Sentinels of Sustainability: Practices of Agricultural Farms Clustered in Hungary’s Farmers’ Markets

The analysis of local farmers' markets (FMs) is an important part of sustainability issues, as the products they offer can guarantee both the proper functioning of local farms and healthy nutrition for inhabitants. The aim of this research is to identify the most important characteristics of FMs small-scale businesses related to agricultural activities based on a convenience sample in Hungary. The database obtained by the questionnaire survey was compiled based on the answers of a total of 220 farm owners/managers. The results were subjected to analysis using a K-means clustering method, which identified four distinct groups of farms with the highest weighting of turnover from agricultural activity. The clustering distinguished beekeeping, arable crop production, animal husbandry, and vegetable and fruit production, which were treated as a separate cluster. The observed differences between the groups indicate that farms primarily engaged in beekeeping and livestock farming have the highest turnover. These findings may be manifested by the group’s member farms in terms of higher professional representation and high-quality products. A noteworthy distribution-related finding is that livestock products exhibit the greatest average distance from the point of origin to the FM, which can be attributed to the sparse geographical location of the production sites. The results could have a considerable consequence for policymakers in informing them about the design of support opportunities and the identification of beneficiary groups.