Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
Produce Auctions in Kentucky
69 Plays2 months ago
In this episode, we're joined by Savannah Columbia, a Extension Associate in Agricultural Economics, to explore the vibrant world of produce auctions in Kentucky. Savannah sheds light on the unique role these auctions play in the state's agricultural landscape, providing a platform for farmers to sell their fresh produce directly to consumers, wholesalers, and retailers.
Whether you're a farmer, a consumer, or simply curious about the local food system, this episode offers a fascinating glimpse into the world of Kentucky's produce auctions. Tune in to learn more about the people, processes, and products that make these auctions such a vital part of our state's agricultural landscape.
CCD Kentucky Produce Auction Price Reports
Produce Auctions Marketing Profile
Questions/Comments/Feedback/Suggestions for Topics: [email protected]
Recommended
Transcript
Fall Weather & Snacks
00:00:17
Alexis
Hello, hello. How's everybody doing today? How are we feeling? Are we enjoying cool fall weather, fall vibes?
00:00:20
atack2010
Good.
00:00:21
Jessica
Doing good.
00:00:22
atack2010
I'm feeling the fall vibes, for real. In Kentucky, at the point of this recording, it's been amazing.
00:00:24
Alexis
Love it, love it.
00:00:26
Jessica
It definitely feels like fall now.
00:00:29
Alexis
we have We hope all of you listening are also getting some delicious fall vibes, whether that be the weather or via PubKits by Slocce.
00:00:30
atack2010
Oh yeah.
00:00:38
Alexis
That is 100% up to you ah if you are into that kind of thing. so
00:00:44
atack2010
Why would you not be into that kind of thing? I don't know.
00:00:46
Alexis
I don't know. um Some people might say Apple is superior, but I digress.
00:00:53
Alexis
Which reminds me, speaking of food, which is usually my my question is related around food because who else am I? ah But I was recently somewhere where I had some really great snacks provided and I was wondering, and with Savannah is our guest today, we're goingnna we're going to pose this to her first and then we'll let her introduce herself for you.
00:01:09
Brett
Wait, wait, wait. What were the snacks that were provided?
00:01:11
Alexis
What? Well, that, like, hold on.
00:01:13
Brett
Okay, sorry. i you get I was hooked.
00:01:14
Alexis
Wait, just, gah!
00:01:15
Brett
You had me hooked.
00:01:16
atack2010
There's a certain amount of secrecy here. Yeah.
00:01:17
Brett
Now you're letting me off the hook.
00:01:18
Alexis
First, quite my question is,
00:01:20
Brett
Okay, sorry.
00:01:21
Alexis
um when you are somewhere and there's snacks provided, what is that snack that, like, you're always pumped about? Like, you see it and you're, like, made. I don't care what else is here. This this is great. So, Savannah, what is your snack of choice if you if you could have anything?
00:01:38
Savannah
Okay, I think if we're talking packaged snacks, Rice Krispie treats.
00:01:42
Alexis
Mm, win.
00:01:42
atack2010
That's a good one.
00:01:42
Savannah
Hands down.
00:01:43
Jessica
Oh, that's good.
00:01:44
Alexis
Absolutely win.
00:01:44
atack2010
Pretty solid.
00:01:45
Brett
terrible answer.
00:01:45
Alexis
That's why we, I've traveled with Savannah and she is a great snack packer.
00:01:45
Savannah
Also, why they were on the trip list.
00:01:48
atack2010
I mean, yes.
00:01:52
Alexis
So yeah, highly, highly recommend traveling with Savannah on, on for the snacks strictly for them. But Jessica, how about you?
00:02:01
Jessica
ah Ah, I like all the snacks wait.
00:02:04
Alexis
It doesn't have to be packaged, just like something you're like always like pumped to see.
00:02:05
Jessica
Um, if it's packaged,
00:02:09
Jessica
I don't know what popped in my head right now was like those, are they Gardenos? What are they called, right? Where it's like the Chex mix, but it's not.
00:02:15
Alexis
I don't know.
00:02:16
Alexis
Oh yeah. Mm-hmm.
00:02:16
Brett
Gardenos.
00:02:17
Jessica
Yeah, I don't know why.
00:02:18
Alexis
Yeah. The little ride chips.
00:02:18
Brett
Gardena. Yeah.
00:02:20
Jessica
Yeah, those are so good.
00:02:20
atack2010
Yeah, it's got the little rye.
00:02:20
Brett
Oh, little pretzel twists.
00:02:20
Alexis
Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah. Jessica and I always split those. Another person, great snack person to travel with, Jessica.
00:02:24
atack2010
Classic.
00:02:26
Jessica
Oh, thank you.
00:02:27
Alexis
Ray, we already know the answer, but please tell the group.
00:02:30
atack2010
No, what I'm going for here, you you may be, well, not surprised, but I do a lot of beef jerky individual packages at my meetings and there'll be a little bowl with just beef jerky in it.
00:02:31
Brett
I don't know the answer.
00:02:38
Alexis
Okay.
00:02:41
atack2010
But no, Alexis, it is not pumpkin spice latte.
00:02:41
Alexis
And, and we mean, Oh no, I was going to say cheesy poofs. I'm pretty sure Jessica was also.
00:02:46
atack2010
Oh yeah.
00:02:46
Jessica
Oh yeah, I would say I would have lost a lot of money because I would have said juicy proofs.
00:02:48
atack2010
You know, I only eat those out of the tub, Alexis.
00:02:49
Alexis
Yeah. Yeah.
00:02:51
atack2010
I thought we were kind of going on the theme of individual packages.
00:02:53
Alexis
ah Oh, you mean things I have to have individually?
00:02:55
atack2010
Yeah.
00:02:56
Alexis
Yeah. I don't share the poofs.
00:02:57
atack2010
No, I had to. I was going to say cheesy puss, but they come best in tub. So no, no, I'm thinking individual packages of snacks. So beef jerky.
00:03:05
Alexis
Okay. Okay.
00:03:05
Jessica
The tubs are far superior.
00:03:07
Alexis
You tough.
00:03:07
atack2010
Yes. The tubs are superior. Yes.
00:03:09
Alexis
Brett, Brett, what about you?
00:03:11
Brett
Well, so, you know, my role here is to make things unnecessarily existential.
Snack Existentialism & Stories
00:03:16
Brett
That's my role on the podcast.
00:03:17
Alexis
Yes, we all do.
00:03:18
Brett
Well, like where, where does the snack end and the meal begin?
00:03:18
Alexis
We all know.
00:03:22
Jessica
Oh, Brett.
00:03:23
Savannah
Ooh.
00:03:23
Alexis
Stop it, Brett.
00:03:23
atack2010
willpower brat willpower if you believe in yourself it is like Vienna sausages are a snack to me like you just
00:03:24
Alexis
Stop it.
00:03:24
Brett
But just like, okay. So like, let's see. Hold on one second. Hold on.
00:03:27
Alexis
OK, OK, OK.
00:03:27
Brett
Let's just say I get a little, a little play to like some chips and like some chips and queso.
00:03:29
Alexis
OK.
00:03:31
Brett
Is that a snack? Is that, is that too extensive?
00:03:34
Alexis
So so for me, a snack is something that um I can eat and walk around with to go do what I need to do. So I mean, if chips and queso.
00:03:43
Brett
Well, I'm a talented man, so that's gonna be a pretty big Venn diagram.
00:03:47
Alexis
like yeah Like it's just like a little, a little something you're like, and then you just go do what you need to do, you know? Like it's just like a quick little.
00:03:53
Jessica
A little meat stick.
