[QUOTE=Cole_Robbie;531383]My question would be, what are they going to do with the information? It could easily be used to influence a member's decisions, if they come back to you with your own report and say, "well we like these things, but these other crops you want to grow are oversupplied at our market, so you shouldn't grow them." That could be just as illegal as fixing prices.[/QUOTE]

Exactly.
I think it is BS from a bunch of blanks that have no business even asking.
My wife a few years ago had to go to jury duty.
That wanted to know how many guns we had and what kind.
They even threatened everyone if they didn't fill it out.


Worth

It is one step in monitoring producer only compliance at the market where I serve on the board. It is also something we look at when evaluating our vendor mix as we inevitably have to turn some vendors away.

cordially,
a blank

[QUOTE=biscgolf;531386]It is one step in monitoring producer only compliance at the market where I serve on the board. It is also something we look at when evaluating our vendor mix as we inevitably have to turn some vendors away.

cordially,
a blank[/QUOTE]

Sorry but where I live they dont do this sort of thing.
No offense.
Worth

None taken.

Every market I have ever sold at has required it.

[QUOTE=Cole_Robbie;531383]My question would be, what are they going to do with the information? It could easily be used to influence a member's decisions, if they come back to you with your own report and say, "well we like these things, but these other crops you want to grow are oversupplied at our market, so you shouldn't grow them." That could be just as illegal as fixing prices.[/QUOTE]

That is my question too. For your market, I think I would make the simplest plan I could. Maybe something like

Tomatoes.... Assorted varieties from small to large
Beans ... Pole type beans
Carrots ... Long orange types

and go on like that. I agree with Cole Robbie that giving more than basic info could possibly cause problems down the way. Yes, I can understand how the market may want to have things a bit more professional, but I don't think they need to know exactly how much, what, and your prices for stuff.

I would hate to see you put in a whole crop of something and then them come back later and say , " Oh we have too many bean sellers at the moment, you have to wait on your crop." We all know that crops wait for no person. And what happens when bugs, varmints or weather conditions cause a loss of crops and you plant something else? Will you not be able to take your yield to the market if it is not on your plan?

I would contact the head person that said you need a plan and ask him exactly what he wants on that paper, then I would decide exactly what info your willing to share.

Than if you really want to see how your doing, you can get something more professional.

Yeah I am going to keep it simple, I grow what I know and don't plan to stray much from that simply because I have limited space and it will mostly be filled with tomatoes. I am currently trying to find someone to co-op with so that we can both focus on different crops. They charge co-ops a lot more to sell at market though, which seems to eliminate a lot of would be small growers so I am having trouble finding anyone.

The bigger growers don't want to pay the extra money just for me to provide tomatoes/peppers/melons, plus they don't know me from Adam so the trust isn't there. I am left with trying to make a go alone even though I wont be able to have produce to sell weekly or much variety. I just want to learn all I can from this and make as many new friends as possible so that hopefully it will lead to other opportunities to do what I love.

Something else you might consider is contacting your local County Extension Service. Round here it doesn't cost you anything. They let you know where the local county markets are set-up and the times. Plus these permits allow you to set up folk's yards or empty street corners. All you have to do is ask permission of the person who is in charge of the area for permission.

You just tell the extension service that you will be selling assorted veggies, no need to itemize.

Round here you will see folks during the week with their trucks and a few with tents and tables on open street corners, areas that won't hinder traffic from folks pulling off the road. It is a great way for the smaller farmers to sell their produce that ripens during the times when they are not at weekend regular markets.

Once in a while, you will find somebody who has set- up in the wrong place, like the guy who decided to set up on a corner of the busiest and most dangerous 4 way and had traffic site blocked and local police asked him to move to another area.

It's a great way to get rid of excess produce so you not having to come home and make tons of juice.

Just another idea and something you may want to try.