LINCOLN, Neb. (KOLN) – Saturday marked the end of the 2022 Farmer’s Market season. The weather was dry and hot, but vendors said the season was not a complete loss.

Each Farmer’s Market season brings visitors to the historic Lincoln Haymarket. This year, sellers had to deal with unfavorable conditions. Despite this, sellers said they were closing out another successful season.

“It’s a great way to get people to really get involved in their community and support local businesses,” said client Richard Lewis.

Birdwood Beef has been running its family business, raising cattle and growing corn for over 100 years. This is only the second year that they have settled in the market.

“It’s been a great season, I would say,” said Jacque Sass, co-owner of Birdwood Beef. “We like to see, being here in the Haymarket and having people stop by on game day, it’s been a really successful season.”

It was a successful season despite the dry conditions this year.

“As far as the yield of our maize, it’s definitely changed things for rations for our cattle, but we’re still able to supplement with other farmers,” Sass said.

Helgoths Melons, Pumpkins and Produce is a market staple. They are in their 28th year. The drier conditions have impacted them.

“We put some of the produce under pivots which saved a bit, but we also have arid land so the drought certainly affected a lot of the yield, especially on the larger squash and pumpkins,” said sellers Colton and Laureen Helgoth.

They said the customers they see every year are worth it.

“There are a handful of them, they come in every week always with a big smile and brighten our day, that’s one of the best parts of building this relationship over the years,” Colton and Laureen said. “Getting to know people too, yeah, just having that whole sense of community.”

As for plans for the offseason, some sellers will be idle, trying to recover.

The Haymarket Farmers’ Market will return in May 2023. As for the Union College Farmers’ Market, visitors can still visit until the end of the month.