00:03:54
atack2010
Oh, a little meat stick there, Jessica. Yeah.
00:03:57
Brett
the Just for the record, this is not helping me at all because I can walk and eat a lot of things. I can eat a lot of things real quick.
00:04:04
atack2010
I love that, that the fair, the walking tacos.
00:04:04
Savannah
physical Nice.
00:04:05
Alexis
You know what, Brett? I think a snack is what it means to you.
00:04:06
Brett
But, but, but, but, I'll respect the spirit of the prompt.
00:04:07
Jessica
but Let's see. Let's hear what yours is.
00:04:09
atack2010
yeah Chips and queso.
00:04:11
Brett
And I'll say, I'll say I really enjoy a soft pretzel.
00:04:14
Alexis
Okay.
00:04:14
atack2010
Oh yeah.
00:04:15
Jessica
Oh.
00:04:15
atack2010
Yeah.
00:04:15
Alexis
Okay, all right.
00:04:15
atack2010
Yeah.
00:04:16
Alexis
Is it warmed or?
00:04:16
atack2010
um Okay.
00:04:18
Jessica
Yeah.
00:04:18
Brett
Yeah.
00:04:19
Alexis
Yeah.
00:04:19
atack2010
That's the only kind of pretzel.
00:04:19
Alexis
Okay.
00:04:19
Brett
Yeah. Warm with cheese.
00:04:19
Jessica
Do you need a dipping sauce, though, with it?
00:04:22
Brett
Preferably to, you know, like a, a mustard and a nacho cheese.
00:04:24
atack2010
Two to three sauces. Okay.
00:04:28
Brett
But if I'm, you know, if it's real minimalist, I don't need a swa sauce at all, as long as it has some salt on it.
00:04:28
Alexis
Okay.
00:04:33
Alexis
I need the carb.
00:04:34
atack2010
Yeah.
00:04:34
Alexis
We're all good. So, um, mine was, uh, so I like rolled up to the snack table, right? Like, what are we on here this weekend? And I popped open a lid and what was sitting there, but little baby bell cheeses.
00:04:47
Jessica
Oh, geez.
00:04:48
Alexis
And I'm just, that's usually not something you see at a snack table and it really hit me.
00:04:48
Savannah
Oh.
00:04:52
Brett
And that's like the little mini wheel thing that's like in wax or something Yeah, I mean yeah holler at us Man
00:04:54
Alexis
Yeah, the little mini wheels. Yeah. like yeah no No sponsorship here. I'm just saying. They just happened to be that brand. and ah it was just It was a light.
00:05:04
Alexis
It was a light in my life in that moment. It was the little wheel of cheese.
00:05:07
atack2010
You know, those get warm in your pocket. If you stick them in your pocket, Alexis, they do get warm, so you have to be careful, okay?
00:05:12
Alexis
i'm not I'm not going to leave it sitting anywhere long enough for that to be a problem. so
00:05:16
atack2010
You talk like you've got an individual one.
00:05:16
Brett
Put it in your pocket, come back later.
00:05:16
Alexis
um
00:05:17
Jessica
I mean, Alexis did share with me how you could make those little cheese wheels into like s'mores, right?
00:05:17
Brett
You could have a little nacho, not just in case though.
00:05:19
atack2010
Yes, there you go.
00:05:25
Alexis
Yeah.
00:05:25
Jessica
Like a savory s'mores with the cheese.
00:05:27
Alexis
Savory s'more.
00:05:28
Jessica
Like you like, instead of a marshmallow.
00:05:28
Alexis
It's like a little baby bell cheese in between some like wheat fins or Triscuits with a little bit of ah like a pepper jelly.
00:05:29
atack2010
It's really weird on a marshmallow.
00:05:31
Brett
Fusion.
00:05:31
Jessica
Yeah. Some like hot pepper jelly. Yeah.
00:05:36
Alexis
and Yeah.
00:05:36
Brett
o
00:05:37
atack2010
Okay, I thought you guys were using those with the marshmallows.
00:05:37
Savannah
Ooh.
00:05:39
atack2010
I was like, something's wrong with your home.
00:05:40
Alexis
so No, the cheese is the marshmallow in this case scenario.
00:05:41
Brett
fusion
00:05:41
Jessica
Yeah. Yes.
00:05:43
atack2010
Okay, thank you for that qualification.
00:05:43
Jessica
In this situation.
00:05:45
atack2010
I was a little nervous.
00:05:45
Alexis
Yeah.
00:05:46
Brett
toasted cheese wheel.
00:05:47
Alexis
Yeah.
00:05:47
Brett
You put it on a stick and kinda...
00:05:47
Alexis
Toasted cheese.
00:05:47
Jessica
Yeah.
00:05:47
atack2010
Yeah.
00:05:48
Alexis
Yeah. You put the wheel on the stick and you put it in the fire and let it get a little melty.
00:05:51
Brett
Whoa, a little bubbly, a little melty.
00:05:52
Jessica
Doesn't that sound good?
00:05:52
Alexis
Yeah. Game change.
00:05:52
atack2010
Stick a hot dog on the end there too, I mean.
00:05:54
Jessica
We have not tried this, actually, but we think it would be good.
00:05:54
Brett
Sounds awesome.
00:05:58
Alexis
This was but something we found on Instagram, so.
00:05:58
atack2010
If it ah results in flaming lava, yeah.
00:06:00
Brett
Wait, you haven't eaten you haven't even done it?
00:06:00
Jessica
Yeah, something we found on the internet. No, but we're going to.
00:06:03
Alexis
ah Look, I watched a video about it, Brett.
00:06:04
Savannah
Yeah, I was under the impression that you'd done it.
00:06:05
Alexis
Stop being so grudgy.
00:06:05
Brett
Anything I can do to support you in making this real, you let me know.
00:06:08
atack2010
Yeah.
00:06:08
Brett
I'll i'll drop everything to do it.
00:06:09
Jessica
right We're going to do it, so.
00:06:11
atack2010
Fire extinguisher, I'm there.
00:06:11
Alexis
I think we need to do some research, um, report back. So, but anyways, we are, we are, uh, while we're not talking necessarily about snacks, although I guess some of the things you get an auction could be snack worthy.
00:06:17
Jessica
Try all the different varieties of cheese.
00:06:17
Brett
Yeah. I might go right now.
00:06:19
Jessica
Anyways.
00:06:19
Brett
You guys can do the podcast.
00:06:26
atack2010
OK.
Savannah's Produce Auction Insights
00:06:27
Alexis
We are specifically talking about produce auction sales today. yeah And we have the wonderful Savannah on with us. Savannah, tell us about yourself.
00:06:37
Savannah
Hey, everybody. I've been a listener of the podcast for a while, but it's my first time on, which is cool. um i
00:06:45
Alexis
First time caller, long time listener.
00:06:46
Savannah
Yeah, I do feel that way. um I have been an extension associate in the Department of Ag Econ for over four years now, going on my fifth year.
00:06:58
Savannah
um One thing that I'm responsible for in my job is working with um the produce auctions to post our, or their price reports on the Center for crop diversifications website. and We also compile three year average summary reports.
00:07:14
Savannah
um One will come out at the end of this year. That will include data from 2021, 2022, and 2023. Those are really cool. They're pretty lengthy, but really cool. ah We get to look at 16 popular crops um that go through the two largest produce auctions in the state, ah which are Fairview in um southwestern Kentucky, and then the Lincoln produce auction, which is about 50 miles south of Lexington.
00:07:42
Savannah
um in ah just um Lincoln County, obviously, but Fairview is in ah Christian County.
