Sales up at Sussex Farmers’ Auction Market

Huddled around boxes of produce, men and women stand and make small gestures to an auctioneer – finger taps, a nose scratch, even a blink, and the price for produce inches up.

The Laurel Farmers’ Auction Market, operating since 1940, is a Delmarva institution, one farmer said.

At the auction, watermelons, cantaloupes, peppers, tomatoes, squash and other local produce are sold, from box lots to tractor-trailer loads, at the lowest asking price.

The market is a co-op governed by a board of 10, which takes 3.5 percent of all sales for the auction. At the end of the year, with expenses paid, the board decides how much money to return to farmers, depending on the year’s profit.

Recently, the market has seen a few changes.

The market is in its second season using a bin and box lot procedure, in which produce is placed in boxes on pallets under a pavilion to be sold. Prior to that, produce was sold from trucks – vehicles would line up beyond the market’s grounds.

The new system has made it easier to sell smaller amounts of produce – and a wider variety, farmers say. And sales have risen as a result – up 30 percent in 2013 and even more this season, manager Calvin Musser said.

“Now that people know what we’re doing, they’re starting to grow more locally and bring it in here,” Musser said. “Economically, we’re a big boost to the area.”

The farmers, who often sell extra produce at the market and buy items they need for their own farm stands, follow the auctioneer pallet to pallet while kids jump around under the newly built pavilion. The market is a tradition produce buyers and farmers remember as kids and hope to pass along.

It is a summertime memory.

“It’s changing with the times,” buyer Pat Hastings said. “Now my grandson’s coming out and helping.”

Bo Dickerson, who buys and sells for a small produce stand he owns, remembers living next door and walking through the woods to the market when he was too young to drive.

“It’s picking up. It’s more small business friendly and easy to buy less,” he said. “Whatever you need for your market, you can come here and one-stop shop.”

Farmers can place a reserve on their produce to protect it from prices dropping too low, but prices can still vary widely. Some buyers, such as Eddy Tingle of Tingle’s Produce in Selbyville, come every day to try to get the best deals.

“If you’re going to be a buyer, you need to come almost every day,” he said. “Prices go up and down.”

It’s a similar situation if you’re selling, he said. He comes to the market to sell his extra produce and buy what he doesn’t have.

“It can be a frustrating day when you’re not selling, and other days you get top dollar for stuff,” he said. “You never know.”

Michael Moutzalias runs Ocean Air Produce in Bethany Beach but still comes to the market – almost an hour’s drive – to get produce.

“It’s just what you do. It’s the freshest, best local produce you can get,” he said. “The only way you can get good, fresh produce is to pick it out yourself.”

The market is also used by restaurant suppliers, such as Mark Mayers, restaurant general manager/corporate chef for the Harrison Group of Ocean City. He has been buying at the market for 32 years to get local produce to serve at restaurants such as Harrison’s Harbor Watch and Palm 32.

“It’s exciting. I love talking to the farmers – it’s an experience,” he said. “You hear the economics of the world, and what’s going on if it rains. I always have a dozen questions for them, and they’re always eager to inform you.”

During the auction, workers wait around to load the winnings onto the buyer’s truck. Michael Spry, who works for DMC Farms in Laurel, said most of the produce he is loading he planted himself.

“It stays busy, it stays constantly busy,” he said, looking around the auction. “Wonderful people.”

The market runs from June through October, operating six days a week at the peak of the season.

On the other side of the market’s property is a bulk operation. Five brokers use the market’s scales and building to sort and send out thousands of watermelons each day, with the co-op taking 3.5 percent of sales.

The watermelons are driven in from fields in old school buses, an inexpensive means of transportation that’s easy to load, workers say. Watermelons traveling all around the country, and even out of the country, are processed through Laurel.

Contact Rachael Pacella at rpacella@dmg.gannett.com or at (302) 537-1881, ext. 207