Jimmie Turner (202) 720-8998jimmie.turner@ams.usda.gov
WASHINGTON, July 14, 2010 – USDA’s Market News Service is expanding coverage of farmers markets and auctions to its news service reporting, part of USDA’s overall initiative to help the small and midsized farmers compete in the marketplace.
Farmers auctions were established by state and local communities as a way to expand market outlets for small and mid-sized producers. With the expanded Market News coverage of these auction markets, producers will have the ability to better determine the value of their products and identify more market opportunities. This additional market information will help producers compete on a more localized scale.
“The auctions allow producers, primarily of fruits and vegetables, to aggregate their product with other producers to attract direct buyers,” said Rayne Pegg, administrator of USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS), the agency that oversees the Market News Service. “By providing produce market price information to farmers they can make better decisions.”
AMS also announced today the expansion of its Market News email subscription service to include an enhanced portable document format (pdf) of its composite reports. The pdf composite reports now include graphics and charts, as well as other updated visuals, making the report easier to read than the older standard text format.
In addition, the reports can be electronically requested as part of the previously established email subscription services. Until now the reports were only available to the public for retrieval directly from the Web site. Customers can subscribe to Market News reports via the Market News Portal Web site, www.marketnews.usda.gov. The site and subscription service are free to the public.
The Market News Branch plans to expand coverage to the following locations: Adams County (Ind.) Flower & Produce Auction; Lincoln and Hart Counties produce auctions in Kentucky; and Mount Hope and Homerville Wholesale produce auctions in Ohio. The identification of more farmers’ auctions is planned.
For more than 90 years, the AMS Market New Service has reported current, unbiased price and sales information to assist in the orderly marketing and distribution of farm commodities. Reports include information on prices, volume, quality, condition and other market data on farm products in specific markets and marketing areas, and cover both domestic and international markets. The data is disseminated within hours of collection via the Internet and made available through electronic means, in printed reports, by telephone recordings and through the news media.
The reports can be viewed on the Fruit and Vegetable Market News Portal Web site. Customers can subscribe to Market News reports via the Market News Portal website. The site and subscription service are free to the public.
For more information about the Market News Portal, contact Fred Teensma at (510) 637-1815, or fred.teensma@ams.usda.gov. For more information about the services of AMS’ fruit and Vegetable Market news, contact Terry Long at (202) 720-2175 or terry.long@ams.usda.gov.
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