Saturday, Sept. 18, is the last day to vote for the Farmers and Crafts Market of Las Cruces (FCMLC) as America’s best market in the 15th annual America’s Farmers Market Celebration.
Visit markets.farmland.org, click on “Cast My Vote,” enter “Las Cruces” in the search box, click on “Farmers & Crafts Market of Las Cruces,” enter your name and email address and cast your vote – it takes less than a minute.
In 2023, the celebration will award $5,000 to the contest winner, $2,500 to the second-place finisher, $1,500 to third, $750 to fourth, $250 to fifth and $100 to sixth in each state.
In 2022, FCMLC was the top vote getter in New Mexico. 10th in the Southwest region and 125th in the county out of more than 7,000 farmers markets in the competition, said FCMLC Market Manager Karin Bradshaw.
The contest is sponsored by American Farmland Trust nonprofit, which has a mission of saving farmland, promoting sound farming practices. It has run the competition since it began in 2008. The Farmers Market Coalition became a celebration co-sponsor in 2021.
More than 200 FCMLC vendors cover seven city blocks along north Main Street downtown 7 a.m.-1 p.m. every Saturday and 8:30 a.m.-1 p.m. every Wednesday. The nonprofit market began in 1971 and was named “Number One Large Farmers Market in the Nation” in America’s Farmland Trust nationwide poll in 2011.