00:07:48
Alexis
Crab orchard, yeah.
00:07:50
Savannah
um Um, uh, there was a new auction added actually, um, last wasn't included in the report will be this year, um, was added, uh, last year and also in Western Kentucky, uh, labeled the Western Kentucky produce auction.
00:08:07
Jessica
Hmm.
00:08:07
Savannah
They're located in trig County. Uh, in addition to those three, we also have a produce auction in heart County, um, and Casey County. ah All of these auctions have several sale dates every year.
00:08:21
Savannah
And Alexis, you mentioned the snack thing. Some of the produce auctions are actually selling more than just produce, right?
00:08:24
Alexis
Mm-hm. Mm-hm.
00:08:28
Savannah
um So fruits, vegetables, obviously go through the produce auction. But Lincoln County specifically has a bunch of baked goods that go through.
00:08:35
Alexis
Yes, they do!
00:08:36
Savannah
Also ornamental decorations, um they're really branching out.
00:08:38
Jessica
mm hmm.
00:08:39
atack2010
Oh, wow.
00:08:40
Savannah
And flowers are a big one also.
00:08:41
Jessica
yep.
00:08:43
Savannah
um
00:08:43
atack2010
Hmm.
00:08:44
Savannah
A lot of our our moms that are seen at um certified farm markets and roadside stands are coming out of um produce auctions, both in Kentucky and crossing borders, especially at the produce auction in Fairview. We have some people that come up from Nashville in the northern Tennessee area to buy stuff.
00:09:04
Savannah
Um, which is, which is really cool. But yeah, so we have six produce auctions in the state. Um, something that the center for crop diversification does is post their price reports online.
00:09:15
Savannah
So if you go to our website, um, look under price reports, click Kentucky produce, produce auction price reports, you'll see all six auctions listed there.
00:09:23
Alexis
Mm hmm.
00:09:23
Savannah
Um, along with the latest version of that three year. ah average prices and quantities pub.
00:09:28
Jessica
Thank you.
00:09:30
Savannah
um Each ah price report will look a little different ah based on how the auction has them compiled, um but they will just list the items sold that day um in what unit size and then um high average and low price.
00:09:48
Alexis
So...
00:09:48
atack2010
You said some of the um auctions offer specialty items.
00:09:49
Alexis
ah
00:09:51
atack2010
That's really interesting ah to me because I heard baked goods and I know Brett is an aficionado of like pretzels, but um on those specialty items, I'm just really curious ah because when I think of um produce auctions, I think of, you know, buyers that are buying commercially kind of larger quantities, but like on their specialty items, are they large quantity items per piece or how is that done?
00:10:13
atack2010
Do you know?
00:10:15
Savannah
Um, actually what's really cool about the auction also is that they, they come out with their own annual, um, market report.
00:10:25
atack2010
Mm hmm.
00:10:25
Savannah
So some of these things that I'm able to kind of dish out really easily, um, are pulled from there. Oh, my little mic fell over. Um, so, uh,
00:10:35
atack2010
Good save. Good save.
00:10:39
Savannah
Banked goods was something that I was kind of really looking into last year, um just seeing like it on the ah weekly sale data that came in. um We in Lincoln County, um let's see, because they're really cool.
00:10:57
Savannah
They will divide their yearly report into um produce, like just a sheet for produce, and then everything else is on a another page.
00:11:02
atack2010
Mm hmm.
00:11:06
Savannah
um So they'll have all their hanging baskets, ah perennials, potted stuff. I'm looking to see how much big goods went through, but I'm not finding it very easily on here.
00:11:20
Savannah
um But, and I don't know if I have a, if I have an actual picture of of one um of something going through but um cookies brownies is what comes to mind.
00:11:30
atack2010
Mmm, all the good stuff.
00:11:31
Jessica
I know it was.
00:11:32
atack2010
But it's it sounds like the main thing at all of these auctions is more like vegetables and then fruit products.
00:11:32
Savannah
and
00:11:33
Alexis
Pies.
00:11:38
atack2010
That's the more typical mainstream products at all the auctions I guess there, isn't it then?
00:11:43
Savannah
yeah Yeah, I'd say big big items that are coming through the auction are going to be our number one and two tomatoes.
00:11:46
atack2010
Mm-hmm.
00:11:49
Savannah
ah Corn by the dozen is a good one. even It's sold in and more than a dozen qua quantity but reported as dozens.
00:11:51
atack2010
Mm-hmm.
00:11:57
Savannah
um But corn, also big things like watermelon, pumpkins, gourds, um things like that um that can be harder to sell individually at the farmer's market um or just large items that are difficult to transport for maybe ah a small farmer's market booth um ah have a nice place here at the auction.
00:12:19
atack2010
cool.
00:12:19
Alexis
So I feel like that that leads me into a good question because until I actually like went to an auction, it's like, you know what a produce auction is, right? Like everybody can kind of like make an inference of of what that is, but no.
00:12:29
Brett
I don't think so. I don't think it seems extremely
00:12:31
Alexis
Yeah. Okay.
Auction Operations & Dynamics
00:12:32
Alexis
Well then, then tell us, tell us about that Savannah, tell us about a basic produce auction.
00:12:32
Brett
yeah.
00:12:32
atack2010
You may need to paint a little bit of a picture you guys yeah.
00:12:39
Savannah
Yeah, yeah, okay. So um at the produce auction, there are ah buyers and growers, right? And so we're going to mostly be talking about the growers, but there are people there that um are buying stuff and they're important too.
00:12:53
Savannah
But um how it kind of works is, yeah, I mean, someone is going to buy the stuff.
00:12:54
Alexis
Obviously.
00:12:55
Jessica
Important to the farmers, right?
00:12:57
Alexis
Someone's gotta to buy it.
00:12:58
Savannah
um
00:13:00
Jessica
Yeah. ah
00:13:01
Savannah
um But yeah, so like ah if I ah grew a bunch of watermelon and I wanted to go sell it at the produce auction, um There isn't large barriers to entry, but I would preferably go check one out first before you just you know go all go all chips in. But um ah the produce auction kind of works. um You sign up for a grower number, and so that number is associated with any product that you bring to the produce auction um and their sales usually start on time um and they have a calendar each produce auction has a calendar of what um items are ah are for sale like um annual um seasonal plants is what I'm trying to say ah but there are some
00:13:57
Savannah
um specific, uh, like plug sales that will happen at the beginning of the year. Um, maybe a little too much in the week. So when I back up, uh, but, um,
00:14:06
Alexis
That's okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So you've got you've got a bunch of watermelons and you want to take them to the auction. And so yeah.
00:14:13
Savannah
Yeah, so um you just go you sign up for a grower number. um That number is associated with the items that you bring in. um You it's the auctions are run ah mostly by the Amish communities. um So it's not going to be super electronic, right, it's going to be an in person face to face kind of transaction.
00:14:33
Savannah
um you will load all of your items out onto the concrete floor is what's most common um in a so ah specific place that um section of your stuff will have your not your name but your grower number attached to it um and then how much is in your how much quantity is in your um Let's call it a a square of space, right?
00:14:56
Alexis
bi
00:14:58
Savannah
And so all of that um that you bring will get sold together. So the auctioneer will go around and they will sell each lot or square um together at a time.
00:15:09
Savannah
um Then ah once everything is sold, um you would, as the grower, go get your um check or ah money from the office once everything has been sold. And it goes through pretty fast. I actually went to one.
