Specialty Crops and Farmers Markets Add Diversity to Kansas Fields
A small but growing cohort of Kansas growers is finding success with vegetables, fruit, and direct-to-consumer sales.
Alongside the wheat and cattle that dominate Kansas agriculture, a small but growing cohort of producers is finding success with specialty crops, selling vegetables, fruit, and flowers directly to consumers at farmers markets and through subscription boxes.
These operations, often on modest acreages near cities, cater to a rising appetite for local food. Growers say the direct relationship with customers lets them capture more value and grow varieties that would never survive a long supply chain.
"People want to know who grew their tomatoes, and we are happy to shake their hand," a market gardener near Wichita said. The niche remains tiny compared with commodity agriculture but is expanding.
Advocates say specialty crops offer a viable path for beginning farmers who lack the capital to buy the thousands of acres a commodity operation requires.
