ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Friday, September 6, 1996              TAG: 9609060009
SECTION: BUSINESS                 PAGE: A-7  EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: GREG EDWARDS STAFF WRITER 

GRANT TO HELP FUND FARMERS MARKET

FARMERS IN FAR SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA will have a chance to sell their produce at a regional market in Scott County.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has awarded $324,000 to the Southwest Virginia Agricultural Association Inc. to buy equipment and cover first-year operating expenses for a regional farmers market in Scott County.

The association is a nonprofit corporation with representatives from 15 Southwest Virginia counties. The market will primarily serve farmers in far Southwest Virginia, but supporters expect it to work in cooperation with a state-operated farmers market in Hillsville to fill bulk orders from produce buyers.

The market will give produce farmers access to major wholesale buyers, such as supermarket chains.

The new market will give Southwest Virginia farmers, including those west of the Roanoke and New River regions, access to two large wholesale markets. The only other such market in the state is on Virginia's Eastern Shore.

Tentative plans are to locate the market in a portion of an existing burley tobacco warehouse in Weber City, said Henry Snodgrass, a farm management agent with the Virginia Cooperative Extension Service.

The initial intent of market planners is to focus on growing tomatoes, but other produce such as peppers and strawberries may eventually be sold through the market, Snodgrass said.

Planners are aiming at operating the market by next year, but the major marketing effort probably will not begin until 1998.

Charlie O'Dell, a vegetable specialist with the Virginia Cooperative Extension Service at Virginia Tech, said growers interested in working through the market should choose crops that are easy to grow.

O'Dell explained that farmers also need to invest in irrigation equipment if they expect to be successful. Snodgrass agreed that irrigation will be necessary for farmers to raise the blemish-free produce buyers expect.

O'Dell has gone so far as to suggest that irrigation should be mandatory for farmers who join a marketing cooperative. He has also suggested making low-interest loans available to purchase irrigation equipment.

Rep. Rick Boucher, D-Abingdon, helped the market's organizers with research and in securing the federal grant, Snodgrass said.

LENGTH: Short :   49 lines
ILLUSTRATION: GRAPHIC:  Map by staff. color.