Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, August 30, 1995                   TAG: 9508300070
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: B-7   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: GREG EDWARDS
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

VA. CABBAGE GROWERS ASKING FOR FEDERAL HELP

A handful of growers met Monday night at the farmers market in Hillsville and agreed to work through the Farm Bureau to ask for help. The market is not paying farmers enough to stay in business, grower Bernard Bowman said.

Cabbage growing has dropped off significantly, with harvests in Carroll and Patrick counties dropping from 2,000 to 500 acres in the past two years. Farmers say the 6 cents a pound they get for their cabbage - compared with the 39 cents to 49 cents a pound it sells for in grocery stores - doesn't provide them a profit.

During the dedication of a new building at the Hillsville marketx Tuesday, growers met with Rep. Rick Boucher, D-Abingdon, who agreed to explore a range of options with the growers. They include pursuing a suggestion by the Extension Service that growers form a co-op and market their own cabbage.