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Staff Reports

Perry, GA (September 26, 2023) – AgGeorgia Farm Credit is pleased to announce the recipients of the
2023 AgGeorgia Farmers Market grant program. Grants in the amount of $2,000 each were distributed
to five local markets throughout the cooperative’s territory for use in advertising and promotional
objectives. This is the third year of the program, with the cooperative so far awarding $24,500 to help
support rural Georgia markets and their vendors.
“There were a lot of great applications, which made the selection process difficult,” said Corey Cottle,
AgGeorgia’s Chief Marketing Officer. “However, we were excited that the markets chosen were in very
different growth stages, but all had excellent plans for the funds to make an impact for each. The grants
awarded this year will go towards helping a brand-new market, a market that is reopening after
struggling through Covid, and three other markets that are more established but looking to expand their
reach in their communities.”
The 2023 AgGeorgia Farmers Market Grant recipients are:

• Lyerly Farmers Market – Lyerly, Ga
• Stable 41 Farmers Market – Fort Oglethorpe, Ga
• Dodge County Farmers Market – Eastman, Ga
• D&S Produce and Mercantile – Summerville, Ga
• Cordele Farmers Market – Cordele, Ga

Cordele Farmers Market has been a major distribution hub of the Southeast since 1949. The market is
open year-round, seven days a week, from 8:00 am – 6:00 pm. There are five permanent vendors and
several more during the summer months for watermelon, cantaloupe, peas, corn, and other produce.
“We are so excited to be selected as one of AgGeorgia Farm Credit’s Farmers Market Grants for 2023.
This will allow us to expand the promotion and advertising of the Cordele Farmers Market, which is a
huge economic engine in our region of the state,” says Monica Simmons, Cordele-Crisp Chamber of
Commerce President.
AgGeorgia plans to continue the program in 2024 and encourages interested markets in the
association’s 79 county service area, particularly those who have applied and not yet been selected, to
apply next year.

About AgGeorgia Farm Credit
AgGeorgia Farm Credit is an agricultural lending cooperative owned by over 5,000 member-borrowers,
with a mission to improve the lives of Georgia’s farmers, families and rural communities. AgGeorgia
provides farm loans for land, equipment, livestock and production; rural home mortgages, and services
such as leasing. AgGeorgia Farm Credit has 16 branches serving 79 counties in Georgia. It is part of the
national Farm Credit System, a network of financial cooperatives established in 1916 to provide a
dependable source of credit to farmers and rural America. For