The Market Bulletin – more formally known as the Farmers and Consumers Market Bulletin – is a staple in more than 100,000 Georgia households. The free, biweekly publication that contains news, photos and column after column of small-type advertisements related to the farming/agricultural industry is distributed by mail. Its future, however, is uncertain.
Proposed legislation would institute a subscription fee. That change, supporters of the status quo argue, would be a disservice to subscribers and to the state. Tommy Irvin, who has served as state agriculture commissioner for 42 years, is leading the opposition to the subscription fee. He states his case in what he calls a “personal letter” to subscribers on the front page of the current edition of the bulletin. His points are valid, though hardly objective since his name appears prominently on the masthead of every issue..
Mr. Irvin says the bulletin is a “vital marketing tool and a source of information for farmers and consumers” That’s true. He cites a University of Georgia survey that reported purchases and sales transacted through the bulletin “provide an economic boost of $60-$75 million a year for our state’s economy.” That’s possible, but the survey cited was taken in 1999, a period when economic conditions in the state were quite different than now. A more recent survey of the bulletin’s economic impact would be far more germane.
There’s no doubt the publication is popular. It has readers in all of Georgia’s more than 150 counties. A copy of the bulletin is sent free of charge to any resident of Georgia who requests it. The only qualification is that it must be mailed to a Georgia address. About 130,000 subscribers meet the in-state requirement. The bulletin has fans elsewhere, as well. Another 500 or so subscribers reside outside Georgia. They pay $30 annually for a subscription.
Those who support a subscription fee for the bulletin do not question its popularity or its utility. They say a subscription fee for a publication that has never had one in its nearly 100-year history is dictated by economics and nothing else. They’ve got a point. At a time when Georgia, like most states, is hard-pressed to fund schools, health care, infrastructure repair and a host of other vital programs, continued subsidies for a service bulletin surely are a debatable expense.
Other states now require paid subscriptions for similar publications. Charging a small fee – $10 annually for 26 issues of Georgia’s bulletin is likely – seems a modest request in current circumstances. Georgians, not elected officials alone, should decide the issue.
Mr. Irvin encourages those who want a free Market Bulletin to contact their state legislators to make their views known. Those who believe the bulletin should pay its own way in part or in full should do the same.