Aug 19, 2019
Produce Month recognized at Buffalo Valley Auction in Pennsylvania

August is PA Produce Month, a month-long celebration of the abundance of local, Pennsylvania-grown vegetables. Pennsylvania Secretary of Agriculture Russell Redding visited Buffalo Valley Produce Auction in Mifflinburg, Pennsylvania, August 15 to present a copy of the Governor’s Produce Month proclamation to Neil Courtney, manager of the Auction. 

The PA Produce Month celebration is sponsored by the Pennsylvania Vegetable Marketing and Research Program to recognize the 101,000 tons of delicious and nutritious fresh and processed vegetables worth over $60 million that are grown by over 4,000 Pennsylvania growers on 45,700 acres. Pennsylvania’s vegetable growers are national leaders in the production of processing snap beans (3rd); pumpkins (7th), cantaloupes (7th), fresh market sweet corn (9th), fresh market tomatoes (11th) and fresh market cabbage (12th).  While Pennsylvania vegetables are available throughout the year either as fresh, processed or stored products, August is the month when many fresh vegetable crops are at the peak of their season. There are tomatoes, sweet corn, peppers, zucchini, cucumbers, cantaloupes, watermelons, cabbage, beans, eggplant, potatoes, onions, and other crops widely available at roadside farm markets, community farmers’ markets, specialty grocers and even the local supermarkets not to mention local CSAs.

Buffalo Valley Produce Auction was established in 1987 by a group of forward-thinking farmers who gathered together to dream and then build a 30’ x 60’ building. Due to the hard work & dedication of their growers and auction staff their business expanded rapidly. After five subsequent building projects, their current buildings cover over 128,000 sq. ft. and boast over 180 dock spaces. The auction is one of the three largest produce auctions in the United States selling millions of dollars of local Pennsylvania produce each year and holding both the largest pumpkin and Christmas tree auctions in the world. 

The Vegetable Marketing and Research Program’s website at PAVeggies.org offers consumers recipes and preparation tips from chefs and growers to help them enjoy PA vegetables to the fullest this August.  The Program also offers tips on vegetable use at “PA Veggies” on Facebook and at “paveggies” on Instagram.  The PAVeggies.org website also offers a directory of retail markets and CSAs as well as a directory of wholesale growers.

From left, William Pyle, BVPA Board President; Scott Hoffman, Vegetable Marketing and Research Program Vice Chair; Neil Courtney, BVPA Manager; Russell Redding, Pennsylvania Secretary of Agriculture; William Troxell, Vegetable Program Executive Secretary and John Esslinger, Penn State Extension.

  




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