This year’s unusually rainy summer has caused problems for many farmers in central Massachusetts.
The Regional Environmental Council usually holds a farmers market every Monday at Beaver Brook Park in Worcester, but this week's was canceled because too many farms are still recovering from flooding last week and more rain Monday.
Farmers market program coordinator Ashley Carter said their biggest contributors are in Lancaster, and their fields haven't dried out yet.
"Their fields are completely flooded,” Carter said. “Some were salvageable, but again that time to recoup takes a bit, letting things dry out, transplanting things, moving things, breaking into different greenhouses, things of that nature. Some of our other central Mass. farmers have been heavily hit, they have missed maybe some of the heavy flooding, but are still finding it troublesome to get into fields and get the plants out."
The rain is also impacting how many customers stop by, especially at a time when some farms are heavily relying on sales from the farmers market.
"Most of our farmers, some of them exclusively only sell at farmers markets,” Carter said. “Many of them also sell at farm stands, but it is a big part of their business, getting that retail dollar for their produce. And it’s also really important for a lot of our customers, accessing their SNAP benefits and HIP benefits, so it is a hit to us all."
The REC's mobile farmers market is back on the road Tuesday, making 14 stops through Thursday. The Beaver Brook farmers market will return on Friday.