Implementing a SNAP/EBT system is an on-going operation with financial and labor investments. From the very beginning, it is necessary for market organizers to assess their capacity to take this on. If your market can say “Yes!” to most of the items in this checklist, then it is ready to go!

• Does your market have a business registration with the Oregon Secretary of State?

• Does your market have an active bank account?

• Is there an advisory board or board of directors for the market, to broaden discussion and decisions as well as resources?

• Is there a market manager or other staff on site to manage the SNAP/EBT program on market days?

• Is there someone to manage bookkeeping and accounting (could be the same person (s) as above)?

• Is your market able to pay staff to run a SNAP program, or have a strong and consistent volunteer base who can be relied on to do so?

• Are there funds in your market’s budget for point-of-sale monthly service fees, transaction fees, tokens, and marketing and promotion materials (through a grant, market revenue, or vendor fees, etc.)?

• Is the market location in an area where a wireless point-of-sale device can operate (i.e., receive a clear data transmission signal)?

In order to accept SNAP benefits, your market must apply to the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) to become an authorized SNAP retailer, which will assign your market a unique FNS number. The market also needs to have a point-of-sale machine, a bank account, and determine a method of transaction for SNAP sales.

Multiple Market Locations

Each independent farmers market must apply for its own FNS number and have its own point-of-sale device. An organization that operates a farmers market at more than one site does not need to get a separate FNS number for each site, as long as the sites share the same point-of-sale device. However, if separate sites have separate point-of-sale devices they need to get separate FNS numbers. (For example, sites that operate at overlapping times would each have their own point-of-sale devices.)

Applying For an FNS Number

Markets can become an authorized SNAP retailer by applying for an FNS number with the USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service. 

You’ll need to fill out an application, which is completed online through the FNS website.

For help submitting the application, check out OFMA’s webinar with FNS Staff, Tarissa Johnson, to get a walk through of how to fill out the online form (start at 15mins in). FNS also offers a sample SNAP retailer application with guidance on how to answer each question.

The application does not take long to do if you have access to details about your market’s organization and business structure, and who from your market should be listed as official contacts. It usually takes less than an hour to complete if your market’s paperwork is in order. If your market organization is brand new, or market records are hard to come by, it will take longer. Once you start the application online you have 30 days to complete it, so go ahead and save your work and come back to it as needed. OFMA can help you prepare your application, please sign up for assistance.

In addition to submitting your online application, you’ll also need to upload supporting documentation for your organization, and copies of forms of ID for the people listed as official contacts for your market. A list of the required documents is provided through the online application.

Once your application is submitted, it can take FNS one to two months to process it and approve your market. The market is not approved until they provide you with an official authorization certificate with your market’s seven digit FNS number.

In order to accept SNAP, a point-of-sale (POS) machine is needed to process the monetary transactions. These machines need to be able to send and receive EBT card numbers and dollar amounts securely, and are either

1. a “wired” system that plugs into an existing phone line

2. a free-standing “wireless” machine using cellular data technology

3. An iOS or Android device (phone or tablet) using a POS app.

Most of the time, farmers markets use a wireless machine or device since few have access to a telephone line or power source to plug into at their market site.

Farmers Markets can get POS machines that accept SNAP only; SNAP and debit cards; or SNAP, debit and credit cards. Each offering has different associated costs depending on the market’s frequency of use and the fees charged by the service provider. Whether or not you should use a SNAP-only system, SNAP/debit or SNAP/debit/credit depends on your market.

To understand POS machines in more detail, see OFMA’s guide to Choosing and Using a POS Machine.