Farmers scramble after Saturday’s Lancefield market cancelled

Lancefield farmers’ market has been cancelled, leaving produce to perish and farmers and organisers furious over lost income.

Lancefield and District Farmers’ Market. Source: LDFM Facebook

LANCEFIELD and District Farmers’ Market has been forced to cancel tomorrow’s market with just one day’s notice, leaving dozens of farmers scrambling to find alternate ways to sell their picked and packed produce.

The market’s governing body, Lancefield Neighbourhood House, made the last-minute call this morning, citing “public safety” as the reason it called a halt to trading.

Market manager Meggs Hannes said she was disappointed by the late decision, which was an about-face from the committee’s approval on Tuesday to allow the market to go ahead.

“I’m shocked and really dismayed that this would happen at this time because people have largely packed their vehicles and are ready to go trade to their regulars, who are also relying on them,” Meggs said.

Meggs Hannes. Picture: Zoe Phillips

She said strict social distancing protocols had been enforced at the market since the start of the pandemic.

Local police had also agreed to patrol this Saturday’s event to check car license plates for visitors from Melbourne and Mitchell Shire.

Classed as essential services by the government, farmers’ markets are allowed to operate under stage three COVID-19 restrictions.

Macedon Ranges Shire, where the market is normally held, is not currently under coronavirus restrictions. It has six active cases of coronavirus.

A worker at a nearby Coles supermarket in Woodend tested positive for coronavirus in mid-July. The worker is one of more than 30 supermarket staff, who worked at 18 different Coles stores and 16 Woolworths stores in Victoria, to test positive in the past month.

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Lancefield Neighbourhood House president Peter Quinn said the late decision to shut the market was made to keep the community safe.

“Lancefield farmers’ market is a big of a draw card for people from all over,” he said. “Our biggest concern was that people coming to the market circulating around town could pose a threat. There is a real possibility that someone from outside the community could introduce the virus to Lancefield.”

He said the Neighbourhood House committee valued the market and recognised the frustration of stallholders.

“We are all making sacrifices and unfortunately people are going to be hurt by this,” he said.

“We think in the overall picture at the moment, it is the responsible thing to do.”

Vegetable grower Sandor Istella said the sudden cancellation left him with $1500-worth of harvested veg that would perish if he didn’t sell it in the coming week.

“For us, that is huge,” said Sandor, who grows 10 varieties of potatoes and seasonal vegetables with business partner Lincoln Barnes at Newlyn.

“Farmers have to prepare a few days in advance, especially with the weather, to be able to attend the market,” he said.

“Cancelling at last minute, it is not just the loss of income that is the problem, it is the loss of produce.

“It’s lucky we had the cancellation (come through) at lunchtime and I didn’t pick some more, otherwise it would be worse.”

Other farmers’ markets have rallied to help the displaced stallholders.

Sandor and Lincoln have been offered a spot at Nagambie Farmers’ Market on Sunday.

Nagambie market manager Chris Hain also runs a weekly pop-up market in Bendigo, where other stallholders may be accommodated.

Melbourne Farmers Markets has also welcomed some Lancefield traders.

MFM director Miranda Sharp said some of the network’s city markets, including Collingwood Children’s Farm, Abbotsford Convent and University of Melbourne, had stopped trading during the pandemic, however many had continued with strict health protocols in place.

“When restrictions started to lift, we did not,” Miranda said.

“We continued the strictest of precautionary measures anticipating that having established the safest environment we possible could, we were not going to risk easing off.

“There are so many small regional businesses hanging on our trade.

“This weekend over a hundred small regional producers are trading because we can stay open.

“Our attitude is not at all complacent. On the contrary, we are absolutely turning ourselves inside out to take this responsibility seriously and obviously to keep trading.”

Victorian Farmers Market Association chief executive Kate Archdeacon said the Lancefield closure could cause significant loss of income for farmers.

“There will have been animals sent to the abattoir, vegetables picked, produce packed,” she said. “The worst thing about it is the last minute decision.”

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