WASHINGTON, D.C. — The number of farmers’ markets in the United States increased over the last year, a trend a USDA official said signifies the public’s desire for locally grown food.

Each August, the USDA updates its National Farmers’ Market Directory, an online listing of markets across the country. This year, the directory lists 7,864 markets, up 9.6 percent from last year.

“People are craving that reconnection (to the farm),” said Kathleen Merrigan, USDA deputy secretary. “They’re showing that craving by their demand for local produce, local meats and local fiber of all sorts. We see local as the biggest food trend right now.

“Farmers’ markets are very local and people like to stop at the table and talk to people who are affiliated with the farm and learn a little bit more about where their food comes from.”

The number of markets listed is probably less than the actual amount nationwide because information for the guide is self-reported, Merrigan said. California has the most listed, with 827.

The rest of the top 10 are New York (647), Massachusetts (313), Michigan (311), Wisconsin (298), Illinois (292), Ohio (264), Pennsylvania (254), Virginia and Iowa (tied for ninth with 227) and North Carolina (202). Together, the states represent 49 percent of all the markets listed in the directory database.

Indiana and Kentucky each had 162 markets listed, and Tennessee had 93. In the Southeast, which includes Kentucky and Tennessee, the number of listed markets increased 13.1 percent over 2011.

“I do believe that there is a yearning in this country for people to reconnect with farmers, with agriculture,” Merrigan noted. “Ninety-nine percent of us do not hail from the farm or ranch, and yet we have a sense, heightened by the drought in the headlines across the country, that everything that goes on, on those working lands, our farms and ranches, is really important to all of us who are not on those working lands.”

Indiana has tried to promote farmers’ markets several ways, including a cost-share program, said Jill Pritchard, program manager of diversified agriculture and entrepreneurial development for the Indiana State Department of Agriculture. The first-come, first-serve program offers 50 percent cost reimbursement, for a maximum of $500, for promotion and advertising.

“Farmers’ markets are important to consumers,” Pritchard noted. “They’re a lot more curious and a lot more interested in where their food comes from. People want to connect with that farmer, they want to help him.”

Because produce tends to lose its nutritional value after it’s picked, more members of the public like the idea of purchasing locally grown products that were probably recently picked, she explained.

Technology allows farmers to reach out to potential customers in new ways through such social networking sites as Twitter and Facebook, and through directories such as the one posted online by the USDA, Pritchard said.

Farmers are attracted to markets because selling directly to consumers may allow them to receive more than they currently do on the retail dollar, which the USDA has estimated at 14 cents for the average farmer, Merrigan said. Markets benefit state and local economies, including in job creation, she noted.

Rural and urban areas alike are seeing increases in the number of farmers’ markets, with markets in urban areas often becoming social centers for a community, she said.

Merrigan doesn’t expect the number of farmers’ markets to change in the 2013 directory because of the drought.

“I’m hoping that consumers across the countryside understand that now more than ever is time to support your farmer,” she said. “Now is not the time to get discouraged or disgruntled if your sweet corn isn’t exactly as you had hoped, but understand that this is a tough year for farmers.”

The USDA is hoping to make it easier for all consumers to buy from farmers’ markets by outfitting many with the ability to accept SNAP funds (the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly food stamps), Merrigan said. The agency will spend $4 million to equip markets with wireless point-of-sale equipment.

To view the 2012 directory, visit
http://search.ams.usda.gov/farmers markets