Serving Barnwell County and it's neighbors since 1852
Corey Beard (left), a loan officer from AgSouth Farm Credit, presents a $5,000 check to Dawn Snead (center), manager of the Barnwell Farmers Market, and Pam Rush (right), executive director of the Axis I Center of Barnwell. The grant will support the Barnwell Farmers Market.
A new grant from AgSouth Farm Credit will increase the capacity of the Barnwell Farmers Market, which has recently undergone expansion and increased its presence within the community.
The $5,000 grant, called the Growing Our Communities Grant, will go to the farmers market’s general fund and will help expand the market’s capacity, according to Dawn Snead, market manager of Barnwell Farmers Market. The grant is one of 42 grants that AgSouth Farm Credit has given to farmers markets across the southeast; Orangeburg County, Lexington County and Jasper County also received grants.
In agricultural communities like Barnwell, local platforms for small farmers to sell produce is important community service, Snead said.
“Our large-scale farmers are growing their commodity crops, but we do have a lot of family farms and smaller farms,” Snead said. “They’ll have a mix of things: maybe they’ll grow mostly peanuts but then they’ll have a smaller plot for mixed produce. We’re giving them that additional outlet.”
Although the Barnwell Farmers Market has existed for years, Snead said the market has undergone increased organization over the past year and has recruited new vendors.
“It hasn’t had any manager or organizer over the market over the years,” Snead said. “For a number of years, if you wanted to show up you could, but there [was] no set schedule or anybody that was helping manage it or any sort of promotion. Last year was the first year that we started … an organizing committee to revitalize it.”
On December 13, Corey Beard, a loan officer from AgSouth Farm Credit, gave the grant to Snead. AgSouth Farm Credit is a loan provider for agricultural communities in South Carolina, North Carolina and Georgia.
“We’re looking to better the ag community in this part of the county,” said Beard. “Some of our smaller growers have told us about how they’re excited about the farmers market.”
Beard said farmers markets are an important resource for small farmers to deliver their produce and for ties to the community.
“With the farmers market, it’s opening up places for our local growers to sell their stuff,” Beard said. “But at the same time, it’s opening up places for our local people to get produce for a better price and a better quality overall.”
The Barnwell Farmers Market is located in Fuller Park and is open on Tuesdays from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m., Thursdays from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. and the fourth Saturday of the month from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. between May and October.
