Happy National Farmers’ Market Week | by Shannon Peterson

One of the best things about late summer is the bounty of the harvest. During a recent visit to an Omaha Farmers’ Market, my family and I mingled with an enormous crowd browsing booths bursting with brightly colored produce, vibrant flower arrangements, local meats, and artisan cheeses. It was a pleasure to be in the midst of the city, but enveloped by the smells of fresh-picked dill, moist soil, and pungent green onions.

This particular market has grown over its two decades from a few overpriced veggie vendors to a Saturday morning destination featuring street musicians, bakery goods, and crafts along with the season’s freshest, locally grown (and reasonably priced) produce.

This week is National Farmers’ Market Week – a time to celebrate the growers that provide the endless variety of food options we have in the United States. The growing farm-to-table and eat-local movements, as well as the passionate desire of people to learn about where their food comes from, have spurred tremendous growth in farmers’ markets across the country. This year, 8,144 markets are listed in the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Farmers’ Market Directory - an increase from about 5,000 in 2008.

The markets also are to be commended for reaching out to those most in need of fresh foods in their diets. Vendors are providing locally grown vegetables and fruits to low-income senior citizens, women, and children by accepting payment through government assistance programs. And often leftover goods are donated to food banks. How cool is that?

Meanwhile, I dragged my family down each row scoping out what was available and comparing prices. As I purchased cucumbers (two for 50 cents), the friendly young vendor told me to grab an extra one, illustrating the connections built between customers and growers throughout the season. Regular customers purchase from preferred vendors week after week and inadvertently learn about the farms and the families that nurture them.

In fact, I bought sweet corn from the Wenninghoff’s Farm booth and learned the family sells vegetables daily at its farm store near the edge of Omaha. I often drive past the farm, which uses several Valley® center pivots in its fields, and next time I’ll be stopping to check out the store.

I invite you to celebrate National Farmers’ Market week by visiting your local market. Whether you try a new vegetable, pick up your tried-and-true favorites, or treat yourself a bouquet of sunflowers, you’ll be supporting and honoring the growers that make it all possible.

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Shannon Peterson Marketing Content Editor Shannon joined Valley Irrigation in 2013. She enjoys traveling with her family, particularly to national parks, and she occasionally writes about her travels for Home & Away magazine. Shannon also likes reading, trying new restaurants, seeing movies, and watching Husker football and Creighton basketball. However, she and her husband spend most of their free time chauffeuring their teenage son to activities and chasing their baby daughter.

Off We Go! | by Kelly Downing

Summer is finally here! Almost to the exact day, temperatures around the old homestead have warmed up into the summertime range (90°+, or 32°+ for our metric friends). All of us who worked through the significant drought last year are a little skittish about what the summer might bring. This spring has been relatively cool and wet around my house, but I can’t help thinking back to last year and how quickly (and thoroughly) things deteriorated in July and August. The latest drought index map (see below) shows that the drought is “officially” over in the eastern part of the country, but is still very real to my West and South. Being right on the border, I am certainly not getting cocky!



Last week I got to visit SE Missouri and NE Arkansas. Our cooperator near Pocahontas, Arkansas, has some nice-looking rice (photo below), so we will see what this summer brings. We have begun to shift our focus a little in the Circles for Rice program. We really seem to have shown that this system works, so we now work to simply support people who want to try growing rice with pivots, as opposed to creating and promoting demonstration plots.

With the current economic issues at work, there still seems to be pressure for growers to shift acreage to other crops, at least here in the U.S. and in Brazil. In other areas, especially Africa, the situation is a bit different, and we have been working with several growers developing rice projects using pivots as the source of irrigation. These are, generally, relatively large projects, so they take quite a bit of time to get up and running. However, we will bring you news and progress reports as they develop.

A couple nights ago, I watched a television special on the Discovery Channel: Nik Walenda walked across the Grand Canyon on a cable, suspended 1500’ above the river below, with no tether or safety harness. He kind of reminded me of a farmer. He did a tremendous job of preparing, so that it really did look easy. Not easy enough for me to try it, though!

How many of you find yourselves in similar circumstances — balancing a lot of factors both known (crop production costs, machinery issues) and unknown (the vagaries of summer weather like severe storms or drought, crop price fluctuations)? It sometimes seems like the best approach is just what he did — prepare as well as we can, then just keep putting one foot in front of the other, until we get through the current season.

The good news is, we ARE into another summer, firmly seated in the rhythm of the crop growing season. Somehow, I think that helps farmers cope with some of the other peripheral issues that pop up. There is something neat about growing a crop, and it brings us back to earth in a lot of ways. We might not know how the future is going to work out, but we do know how to recognize what is happening in our fields, and what to do about it. That process gives keeps us in our comfort zone; it allows us to focus on what we enjoy doing, and doing well. So, I encourage you to stay safe and have a great growing season. Keep putting one foot in front of the other. Stay in touch, and let us know how things are going in your neck of the woods (or prairies!).

Have a comment or question on the drought in the U.S. or growing rice with center pivots? Drop us a note in the Comments box below!

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	Kelly Downing Global Irrigation Specialist Kelly, Nebraska-based Irrigation Specialist, spent 10 years working on soil and water research projects for a major agricultural university, involving a variety of crops. His work focused on irrigation management, but also included other topics.
Since joining Valley Irrigation, he has worked in the fields of Service, Product Management, Product Reliability and Sales. Kelly focuses on developing projects in irrigation field management and providing recommendations for the Circles for Rice project. Kelly has traveled to several countries providing technical support, such as soil moisture monitoring and irrigation management training.