The Burlington County farmers market was voted number one in the state during this year’s America’s Farmland Celebration.
The market got 1,483 votes, narrowly beating the West Windsor community farmers market by 11 votes, the highest score in the Northeast region.
The win is the first time the county market took the top spot in the state, based on an annual poll conducted by the American Farmland Trust. Each summer, the trust gives away $15,000 in prizes and more to the nation’s favorite markets. Voting starts on June 1 and continues through July 31.
America’s Farmland Celebration is the only annual ranking of the top farmers markets in the U.S. as voted on by the public, according to https://markets.farmland.org.
The peach party is one of several theme days planned this summer at the farmers market, including Tomato Day and For the Love of Squash Day.
“We’ve always been proud of our county farmers market and our agricultural center, and we are so excited that everyone else now gets to hear the good news,” said county Commissioner Allison Eckel, liaison to the county Department of Resource Conservation and Parks.
“It raises the profile of our farm market, so we hope others from our nearby areas will come and visit and see what we have.”
Now in its 18th season, the county farmers market is held rain or shine on Saturdays from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Agricultural Center in Moorestown. This year’s season began in May and runs through Saturday, Nov. 23, including a special holiday market on Saturday, Dec. 7. This year also featured several preseason market days during the months of March and April.
Eckel cited the county’s robust farm preservation program and expressed support for farmers as small-business owners.
“It’s been important to the (county) commissioners to make sure that we have economic opportunities for our farmers …” she noted. “We have worked hard to make sure that we have good outlets and good opportunities and good communication and good marketing for those opportunities, so that we can showcase our farmers as business owners, as offering bounty to our local residents.”
Earlier this year, the commissioners gave preliminary approval to nine farms to enter the Burlington County Farmland Preservation Program. The county will now obtain appraisals to purchase the development rights for the properties and have them deed restricted to remain in agriculture.
The farmers will continue to retain ownership of the land. If agreements are finalized with all nine, 1,196 acres of farmland would be preserved across Chesterfield, North Hanover, Mansfield, Pemberton, Tabernacle and Southampton.
The nine farms qualify for state funding that will cover as much as 60% of preservation costs. Six of the properties are also eligible for federal funding from the U.S. Department of Defense because they are within a 5-mile buffer zone around Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst. The buffer zone is important because it helps minimize security issues immediately outside the base and also limits development and land use conflicts near it.
The county has preserved more than 2,300 acres in the buffer zone since 2008. The nine farms receiving preliminary approval for preservation are the most since 2016, when 10 qualified for preservation.
“The Burlington County Parks app offers links to our agricultural center and our events calendar, as well as park and trail maps so that you can see the access features that are there and where they are, and you can get to them to enhance your quality of life around the county,” Eckel pointed out.
“We see that as all connected: our preserved farms, our open spaces, our accessible trails … That’s all part of a vision to enhance life in Burlington County, and we are densely populated, but that doesn’t mean we are wall-to-wall people. We still have these features that enhance quality of life here for everyone.”