00:15:26
Savannah
Well, I've been a few times, but I went to one in Fairview at the beginning of the summer and the auctioneer rolls stuff off. So you really have to be paying attention, but, um, everything, everything pretty much is sold. Um, the ideas behind like quantity, um, you are going to sell more in one, um,
00:15:48
Savannah
you know, lot than you would maybe at the farmer's market, right? So when we go to the farmer's market, we have a ah mix of stuff we bring here. People do kind of focus on specific bigger quantity items. um But ah the idea of like product quality, um packaging, and making sure things are are together nicely and neatly is still important right across all marketplaces.
00:16:13
atack2010
Does the market managers work with producers?
00:16:13
Savannah
ah
00:16:16
atack2010
Like if I'm a producer and I'm new, I'm like, well, how many watermelons or what's the quality standards? Do the managers work with him on them on that?
00:16:23
Savannah
Yeah, ah so yes and no. um If you ask them a specific question, yes, they will have the answer to it.
00:16:29
atack2010
Gotcha.
00:16:30
Savannah
um We, as part of our three-year average report, there is a table in there that says, um that lists out what unit size everything is sold in.
00:16:44
Savannah
um And that pretty much stays like that throughout um the whole season. ah For example, um Corn is sold in dozen quantity quants, but there's more than a dozen in like one bag But they if you're interested in a specific crop they can help you out or they have when we're thinking about bigger things like pumpkins ah Watermelon they do have a bin count um off the top of my head.
00:17:00
atack2010
Yeah.
00:17:12
Savannah
I can't remember how many are in a bin but also
00:17:15
Jessica
They're like iffy pumpkins or something.
00:17:18
atack2010
Yeah.
00:17:19
Savannah
Yeah, um there will be, and there's a distinction between um our medium and large pumpkins and then our smaller ones. Obviously, the smaller ones you can fit more in ah and a bin, but those are all going to be very similar to like the standard unit ah of measurement.
00:17:26
Alexis
Mm-hmm.
00:17:35
Alexis
Mm-hmm.
00:17:36
Savannah
um
00:17:38
atack2010
And there are some cases, oh, go ahead, Jessica, yeah.
00:17:38
Savannah
you know
00:17:40
Jessica
Oh, I was gonna say, you know, we talked about the grower a little bit, but you know, quickly about those buyers, just so people know it's not, there's a whole variety of buyers there, right?
00:17:50
Alexis
Oh yeah.
00:17:51
Jessica
Like, so it's not just like commercial people, but you as a homeowner can even go to these auctions and participate, right?
00:17:52
Savannah
yeah
00:17:59
Savannah
Yeah, yeah, that's very true. um The only caveat is that you might end up buying a lot of stuff um because you can't break a lot into pieces or or anything like that.
00:18:05
Jessica
Yeah.
00:18:08
Savannah
um But yeah, as a homeowner, I could go and if I was interested in buying canning tomatoes, I could go and and buy them there for a relatively cheaper cost than maybe Um, at the farmer's bucket or something like that. It really depends on, you know, what your end use is. Um, or like, if I was a a school teacher and I wanted to buy pumpkins, little pumpkins for a ah painting activity, I could go and and buy a large.
00:18:33
Savannah
amount um Buyers for the produce auction are also you know people with roadside stands, people um and that ah do food service. um There's a a wide mix of people there. Both are you know everyday people like us. and then people who are buying food.
00:18:54
Savannah
um They have order buying also, ah which isn't, um I don't know if it's available at every auction, but um there are enough buyers in, um at least Fairview does it, that they have order buying as a service as well.
00:19:10
Savannah
um Thinking about newer growers getting into the produce auction,
00:19:11
Alexis
Mm hmm.
00:19:15
Savannah
I want to think about packaging Fairview at the very least, and and I'm not sure off the top of my head if other auctions are doing this, but um they have some packaging available for growers to purchase.
00:19:29
atack2010
That's a really common question we get.
00:19:29
Savannah
um
00:19:31
atack2010
because it's always kind of daunting when they look in like Monty or one of the commercial, whatever commercial and they say the ah they see they have to buy a thousand lot of whatever package and yeah, that's ah that's a big deal.
00:19:31
Savannah
yeah
00:19:42
atack2010
So some of the auctions do work with producers as far as on you know purchasing packages through the auction. Is that how that works?
00:19:48
Savannah
Yes, yeah so they can, um perch and I don't remember if they have to take it all with them or if the produce auction will ah store it on site, but they do have those large wax boxes, and um last year I saw
00:19:49
atack2010
No.
00:20:03
Savannah
The ah tomato boxes and some other cardboard boxes were ah actually labeled with with a Fairview Produce Auction, um which was some nice marketing on their end.
00:20:13
Savannah
But um yes, they have bulk packaging um purchasing options for growers who um are interested in and taking advantage of that, um which is really cool.
00:20:25
Brett
Yeah. so Someone I want to touch on that you mentioned is the be the importance of these auctions or the the role that these auctions play in the resale market in within Kentucky, within the local food economy, because there are in fact a good number of larger commercial buyers who are bringing literal you know semi trucks to buy large volumes that ended up going into
00:20:53
Brett
grocery stores or other kinds of retail outlets and other places. But as you mentioned, a lot of them, they're going into these, you know, I go to the auction, I buy 150 pounds of tomatoes, and then I go and sell it at a roadside stand and it's a local product, but it's, I'm sitting there, I'm taking the time to do it. I'm selling large, smaller volumes, et cetera. And and that it makes the auctions, in some cases,
00:21:19
Brett
oh market non grata. They're a bad word for some people because they think of them as these low price ah you know value suppressing markets or something like that. They actually play a really important role in in supplying volume, but it's an interesting... One of the things I wanted to ask you Savannah,
00:21:41
Brett
Maybe you can see if you can find ah some spot prices for what stuff's going for, but like just to give us a ballpark on something like tomatoes or something like, I don't know, any other crop. how much There's a difference, right, between what it sells for at a produce auction and what it sells for it ah at a farmer's market, for instance?
00:22:00
Savannah
Yeah, yeah. So if I'm looking at um the Fairview report from August 30th, corn, for example, sold sweet corn, um sold, let's see, a dozen ah average price.
00:22:14
Savannah
um So for quantity measures, um they sold 1,025 dozens of corn in
00:22:21
Jessica
Wow.
00:22:22
Savannah
ah That one day, um Friday, August 30, 2024, average price was $3.34. So if we compare that to your ah Brett, your Kentucky farmer's market price report for roughly the same.
00:22:39
Savannah
um date range. I'm looking at the one that was posted on September 2nd. But at the Fayette County ah farmer's market, ah sweet corn was between ah seven and a low of $7, high of $9.
00:22:55
Brett
per dozen.
00:22:56
Savannah
Yeah, per dozen.
00:22:56
Brett
So in that case, you're looking at ah at a 200%, roughly 200% premium. What about what about tomatoes?
00:23:01
Savannah
Yeah.
00:23:04
Savannah
Okay. So that week at
00:23:06
Brett
remember Number one red tomatoes.
00:23:08
Savannah
Yeah, Fairview number one, red tomatoes, 20 pound ah boxes. ah Average price was $30 and 21 cents. um Let me see if I can scroll down.
00:23:19
Brett
So that's a dollar roughly $1.50 a pound.
00:23:23
Savannah
Yes.
00:23:24
Brett
And that's for grade and really high quality. So at a farmer's market, depending on the market, you're looking at two at the low end, 250, three, four plus dollars per pound.
00:23:34
Savannah
Yeah.
