Vegetable growing big business in region

The University of Missouri Extension Service reports that about 19,000 acres of vegetables can be found in Southeast Missouri, accounting for about 60 percent of the vegetable production acreage in the state.

Consumers can find fresh produce at farmers markets in Cape Girardeau, Sikeston, Poplar Bluff and Kennett. Community markets can also be found at Anna and Carbondale in Illinois and at Paducah, Ky.

There has never been a statewide farmers market association, but the Missouri Department of Agriculture and University Outreach and Extension are working to establish a Missouri Farmers' Market Association.

The goal of the association will be to help independent farmers produce better crops and value-added products and also make them more widely available to the public, said Tammy Bruckerhoff, horticulture marketing specialist with the Missouri Department of Agriculture.

The association's first meeting is scheduled for November.

Funding to develop, support and promote the association comes from a grant awarded to the Missouri Department of Agriculture through the Federal-State Marketing Improvement Program of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.