Mom of the Year & It's Farmer's Market Time

Mom of the Year & It's Farmer's Market Time. I'm Greg Martin with today's Northwest Report.

With Mother's Day coming up this Sunday Monsanto has announced their 2015 Americas Farmers Mom of the Year. This year's winner is Shelly Boshart Davis from Albany, Ore. and grows grass seed, wheat, radishes, hazelnuts and bales grass straw. Davis was one of 5 regional finalists and received $5000 as a finalist and another $5000 as national winner. Davis is involved in her local community and the ag industry in a variety of ways, including participating in the Adopt-a-farmer program, consulting with Oregon State University, and speaking publicly at events. She was also at the forefront of the recent port issue.

The weather has been very nice as of late and with the first of June rapidly approaching that means it's time for the local farmer's markets. Quite a few markets in the northwest are already open. Barbara Boyer is one of the founders of the McMinnville Farmer's Market. She says the availability of seasonal crops may be different this year, but the essence of farmers' markets remains the same. They are a great place to help bridge the urban rural gap.

BOYER: People want to buy fresh. They want a relationship. The urban people want to know where their fresh produce is coming from. I want the conversation to be just as important as the purchase. So I want the consumer to understand and have a relationship with the farmer.

That's today's Northwest Report. I'm Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network of the West.