00:23:35
Brett
So 350 a pound for at at some of our you know urban markets. And so that's, again, over a 200% or that sorry, over a hundred percent premium, you know over doubling the price from that market to the other.
00:23:43
Alexis
Mm hmm.
00:23:48
Brett
And I think that that, you know you're youre you have to keep in mind, just like if you're doing that at your farm, Like if you're deciding between selling wholesale and selling retail, there's a lot of expenses associated with going and selling a pound at a time at a farmer's market, but you get that premium and it's that trade off.
00:23:57
atack2010
Mm-hmm yeah
00:24:00
Alexis
Mm hmm.
00:24:06
Brett
And so it's an it's, I understand some of the frustrations people have with the auctions or or with particularly those who buy from the auctions and then perhaps sell that product as if they themselves grew it, um which is it you know just kind of a deceptive marketing technique, which isn't really cool.
00:24:23
Brett
um But I do think overall there's a ah role for for things like places like the auctions where somebody wants to go and take and sell, ah you know, 500 pounds of tomatoes at a time. And okay, we'll take a lower price. That's fine. But yeah, I just that that is an interesting dynamic that we don't and necessarily talk about a ton.
00:24:43
Savannah
Yeah, I think that there's a nice place for both. um Something that um maybe kind of frames the auction well is that you know auctions are good for growers who maybe you want to spend time less time um marketing.
00:24:58
Savannah
um they don't Maybe they don't want to be at the farmer's market every Wednesday.
00:24:58
Alexis
Mm hmm.
00:25:00
atack2010
Or they don't have the labor.
00:25:01
Jessica
Mm hmm.
00:25:02
atack2010
Yeah.
00:25:02
Savannah
Yeah, or Saturday saturday Sunday back-to-back markets or markets in multiple counties um when they can go to the auction on our main schedule is Monday, Wednesday, Friday.
00:25:04
atack2010
Yeah.
00:25:19
Savannah
um Fairview has a few extra sale dates in there. um but It's kind of nice because ah growers can make the decision on what kind of marketplace works best for them um with their time constraints, labor constraints, things like that.
00:25:33
Savannah
you know When we think about the larger items like watermelon or pumpkins, um how much can you really bring to the farmer's market on Saturday morning compared to the produce auction, especially when not you have all of your stuff that might be ready all at once.
00:25:43
Jessica
And
00:25:49
atack2010
It's like high volume low price or low price high volume.
00:25:49
Jessica
you.
00:25:53
atack2010
I mean it's not mutually exclusive but it kind of is. That seems like that's how the marketing channels work the more time you put into marketing the closer you get direct to consumer the higher price you can command whereas there's a certain convenience
Retail vs. Wholesale in Agriculture
00:26:07
atack2010
factor.
00:26:07
atack2010
If you're assigning what a value to your labor and you count that in, it gives you a much clearer picture on the time that it takes going to a farmer's market. if If you take that into account, it kind of changes the considerations.
00:26:19
atack2010
But anytime we're working with producers and they're trying to decide which scale they want to jump in at, that's one of the first things we talk about is you know retail versus wholesale and the volume that both kind of typically involve themselves with.
00:26:35
atack2010
So yeah, that's where we start with a lot of discussion.
00:26:35
Jessica
And.
00:26:37
Jessica
some of those producers can do both, right? Can choose to do both where they're selling at a market and they have excess tomatoes or they know maybe they just do one market during the week, but they would really have enough for more, but they don't really have that time to commit to a market.
00:26:41
atack2010
who yeah
00:26:48
atack2010
hu
00:26:54
Jessica
Then they have that um auction as their backup to move that product. Or like you've mentioned several times about you know, moving those larger items, it's hard to haul pumpkins and watermelons to a farmer's market, right?
00:27:04
Alexis
Thank you.
00:27:06
Jessica
So being able to have an alternative selling location for that produce, so it's not going to to waste.
00:27:12
atack2010
Yeah.
00:27:13
Jessica
So yeah, there's a good balance between the two, just the market and the um ah auction.
00:27:14
Savannah
Yeah.
00:27:18
atack2010
Seems like I saw some really interesting information in one of the publications about like the percentage of growers that sell like 50 percent or less or wasn't that didn't I see that in some of UK's publications some really nuanced information on the fact that most growers don't sell like a hundred percent of their stuff all at one place or the other.
00:27:18
Savannah
Yeah.
00:27:35
Savannah
Yeah, I can't remember which publication that is out of, but it's true.
00:27:38
atack2010
and
00:27:39
Savannah
it's nice to you know The growers that are selling in this marketplace are still differentiating just like any other grower would, um and still ah thinking about um quality and packaging of their products.
00:27:53
Savannah
And even a lot of them are doing season extension, right? That idea of of getting the first tomato to the farmers market also applies um at the produce auction, right? Because the people who are buying, it's kind of from another perspective, but the people who are buying those tomatoes at the produce auction from growers, they want to have the first tomato from the spring in in whatever outlet they are moving their product to. um So those kind of ideas and similarities are overlapping.
00:28:26
atack2010
Mm-hmm. Yeah Starts with pretzels
00:28:27
Brett
So, so this next comment will seem like a non sequitur, but just stay with me. I promise there'll be a little bit of a payoff. Um, but, uh, so our, our recent in our ag economics department, I recently named chair of our department, uh, back when she was interviewing for the job, uh, doctor, shout out Aslohan Spalding. Welcome to ag economics. Um, she did an exercise where she had you close us, close our eyes and try to imagine a farmer. I'm talking about a farmer out in the field, you know,
00:28:56
Brett
And how would you describe that person? And, you know, in our department, which has a large presence of white men, I'm sure there were a lot of white men imagined in the heads of those involved, but we opened our eyes and there's pictures of women and people of color. And, and you know, I think it's an interesting avenue to consider, you know, who is contributing to agriculture, who are the farmers, who are doing those things. So that's a little aside, but in the case of a produce auction, if you're imagining, you know, a John Deere hat and ah Levi's, that may be off base for a lot of the producers and a lot of the folks who are involved in these. So there's there's a particular community that's involved heavily with establishing the produce auctions, running them, and a lot of the people who are selling to them. And that's this these plain community members.
00:29:42
Brett
And they have a lot of very unique advantages in their production. Uh, and they also have some challenges and things. And I think that that also contributes to, so in the case of the produce auction, a lot of those growers, those playing communities is like Amish Mennonite.
00:29:57
Brett
Uh, you're imagining the, the straw hats and the suspenders and the, uh, uh, yeah.
00:30:02
Savannah
Horse and buggy.
00:30:02
Alexis
on it.
00:30:03
Brett
And the unique accent and they speak this variation of German Dutch to each other. It's pretty awesome. But a lot of them are located in the immediate vicinity around where the produce auction is. And so there is like a real like base of growers who are selling into these, these places.
00:30:18
Brett
And it's their, it is their primary market channel. And then you also do have the, what they would call, they would describe as the English farmers, the folks who are typical ah you know American, look like a typical American farmer, typical typical American, Kentucky resident or something.
00:30:29
Jessica
Mm hmm.
00:30:35
Brett
I don't know what that means exactly. But, um, who also come and sell and buy from those places. And I think that's another, it's a unique aspect. If somebody hasn't experienced a produce auction, that's that's a big part of the culture and the overall aesthetic of the place is that you have this this kind of mixing of groups. and um but it's But also a lot of those playing community growers, for one reason or another, some of them technological, aren't going to be able to take pumpkins all the way to Lexington.
00:31:05
Brett
and so They need a way to sell that stuff and they're local and close by and they're saving on transportation costs and and all that kind of stuff. But that's another angle, just realizing there's some people out there who this is the first time they've ever even heard of a produce auction.
