Farmers Market Sales Increase; Vendor, Pricing Revisions Discussed

MOSCOW – The Farmers Market Commission speedily reelected officers at its regular meeting Tuesday, and then spent nearly two hours in discussion-only of economic assessment and potential tweaks to the market handbook. 

Concerns included vendors who miss pre-market orientation; those who mark up or undercut pricing or price in unorthodox ways; and accommodating the abundance of vendors while maintaining the primarily-produce nature of the market.

The commission also heard from its city staff liaison, Community Events Manager Amanda Argona, that market sales were up in 2025. Vendors reported more than $2.4 million in gross sales, she said, evenly split between agricultural and non-ag (craft and food) sales. 

In action items:

* JT Manning was reelected as chair of the commission, and Kassie Smith as vice chair.

* The board voted unanimously to include information that 2026 will celebrate 50 years of the Farmers Market when the city issues a call in January for artwork for the annual market poster. Submissions will be due by Feb. 20.

* The commission voted to allocate money from its $1,500 budget for conference registration fees for Collette DePhelps to attend the InTents Farmers Market Conference in March and for Smith to attend the Washington State Farmers Market Association conference in February. Attendance helps the commission fulfill its purpose to stay current in advancing market standards, offerings and interests.

In discussion-only items:

* The 2026 draft calendar was reviewed. It includes a Jan. 15 produce opening reception; Feb. 6 “Cheers to 50 Years!” reception; three craft and food vendor juries Feb. 26 and March 4 and 11; April 9 vendor orientation; three rapid market assessments, which the market has done every seven to eight years since 2003, in July-September; and a staff appreciation reception in August.

* Market handbook draft revisions for the 2026 season were presented by the Policy Subcommittee. The final handbook will be presented to the City Council in March.

Potential handbook revisions would:

* Grant two business days to vendors who miss annual orientation (April 9) to contact the city’s community events manager about alternative materials they can study to remain eligible for the market: “If they don’t contact us, they don’t stay eligible,” said manager Argona.

* Require vendors wishing to add products midseason to make a request before doing so to the community events manager. After review, the manager may grant permission, grant permission for a limited time, or not grant permission until completion of a site visit and/or craft and food jury. 

Commissioners DePhelps and Phillip Blankenship, in particular, wanted vendors bringing items other than their usual fare to go through the complete vetting process in order to maintain competitiveness. DePhelps suggested that smaller area markets would be appropriate places for an arts vendor, for example, to sell an overflow of backyard rhubarb or blackberries.

* Likely not be made concerning fair-market pricing. Some vendors have complained about those who undercut or mark up prices. But the board was hesitant to put guidelines on pricing since vendors differ widely in their input costs, desire to reward longtime customers with discounts, and may need to offload items at market’s end. 

“Vendors don’t want to be told what to do,” said Gerardo Alvarez. And setting pricing limits would be “dabbling in the free-market enterprise in a way we are not prepared for,” said DePhelps. 

Adhering to the policy that prices must be displayed, and requiring pricing according to industry standards (by piece or bunch or pound, for example) were affirmed by the board, as was reminding/encouraging vendors not to undercut or mark up.

* Likely not be made to limit vendor types. Rather, the subcommittee favored reducing the number of craft and food jury registrations and pursuing market expansion onto Fourth Street between Main and Washington. 

The city administrator has approved expansion; discussion continues with Opportunities Unlimited, Inc., at 119 E. Fourth, which is a nonprofit serving those with developmental, intellectual and related disabilities. 

* Require forage and seafood vendors to identify location and affirm their products are legally harvested.

* Add skulls to the list of raw products sold by livestock/poultry vendors.

The next regularly scheduled meeting of the Farmers Market Commission will be 4 p.m., Jan. 6, in the City Council Chambers of City Hall, 206 E. Third St.