Today I was headed up past Fryburg, Ohio to visit an area business and I drove past the Mt. Hope Farmer’s Produce Auction near Mt. Hope, Ohio. I had been wanting to stop there, for a while now, to take some photos; so today was the day. The weather was beautiful this morning with a misty fog which cleared up mid-forenoon as the sun burned the fog away. The farmers auction is an interesting place to go just to watch the action. There was a lot of activity early on because this time of year is one of the busiest at the auction house. I talked to Levi Kuhns, the order buyer for the auction. He informed me that they hit a new record high last Tuesday and they thought that today’s sales might break last week’s record. I talked with various people, among them, Butch Galley from Nashville, who has a truck and trailer that he uses to bring his Amish neighbor’s produce to the auction. Butch introduced me to Steve Finney, owner of Moreland Fruit Farm. Steve said that his dad was involved in the startup of the auction about 15-16 years ago. He stated that Moreland Fruit Farm brings about 50-60 different items to the auction over a typical growing season. A lot of area businesses, grocery stores, restaurants, produce markets, and individuals come to buy or bid on the vast amount of produce. One of the high-volume buyers, Buhler’s Market (a local grocery chain), will haul off one or more semi truck loads of produce per week. The Mt. Hope Farmers Produce Auction will be selling produce right until close to Thanksgiving. The auction house was started back in 1995 by Steve Mullet. Today Steve and his sons, Thurman and Chester, own the business. The boy’s uncle, Jim Mullet, is the manager. From the looks of things I would say they’ve got a pretty good thing going. Click here to visit the auction’s website: http://www.mthopeauction.com/farmers-produce-auction