00:31:20
Savannah
Yeah. And even thinking about, um, you know, sometimes we have, we have growers that we talk to that say that they hate spending time on social media. They don't want to put the time into marketing. Um, but, uh, this could serve as a way where they could spend less time marketing, not that, um, you should be, uh, doing, doing some type of marketing, but maybe it's not on social media and maybe it's through, um, uh, the produce
Auctions' Role in Local Food Systems
00:31:47
Savannah
auction.
00:31:47
Savannah
where your, um, you know, your, your grower number is going to be listed on your product, but you know, not your farm name. Um, and you're not, you're not posting images on, on Instagram.
00:31:59
Savannah
Oh, I'm going to be at the farmer's market. Come check out my booth. It's, um, you know, you're bringing your stuff to the produce auction for the sale that starts at 10 AM and they roll through the sale and then you're done.
00:32:08
Alexis
Mmhmm.
00:32:09
Savannah
Um, so.
00:32:10
atack2010
I often wonder when these produce optionsction auctions get started ah you guys have both everyone's mentioned both the growers side and and the auction side but the chicken and egg thing I mean how do you get a you know a new like auction when that comes around and you're trying to bring that about and Brett mentioned you know, a lot of times the auctions are situated around, or growers are sit around situated around the auction and vice versa. But I mean, I'm just assuming there's kind of a base assumption as a, let's say you're a buyer, when you come that there's gonna be a base level of produce there. And on the flip side of that, if you're a grower, you're assuming there's gonna be enough buyers to purchase what you have that day. So auctions to me have just always been really interesting in the balance that they strike.
00:32:57
atack2010
And I'm always fascinated by what makes some auctions be successful in the long run. And then we, you know, there's always cases where you have an auction that may not do well in, you know, they close up shop, but auctions are always interesting to me on how the successful ones do it year in and year out, strike that balance between growers and buyers. And that's always been a really fascinating thing to me in kind of a ah broad perspective.
00:33:25
Alexis
Well, and I think, ah you know, thinking about how we get more people accessing local food, um you know this creates an operator an easier opportunity for a lot of, you know if you think about like the restaurant industry or people who, I mean, even people who are putting together food for a school. you know We think about the farm to school system, ah which you know maybe we'll do an episode on because that's very interesting the way that all works, but ah there's opportunities for people to still come by local food that's not traveled, you know
00:34:02
Alexis
across many, many states supporting the community in that way, but in a way that works for their system and a little bit more um in line with what they would do for breads or things like that. and so you know That's, to me, a really vital role of of an auction is just one more way to make local food available to the Kentucky community or wherever.
00:34:26
Alexis
that community is but then like thinking as someone who like has you know a business as well and i know there's like people who do jams and jellies and you know they might not be able to make or grow enough tomatoes or maybe they're only doing the spices and they want to add in something else um
00:34:26
Jessica
And.
00:34:45
Alexis
You know, add a pair jelly into their jelly repertoire and they can go buy pairs and expand those and everybody's helping everyone, ah you know, if you're doing a floral design workshop and you want to do pumpkins and you can go buy a big stock of pumpkins you're supporting another farmer.
00:35:03
Alexis
ah You're not going to just a box store to go buy a bunch of pumpkins. And so it's just kind of thinking about all the different types of buyers and how this sort of makes a lot of that accessible, local food more accessible to them.
00:35:15
Alexis
And they're not just going to the farmer's market and shopping.
00:35:18
atack2010
ah I was wondering about flowers, yeah.
00:35:19
Alexis
um
00:35:19
Jessica
and to kind of build on like what exactly what you're saying. I don't know about the Fairview one, but I know in Lincoln County they have their special like Mother's Day plant sale, right?
00:35:28
Alexis
isn
00:35:30
Jessica
And they have like a special fall sale and a special like, I think they do like a holiday one now, but so you're bringing, you're advertising for like your, I feel like you're non-traditional buyers that way.
00:35:39
atack2010
Mm hmm.
00:35:41
Jessica
Cause that's when they're like breaking stuff off into smaller lots for people. But they're getting that exposure, just like Alexis just talked about, they're getting the exposure to see those other products that are there. And who knows, maybe that person does work out of school and like puts two and two together, like, Oh, this would be a great opportunity to buy, you know, large amounts of produce or a restaurant owner or, you know, by, you know, advertising to these other, or I guess I would say are non-traditional buyers, you're bringing in, you know, that advertisement there.
00:35:57
Alexis
Um. Mm-hmm.
00:36:10
atack2010
or Or Jessica, you or you have a spouse that likes to go and buy large quantities of stuff.
00:36:13
Jessica
Oh, yeah. The pumpkin fairy. he He should be active soon. He goes and buys a bin of pumpkins and mums and delivers them to our neighbors and everyone.
00:36:24
Jessica
And my nieces and nephews get all excited when they see his truck coming down the road with his bin of pumpkins.
00:36:30
Savannah
Oh.
00:36:30
atack2010
So when did this person, which just happens to be Jessica's spouse, ah when did he find out that you could go directly? Did he know way back?
00:36:38
Jessica
ah Well,
00:36:38
atack2010
That's fascinating to me. When did he find this out?
00:36:40
Jessica
Both of us used to work at the Horticulture Research Farm in college, and we got exposure to the auction that way um because the research farm would have all their excess produce at that at the time.
00:36:48
atack2010
Yeah.
00:36:52
Jessica
back Things were different, I guess, and you could they would take that and sell that produce, and we would get to go down there and got to experience that. so um So he's known about it for a while.
00:37:03
Jessica
And as you all know, I'm not allowed to grow pumpkins at our farm. So that's the alternative. He just goes in and gets them that way.
00:37:09
Alexis
suspicious
00:37:11
atack2010
It's a bin, a bin of pumpkin, so win-win.
00:37:12
Jessica
Yeah. A bin of pumpkins and shares them.
00:37:14
Alexis
So it's just a way to keep your friend your neighbors happy, especially if you're putting down a lot of ah compost or fish emulsion. you know Maybe you go buy them some pumpkins and you can get them cheap at the auction.
00:37:23
Jessica
Right? Right.
00:37:27
atack2010
I noticed um on those price reports Savannah, the prices do vary during the season like everything else. What I'm no seasonality probably drives that but the number of buyers it probably all of that probably feeds into that. Is that correct? As far as the variation in the price levels throughout the season.
00:37:44
Savannah
Yeah. Yeah, I mean similar to um how it works in other marketplaces, there is seasonality that comes with um with all the crops. So actually a good visual for it, um the publication that I mentioned earlier, the three-year average ah price and quantity report actually looks at um ah Sixteen crops that are really the the most popular ones that come through the auction. um Data from ah Lincoln and Fairview are two largest auctions in the state. um Each crop is broken down into a page, um and that page has a graph for Lincoln County, a graph for Fairview, and a combined graph
00:38:24
Savannah
um But it breaks down the quantity that came in through the week and then how um price ah happened along the season. um So it's it kind of shows how um you know that early season tomato um is it's ah it's a ah nice price point to get. ah Or you can look at um the low parts in the season, which that is um a lot attributed to ah but um ah too much stuff in the market. right so At one point, um there's going to be too many pumpkins and the the great price for them um is going to go down. right and then Especially you know after October 31st, no one is buying pumpkins. um
00:39:11
Savannah
um after Halloween, and so you can also see the holiday effects right um on specific crops. um But yeah, it does kind of work the same way. um But you can see that visually on um the three-year price report that's available on our website. There will be the new one coming out later um this year, hopefully in time for a fruit and veg badge conference.
