Good news from Delaware's ag sector

Two solid items of good news came out of Delaware’s agricultural industry in the past couple of weeks.

First, the state’s Department of Agriculture announced that total farmers market sales in 2014 increased by 25 percent over 2013 sales. This burgeoning trend of people wanting to know where their food is grown and by whom has led to a doubling of total sales up and down the state over the past five years.

There are 27 markets now in Delaware and this year, for the first time, two are operating during the winter. One of those is at the East Coast Garden Center on Cordrey Road north of Millsboro and is open from noon until 4 p.m. on Tuesdays.

These markets benefit farmers by providing outlets where they can sell their fresh produce at retail rates, thus making more money than they would through wholesaling. They also allow farmers to meet their customers and get an idea of what other produce and related goods they would like to have available.

Consumers, in addition to knowing they are getting the freshest food possible, have the benefit of being able to talk to the farmers about their produce, how it is grown, how it should be prepared and what might be coming available next.

The second item of good news, also from the Department of Agriculture, came in an announcement that the state’s corn and soybean farmers produced record-breaking crops of corn and soybeans during the 2014 growing season.

This year’s total of 33,600,000 bushels of corn and average yield of 200 bushels per acre didn’t just edge out the former records, they beat them soundly. The corn production number was 16 percent above the previous record, while the yield number beat the previous average yield by 20 percentage points.

Though corn prices weren’t as strong as in previous years, the record production still means farmers made money, and that translates into more dollars circulating through the state’s economy.

Delaware is blessed to have a strong agricultural industry that provides open space, enhances our quality of life and contributes so strongly to our economy.