations and increase net returns. Success 
in these four states, if measured by total acreage 
of produce crops marketed, varied considerably. 
While there are some similarities of conditions in 
these four states, such as large numbers of farmers 
and the historical inﬂ  uence of tobacco production, 
fruit and vegetable output has expanded to a much 
greater degree in North Carolina and Georgia than 
in Kentucky and Tennessee. Obviously, market de-
velopment is a complex process, highly dependent 
on an infrastructure to facilitate mutually beneﬁ  cial 
interaction between buyers and sellers. Market de-
velopment encompasses overcoming the simultane-
ity of generating adequate volumes of production to 
meet the needs of commercial-scale buyers and the 
timely access to such buyers at reliable outlets.
  Research conducted as part of a project funded 
by USDA/AMS/IFAFS investigated ways to over-
come access problems encountered by fruit and 
vegetable producers in their efforts to secure mar-
kets for their crops. Growers’ sales to independent 
wholesalers depend on access, and to facilitate such 
access, some publicly owned farmers’ markets have 
expanded from initial retail-only outlets to include 
wholesale ﬁ  rms. The focus of this Update is to report 
the types and extent of public sector involvement 
in produce market development within Georgia, 
Kentucky, North Carolina, and Tennessee.
  Georgia and North Carolina legislatures provide 
more direct ﬁ  nancial support for produce marketing. 
As a result, there are more large state-supported 
farmers’ markets in these two states, whereas 
Kentucky and Tennessee have mostly private and 
less-organized farmers’ markets. Another important 
difference is that Georgia’s and North Carolina’s 
state-supported markets have more intermediate 
marketing activities at these markets.
 The current situation for produce-market 
development is a reﬂ  ection of past support. Both 
Georgia and North Carolina state markets have 
experienced greater state support than do those 
in Kentucky and Tennessee. Georgia and North 
Carolina Departments of Agriculture have larger 
staffs with produce marketing responsibilities. In 
addition, their programs tend to have more post-
harvest emphasis, whereas Kentucky and Tennessee 
focus on direct marketing and promoting produce 
within the state. Growers in Georgia and North 
Carolina receive state-supported help beginning 
with the initiation of production decision making 
and continuing through harvesting, post-harvest 
handling, and marketing. North Carolina has 16 
Department of Agriculture/North Carolina State 
University stations that have horticultural compo-
nents. While Kentucky and Tennessee legislatures 
have provided ﬁ  nancial support, it has been in the 
form of one-time capital appropriations; they have 
not provided consistent line-item support for the 
operation of markets. Further evidence of long-run 
support was noted by Georgia and North Carolina 
respondents, indicating more farmers’ markets were 
not needed. Clearly these two states have created 
larger state-owned infrastructures (critical masses) 
to support produce production and distribution.
Brooker, Eastwood, and Hall are professors, The University of 
Tennessee; Estes is a professor, North Carolina State University; 
Woods is an associate professor, University of Kentucky; and 
Epperson is a professor and Stegelin is an associate professor, 
University of Georgia.

State Department of Agriculture Participation in Fresh Produce Marketing in Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, and Tennessee

State Department of Agriculture Participation in Fresh Produce Marketing in Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, and Tennessee

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