KSJD Local Newscast - May 2, 2025

The Cortez Farmers Market will be in a new location when it opens this season.
For at least two decades, people have been coming to the parking lot of the Montezuma County Courthouse at 109 West Main Street on Saturday mornings to purchase produce and other goods from local vendors.
But on April 27, the county terminated its agreement with the market after several issues could not be resolved.
The Cortez Farmers Market is reportedly the longest-running in the state.
A member of the market’s standing committee, Emily Wisner, told KSJD that the committee and vendors voted unanimously on Thursday night to move to a new location, which will be announced soon.
County Commission Chairman Jim Candelaria told KSJD that the commissioners had concerns about the presence of food trucks and vendors selling non-agricultural goods at the market. He said, “We 100 percent support a farmers market but it’s turned into more of a flea market.”
Wisner disagreed, saying they have never allowed just anyone to sell anything. She said for several years the number of farmers who sell produce has declined, so the market allowed additional vendors, especially those offering goods made from local products, such as goat’s milk soap.
The county, which provided the use of the parking lot for free, had said the market could set its own rules if it paid a fee to use another county space.
Wisner said the move may be a boon and the new location will suit the community. She said, “We are really looking at this as a gift.”