LEWISBURG -- Matt Mousley said he doesn't think the farm bill will give any additional help to local farmers, however area residents can lend support through purchasing locally grown food.

"(The farm bill) is definitely just for corporate agriculture. But some organizations," like the Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture, he said, "are attempting to include more input from smaller farms."

Despite the dreary, cold conditions, Mousley and his wife, Patty, set up a stand Friday at the opening day of the Susquehanna Valley Growers' Market at Hufnagle Park in Lewisburg. This is the fourth year for the market, which will be held every Friday, through Oct. 31, from noon to 5 p.m.

Joined by about eight other local farmers and their products, the stands lined the upper side of the park and offered a variety of products from meats and vegetables to salsa and flowers.

Steve Forman and his wife, Becky, of Turbotville, offered pork, chicken and sausage to local residents who braved the weather and stopped by the market.

Mr. Forman agreed with Mousley's thoughts on the farm bill, and said local farmers will only benefit from it if they are big enough to take subsidies.

"People should buy fresh, buy local," Forman said, "at stands and markets. With the price of gasoline, we can't keep trucking food across the country."

As Ben Macneal set up a stand filled with bottles of maple syrup, he said he was ashamed to say he wasn't quite sure what the most recent farm bill addressed.

"I'm not a subsidized farm," he said, "so it's not of great importance to me."

Macneal, who also sells apples from his 18-acre orchard, said he is more concerned with sale price of his products.

"Farms on our scale are much more smaller economic entities," he said. "To sell at a good price is what I'm really concerned with."

Each of the vendors agreed that, to support the local farmers, residents should shop at local farm markets and stands, while encouraging others to do the same.

"Buy local," Mousley said. "Don't go to the supermarket. Buy during the summer months and put it in the freezer for winter."