Maintaining a Way of Life: Trials and Tribulations of Farmers Market Families

The Congressional Research Service forecasted that, in 2013, off-farm income would account for 82% of total farm income. The United States median household income in 2012 was $51,017, and farmers’ median household incomes were approximately $55,000. Regarding small farms, 59% of either the farm operators or their spouses worked off-farm, suggesting that farming alone was not fruitful enough to support the family. Using a qualitative case study approach, this study sought to understand farmers’ biggest challenges in order to identify areas for improvement so that farm families could better support themselves via their farming enterprises. One-on-one structured interviews were conducted with farmers selling products at the Fayetteville, Arkansas, Farmers’ Market. The farmers interviewed did not reference income as a challenge. Instead, it was found that competition and weather were their biggest challenges to a successful farming enterprise. Competition hindered sales for some farmers and discouraged them, whereas the weather could be unpredictable, and created the possibility of losing crops. Recommendations included farmers tracking produce sales by type and variety to make more informed decisions on what to grow and reduce competition; farmers researching and utilizing technology to mitigate damage from adverse weather events; market managers and farmers working together to find ways to attract a larger customer base; further studies should be done at a larger scale locally, regionally, and nationally; information from further studies should be utilized to increase sales of local produce.