Expanding ‘Harvest of the Month’ to Farmers Markets
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By Tammy Howard, NCAT Agriculture Specialist
Working in the farm to school space, I have long cited the Harvest of the Month program as an excellent entry point for producers to start selling their products to schools. This program has been implemented in several states throughout the country, typically managed through state departments of agriculture, education or health.
A Harvest of the Month poster features Leafy Greens at this farmers market table.
Harvest of the Month showcases different locally-grown or raised products every month, and it can be an excellent tool for promoting farmers, ranchers, and local food businesses within a school’s existing farm to school program. The program provides an easy framework and ready-to-use educational materials and recipes. Schools can promote the product of the month by displaying or distributing Harvest of the Month materials, doing educational lessons and activities such as cooking demonstrations that highlight interesting facts, and taste-testing the product.
As part of Harvest of the Month, farmers and ranchers often come into the schools to talk about how their product is grown and harvested. These visits can grab the interest of young eaters and can help those eaters to recognize the farm brand in other marketing outlets such as grocery stores and farmers markets.
NCAT has been an important partner in advancing Harvest of the Month beyond the classroom in Montana. The goal is to expand the marketing potential of participating farms, ranches, and food businesses beyond schools to grocery stores and farmers markets. Farmers markets are the perfect venue to grow this program. The visually appealing educational materials, recipe cards, and cooking demonstrations provide opportunities for producers to highlight featured products and build a committed customer base.
NCAT has been piloting Harvest of the Month at farmers markets in Montana during the 2025 market season. Farmers markets in Montana are typically only 8-12 weeks long, so instead of highlighting a different product each month, crops are rotated out weekly. While the spotlight is usually on specialty crops including potatoes, squash, greens, and herbs, there are opportunities for vendors selling grains and beef to highlight their products as well.
One of Harvest of the Month’s recipes available to schools, farmers, and chefs.
Harvest of the Month posters draw consumers’ eyes to featured products at participating vendor stalls. Recipe cards displayed next to those products teach customers a way to prepare the product, increasing the likelihood they will purchase it. Many of the recipe cards (for example, roasted root vegetables, or beet and greens salad) include multiple local products, which may inspire customers to buy a variety of items from the vendor. We also encourage market managers to enlist food trucks or local chefs to assist with recipe demonstrations to showcase how these products can be made at home and allow customers to taste the recipe. There’s nothing like a delicious sample to inspire customers to make purchases!
Our team has adapted resources from the Montana farm to school Harvest of the Month program for farmers market managers and vendors that are utilizing this program. These resources are available for any farmers market manager or vendor to use, whether they are in Montana or not. For a wide range of recipe cards, graphics and other resources, see https://mtharvestofthemonth.org/.
A farmers market vendor displays their leafy greens with a Harvest of the Month sign.
After farmers markets slow down in late fall 2025, NCAT’s Montana local foods team will facilitate a peer learning session with participating farmers markets to hear what went well, what can be improved, and how to increase the impact of this program. Our goals are to identify opportunities for replication and to expand the program in 2026. If you are a farmers market vendor interested in exploring how to implement Harvest of the Month at your area farmers market, check out these great resources, and get in touch with our team! We would love to grow Harvest of the Month with you!
ATTRA Resources:
Farm to School Sales: Profiles of Ranches Making it Work:
https://attra.ncat.org/publication/farm-to-school-sales-profiles-of-ranches-making-it-work/
Selling to Local and Regional Markets: Barriers and Opportunities for Beginning Farmers:
Direct Marketing:
https://attra.ncat.org/publication/direct-marketing/
ncat
USDA photo by Ed Ragland.
UT Extension