00:39:35
Savannah
um but it's kind of cool. ah Something we also added to this um version of the publication as opposed to years prior is the pack size, so what how things are packaged, um season length, and then we also compared um prices and quantities between 2020, 2021, and 2022.
00:39:58
Savannah
um These are going to be like weighted averages and there's a little ah manipulation that went into that. But um we actually could see that for most crops, um the value of price went up.
00:40:10
Alexis
Hmm.
00:40:11
Savannah
um Even if maybe quantity didn't go up um or with or growers weren't selling more, they at least um for for most crops had at a ah better price point.
00:40:11
Alexis
Hmm.
00:40:21
Savannah
right so For example, um this one that I pulled up right here, bean half bushel of beans average price in 2020 was $15.26 and 2022 it was $18.88 and this one actually went up in quantity also um But ah that's kind of ah a neat thing that we added um this year, or ah this came out earlier this year, but um it's been kind of nice. grower or ah yeah Growers are able to look at a publication like this and and kind of have some um both visuals on price, and then we have that little chart on the side.
00:41:03
Alexis
I have a dumb question. so um I know like some types of auction auctions have like a ah starting price where things go. Is that the case in a produce auction?
00:41:14
Alexis
like They start at an X value or is it literally start at zero?
00:41:17
atack2010
like A floor value.
00:41:19
Savannah
I believe they have a so they have a starting value.
00:41:22
Alexis
Okay, okay.
00:41:23
Savannah
Um, I don't know, I think it's based off, um, the average price from the week prior, but, uh, maybe don't, maybe I shouldn't have said that out loud in the microphone.
00:41:34
Savannah
and No. Um, but it's, they have, they do have a ah starting price. Um, but it it was really cool, you know, and, and you can go and look around the auction and not like buy anything.
00:41:45
Savannah
I've been a few times to kind of just see how it works.
00:41:46
Alexis
You can just go get a pie if you want.
00:41:48
Savannah
Yeah.
00:41:49
Jessica
It's, it's just a cool experience.
00:41:50
Savannah
Um, yeah.
00:41:51
Jessica
So if you don't, you don't have to go, like you just said, by just, you know, just go and be a fly on the wall and watch all of it. And who knows what you.
00:41:57
Alexis
yeah A lot of times they're like open air, at least the ones I've been to. and so like you know People are kind of coming and going from all directions. and
00:42:04
atack2010
Do you have to get a bidder number as an individual? Is that what a person would do that just wants to look around but may see a pie that they want to buy or whatever? Is that what you do as a just a you know consumer?
00:42:15
atack2010
You do what when you go there?
00:42:15
Savannah
yeah Yeah, so um any type of buyer, whether it's ah ah an average homeowner um or someone who's buying for large quantities, you will just get a buyer number um and then pay for your stuff before you leave.
00:42:29
atack2010
Gotcha.
00:42:29
Savannah
Something I did want to note, sometimes there are some smaller quantities of stuff, um maybe stuff that didn't make a lot or um kind of some odds and ends stuff.
00:42:33
Alexis
Hmm.
00:42:39
Savannah
ah So sometimes you can go to the produce auction and get lucky and get little little quantities.
00:42:43
atack2010
Only 20 pretzels in that lot, Brett. There you go.
00:42:47
Brett
Well, some auctions, it just kind of depends on some of the auctions will, will break it down into smaller quantities.
00:42:48
atack2010
Perfect.
00:42:53
Brett
And so that, and that might change year to year. So you could check in with the, cause there's some of them where you can. You bid on, like we go to the tomato section and we say, okay, per pound or per box price. And I say, okay, thirty I win it at $31 for the box, for per box.
00:43:07
Brett
And they say, how many boxes do you want? And I say, I'll take four boxes. And then they'll reopen the bidding again for the next per box price and until it's all gone.
00:43:15
Alexis
Hmm.
00:43:16
Brett
And so it just, it just varies. And you want to make sure, make sure you understand what's going on before you start just wildly bidding and and accidentally buy two, two pallets of tomatoes.
00:43:20
atack2010
Yeah.
00:43:23
Savannah
Yeah.
00:43:24
atack2010
You may Bob. Yes.
00:43:26
Jessica
You can end up with like, how many marigolds did I have this year in my yard?
00:43:27
Brett
Um,
00:43:31
Jessica
I have like over a hundred.
00:43:32
Alexis
It's
00:43:32
Jessica
I mean, I like marigolds, but that was a, you know, Mother's Day present I got.
00:43:35
Savannah
Enjents.
00:43:36
Alexis
excessive.
00:43:36
Jessica
The pumpkin fairy went to the auction in the spring.
00:43:39
Savannah
no
00:43:40
atack2010
The pumpkin, very still learning sounds like.
00:43:41
Jessica
So we got lots of marigolds everywhere.
00:43:43
Brett
the early the early flight of the pumpkin fairy.
00:43:45
atack2010
Was that a case where he thought you thought you were buying one quantity, but we're really bidding on another quantity.
00:43:49
Jessica
Yeah. So yeah, you definitely got to be careful with that because you think, Oh, I'm just going to get these three flats of, you know, something.
00:43:50
atack2010
Gotcha. Gotcha. Yeah.
00:43:55
Jessica
And it's really five or, you know, I mean, three flats is already a lot of marigolds, but ah so yeah.
00:44:02
Brett
the other Another thing I wanted to just quick quickly mention, Auctions have been one of the early, like one of the the main groups that has has been able to access some of those larger markets, like what what other but everybody's kind of talked about.
00:44:16
Brett
And those larger markets sometimes really care about food safety certifications and other stuff like that.
00:44:21
Alexis
Mhmm.
00:44:23
Brett
And so i would I would say that the auctions have played a real leadership role in the food safety training, education,
Produce Auctions During COVID & Beyond
00:44:31
Alexis
Mhmm.
00:44:31
Brett
et cetera, in the state.
00:44:33
Brett
And I know, Jessica, you were kind of saying that you'd experienced that too. or seeing that at least, you know.
00:44:38
Jessica
Yeah, when we had a lot of changes roll out a couple years ago um with food safety and produce best practices training that also led into FSMA, all of that, um the markets became the auctions became like hubs for these trainings.
00:44:55
Jessica
And ah the different auctions hosted different the trainings throughout you know the down season during the winter months ah to get as many growers trained and up to date on these food safety protocols.
00:45:08
Jessica
And um some of the auctions will send out letters and updates about things. And I've seen before where even in their letters, they're talking about different food safety issues, things that have happened and to warn others to like look out for this and then other trainings you know that are coming up to handle things.
00:45:18
Alexis
Mmhmm. Mmhmm.
00:45:26
Alexis
Yeah, it's like a community.
00:45:28
Jessica
Yeah.
00:45:30
Brett
Yeah.
00:45:30
atack2010
ah Does that also go do you guys know do they do anything like I don't know Ever host any events like like private pesticide applicators things like that. I mean just to support their growers I'm assuming there might be opportunities for things like that.
00:45:44
atack2010
I'm not for sure Do they okay awesome awesome Great
00:45:45
Brett
Yeah, they definitely do a lot of of on-site auction trainings for their growers because they it's like a rely from the extension or regulator or whoever side, it's like a reliable audience.
00:45:57
Brett
you know you go down I've gone down there and talked about markets or pricing back when I when i was doing more of that and you know it's like, oh, you're going to have like 40 or 50 people, no problem, which is pretty cool.
