August 28, 2024
AgGeorgia Farm Credit has awarded grants for $2,000 each to five local markets as part of the 2024 AgGeorgia Farmers Market grant program. This is the fourth year of the program, with the cooperative so far awarding $34,500 to help support rural Georgia markets.
“The importance of supporting American farmers can’t be overstated,” said Corey Cottle, AgGeorgia’s Chief Marketing Officer. “Particularly when it comes to young, beginning, small, and veteran farmers, their first outlet for selling their crops is often the local Farmers Market. Markets offer an excellent way to keep dollars local and assure quality that imported crops often cannot match, and we’re proud to help these markets effectively spread that message.”
The 2024 AgGeorgia Farmers Market Grant recipients include Amicalola Regional Farmers Market, Comer Community Market, Dallas Farmers Market, LaFayette Farmers Market, and Nashville Farmers Market.
The Amicalola Regional Farmers Market is open Saturdays starting late April through mid-October, and held in Dawsonville at a purpose-built market pavilion. Vendors sell garden produce, meats, flowers, bakery items, honey, flowering and vegetable plants, and select homemade craft items. The market accepts vendors from counties that border Dawson County, including Lumpkin, Forsyth, Cherokee, Hall, Pickens, and Gilmer. Market vendors are selected by a committee to ensure quality and that products are locally grown, handmade, and fit the market theme of agriculture-related products.
Dawson County Extension Agent Clark MacAllister stated, “We are grateful to AgGeorgia for this grant. Our market is run by volunteers and we don’t have much of an operating budget. This grant will allow us to purchase signage and advertisements to reach a bigger audience and take our farmers market to the next level!”
AgGeorgia plans to continue the program in 2025 and encourages interested markets in the association’s seventy-nine county service area, particularly those who have applied and have not yet been selected, to apply next year.