Ep.1365: California's Certified Farmers Markets

Jennifer Leidolf, CDFA Direct Marketing Program Supervisor &Joshua W. Bingham, Public Information Officer II, Division of Inspection Services (Farmers Market Certification, Governance and Marketing) When it comes to which farms get the most help from the government, the answer is most always the biggest farms.  This leads us to ask: Can there be a government program that helps small farms more than big farms? Our federal government hands out a lot of money to farmers.  How much is a lot?  In 2021 it was about $14.5 billion.  Which farms get the government money?  Data from USDA’s Economic Research tells us… About 75% of large farms with gross incomes of over $350,000 get an average of $66,000 per year; about 31% of intermediate farms with gross incomes of less than $350,000 get an average $12,800; and 29% of small farms received an average of $8,300. From this thumbnail sketch is easy to see that the more money a farm makes, the more help it gets from the government.  And conversely, the less money a farm makes, the less help it gets from the government.  This observation led us to seek out a government program that helps small farms more than big farms. We found such a program, in California, and its called the California Certified Farmers market program.   Connect: www.metrofarm.com