00:46:07
atack2010
That's awesome. Yeah. And they're all commercial people for the most part, I'd say.
00:46:10
Brett
Yeah. And they're like thinking about the same, you know, along the same lines.
00:46:11
atack2010
Yeah. Awesome.
00:46:13
Brett
And the other thing I'll mention, somebody brought this up earlier. And again, this, this predates the most of Savannah's handling of some of this data, but, um, the, ah the COVID effect or the COVID reality, and it's another, you know, I, again, I'm not overly defensive of the auctions.
00:46:24
Alexis
Mmhmm. Mmhmm.
00:46:34
Brett
I don't think there are some people who are critical of them and i feel I'm like, these are my, these are my friends. Okay. Um, but. But during COVID, they served as a crucial source for produce, both as a market outlet for the producers, which is great, but also, you know if you remember the the ah the experience of going to the grocery store and the the shelves were bare of one thing or another just because those supply chains got shut down, they were this kind of buffer to the so some of our supply chain issues, with ah particularly with the world of produce.
00:47:07
atack2010
Mm-hmm.
00:47:09
Brett
and
00:47:09
atack2010
Oh, yeah.
00:47:10
Brett
As a result, they basically set dollar sales records like every year starting 2020, then to 2021.
00:47:16
Alexis
Mm-hm.
00:47:20
Brett
It wasn't because their volume increased, it was because their prices were increasing.
00:47:23
Alexis
Mm-hm.
00:47:25
Brett
Since it's an auction, there is this really direct relationship between how strong the demand is and how high the prices go.
00:47:28
atack2010
Sublime demand, yeah.
00:47:33
Brett
and But they were they were a really interesting part of that you know in the middle of all the, so you know quote unquote, supply chain disruptions and exposing the vulnerability and and what whatnot of of some of our distribution networks. They kept on rocking and rolling at some point. It was kind of a you know early on, we don't really know what's going on, and they but they were able to stay open because they were agricultural businesses. and
00:48:01
atack2010
ah
00:48:01
Brett
um But yeah, that was just another another part of the their story that really is interesting to think about them as part of that like what Alexis was describing is this local food ecosystem.
00:48:13
atack2010
ah They're so important and that they add to the fabric and the tapestry of local food systems and that's ah something else that's fascinated me is You know, some states have, you know, even more auctions than Kentucky, but it's such a cool thing. You know, the farmer's market, you know, of course that whole process there and that whole system is awesome, but this is kind of a different thing that we're talking about with the volume and the pricing that we've talked about during this episode, but it's so cool. You're right, Brett. I think about that a lot and kind of what that adds to the state of Kentucky for both producers and buyers
00:48:49
atack2010
and how all of that relates to local food systems. It definitely does add a lot. And I thought a lot about that during COVID when I heard anecdotally that there there was more like consumers that were going and approaching auctions as there were spheres about food security or insecurity in that case.
00:48:59
Alexis
Thank you.
00:49:07
atack2010
So yeah, it's cool. Produce auctions at that time really, I think, elevated themselves in one aspect.
00:49:12
Brett
Yeah, people getting laid off and they would like their responses to try to open a roadside stand and they would go and buy from the auction. And it was kind of this, because it was, it you know, March, April, by that point, you were a little late in the game to be thinking about growing your stuff, your own stuff.
00:49:17
atack2010
um
00:49:24
Jessica
Mm hmm.
00:49:25
Brett
Uh, and so it was a wild time in so many ways, but we were really, we worked with auctions a lot during that period and just tried to hold on tight. And, and, but it was.
00:49:36
Brett
While other places were closing and it was a bad situation, it was actually really good years for the auctions, financially at least.
00:49:43
atack2010
Um, and it seems like the format of those Lynn, Linda themselves very well. Uh, you know, when the lockdown happened, because most of those are open air, aren't they?
00:49:52
Savannah
and
00:49:52
Alexis
Mm hmm.
00:49:52
atack2010
I mean, for those that haven't visited one, why do they look like an auction physically? They're just a a big open shed with concrete floor typically.
00:49:57
Alexis
Big pavilion here.
00:49:59
atack2010
Yeah.
00:49:59
Savannah
Yeah, yeah, pretty much just like large, ah large concrete floor.
00:49:59
atack2010
Yeah.
00:50:04
Savannah
They're usually some kind of overhead covering, but not like solid walls. So some protection from the rain. um But it is really cool. um It can get a little hot in there, but
00:50:14
Brett
I'd say all told Fairview has more more than a football field undercover at this point.
00:50:20
Jessica
Wow.
00:50:21
Savannah
Yeah, yeah, ah their view is large.
00:50:22
Brett
I would say like their main floor and then they've added other wouldn't you say Savannah. It's pretty pretty pretty big.
00:50:27
Savannah
a and hence so It's very large. It's really cool though. It's ah a little bit of a drive here from Lexington, but um definitely something really, really cool to check out it if you're close by. The one in Lincoln County, I think was the last one that I visited, um also open. Sometimes they will have stuff like um flowers on the ground, so maybe not on the concrete, but definitely anything that's um food will be on on the concrete floor. but um It is really cool and the ah auction also does help um load and unload stuff.
00:51:04
Savannah
ah So they have forklifts that are driving around um loading stuff out of growers um transportation units and then into um the semi trucks or the trucks of the buyers too.
00:51:15
Savannah
So that's kind of also helpful. um Some forklift safety certified people buzzing around.
00:51:21
Alexis
just We hope.
00:51:24
Savannah
Yeah, we'll see. um But no, it's it's cool. ah ah The produce auction and in 2022, all um of them besides the newest one in Trigg County, they recorded over $10 million dollars in sales, right?
00:51:38
Jessica
Wow.
00:51:38
Savannah
And so they're big players. A lot of um people might not be as familiar with them, ah but they're big players here.
00:51:41
Alexis
Mm-hmm.
00:51:46
Savannah
so
00:51:46
Jessica
Yeah.
00:51:47
Alexis
Awesome. Well, cool. i I learned a little bit of something about ah produce auctions like every time somebody talks about them, and now I'm like, do we do like a group trip?
00:51:58
Alexis
Because let's go with the pumpkin fairy and go visit and watch him buy pumpkins.
00:52:00
atack2010
Oh, yes.
00:52:02
Jessica
Let's go get some. Yeah. and And not spend all of your money.
00:52:05
atack2010
Let's all get our buyer's numbers and go. I like it. I'm on board with this. I endorse this message.
00:52:10
Alexis
Yeah, I mean, again, once again, there's pie usually available.
00:52:14
Jessica
And donuts.
00:52:15
Alexis
Donuts, yeah, like let's just go eat while we watch the pumpkin fairy work.
00:52:17
atack2010
Fresh flowers and all the things. Yeah.
00:52:22
Alexis
that's That's a good day to me. so Anyways, well, if you enjoyed this episode, ah please give us a follow on wherever you're listening to this podcast. If you've got any questions about growing things, ah about produce auctions, any of that will put Savannah's contact information in the show notes, but you can also ah shoot us an email, hortculturepodcast.l.uky.edu and we will make sure your question gets answered.
Closing & Contact Information
00:52:51
Alexis
by someone. You can also follow us on Instagram at Hort Culture podcast and we are available on there and just kind of as a reminder that we have an episode that comes out and you may see a funny picture or a Corgi in it or Brett next to a tree. Like you never know what's going to be thrown up there. So definitely go check it out and leave us a review if you are so inclined.
00:53:17
Alexis
But I think that does it for us today and so we hope that as we grow this podcast, you all grow with us. with Join us next time.