Markle, a Front Range native, said most farmers in the valley are in their 70s and 80s \u2013 and most of them have big farms where they grow hay for a local market. Some seasoned farmers laugh at his practices, like using plastic to protect produce from being overtaken by weeds, but the self-proclaimed \u201cfarm nerd\u201d said he often proves them wrong.<\/p>\n
The rift between generations comes by way of changing markets, Markle said. The farmers who, in the middle 1900s, worked the land he\u2019s now leasing grew crops sold at local groceries, he said. Now, most of Markle\u2019s produce is sold to the pop-up farmers market in front of Durango High School, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s hard to do anything in this town,\u201d Markle said. \u201cAnd farming is already damn near impossible.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mega farms with hundreds of acres and crop insurance are often the ones to set the price of produce, leaving local farmers like Markle competing with regional, national and even international markets. He sets his prices as low as he can \u2013 just enough for him to \u201cscrape by,\u201d he said \u2013 but local groceries and restaurants are a hard sell. He does most of the work, including planting some 70,000 onions by hand, himself, he said.<\/p>\n
And Southwest Colorado\u2019s 90-day growing season doesn\u2019t help. Most of his sales come in November, December and January \u2013 particularly the week of Thanksgiving \u2013 from crops he grew in the preceding season. Markle said he\u2019s been without income since April.<\/p>\n