While the country waits for the effects of tariffs, farmers at the first 2025 Durango Farmers Market earlier this month were confident that a strong season awaits.
Reid Smith of Adobe House Farms north of Durango said there is a lot of uncertainty about the future costs and availability of goods at supermarkets, but he is confident trade wars will drive shoppers away from rising grocery-store prices toward local farmers markets.
If you go
The Durango Farmers Market is open from 8 a.m. to noon every Saturday at the TBK Bank parking lot, 259 W. Ninth St., through Oct. 25.
He said the Durango Farmers Market was “booming” during the COVID-19 pandemic because people were avoiding supermarkets – and he expects a similar phenomenon to unfold as tariffs result in higher food prices.
“Grocery store prices are going to go up,” he said. “I think food prices are going to go up, and I think things are going to be unstable at the grocery stores in a way that they aren’t usually. People are going to start to value the local food system, or be willing to pay for it and to support the local farms.”
He said interruptions to the global food system – such as trade wars – tend to help local farms because they snap shoppers out of routines rooted in convenience.
Supermarkets are typically more convenient than farmers markets, he said. If a shopper goes to a farmers market expecting tomatoes only to discover they’ve already sold out, that’s an inconvenient experience. But as grocery-store prices rise in the aisles, shoppers might come to appreciate farmers markets, which Smith said represent a value-based system.
“A lot of people, once they taste a real tomato, are like, ‘I’m never going back (to the supermarket),’” he said.
Food might cost a dollar more at the farmers market, but people realize they are paying for farmers who live and participate in the community, and they believe it is worth it to pay an extra dollar to local producers, he said.
Working a booth at the farmers market is a full day’s work, he said. It takes a couple of hours to transport produce and set up the booth, and another couple of hours to tear it down once the market closes.
“We got no farm work done and we worked all day,” he said. “… It’s a big commitment for farmers to stand behind the farmers market. One of the reasons the prices are high at the farmers market is you’re paying for me to stay here.”
He said it would be ideal if farmers could sell their produce at supermarkets instead of farmers markets, but aside from James Ranch and Sunnyside Farms Market, that sort of ecosystem isn’t present in Durango.
All things considered, Adobe House Farm’s cherry tomatoes and basil – the two produce items it was offering – sold out quickly at the first Durango Farmers Market of the year. Smith said that’s typical because people can taste the difference between homegrown tomatoes and those offered at grocery stores.
“People get really excited about those (tomatoes), and then no one else really has them this time of year. It’s early for that,” he said, adding he was down to just two bags of basil. “… It’s a little early for the farmers. We don’t have a lot of produce. So pretty much anything you bring sells out at the first market. It’s always a good market.”
Dolores-based Summit Roots owner Jordan Meyers said his hopes are high for a strong season despite a “questionable” water supply after a dry winter.
Dolores Water Conservancy District Manager Ken Curtis told The Colorado Sun earlier this month that the summer water supply outlook for the district is “pretty bad,” with a supply of 30% to 35%.
Meyers said he tries to be the first to market and slows down about midseason before picking back up in the fall. He’s currently selling cool-season spring vegetables such as carrots and turnips and expects to be in good shape until the midseason lull in July.
“Great start to the season. Super excited to see how it goes,” he said.
cburney@durangoherald.com
