SAN BENITO COUNTY MARKET

San Benito County, California Farmers Market — Buy & Sell Local Crops Near You

🌽 Crop Market is a free online farmers market where neighbors in Hollister, Paicines and and San Juan Bautist buy and sell food they grew, baked or raised. Watch for local honey when it comes into season in California. It's free to post, there's no cut taken, and local farm food carries no sales tax.

Farming in San Benito County by the Numbers

San Benito County has 539 farms on 544,537 acres (about 1,010 acres each). Together they sold $353.3 million of farm products in 2022, led by vegetables, cattle and fruit & nuts.

Orchards and vineyards here grow grapes, apricots and apples, and local fields produce lettuce, spinach, broccoli and cabbage. Beekeepers tend about 27 honey bee colonies.

50 farms in San Benito County already sell straight to the public, about $4.1 million a year in direct sales. Crop Market gives them, and every backyard grower, a free way to reach more neighbors.

Source: USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service, 2022 Census of Agriculture.

Farm Life in San Benito County

Out in the pastures and barnyards, San Benito County counts 25,449 head of cattle, 5,627 egg-laying hens and 3,661 sheep. Grass-fed beef sold by the quarter or half is a common way ranchers sell direct.

About 1,019 people run or help run farms in San Benito County, with an average age of 61. 39% of them are women. 72 are under 35 - the next generation of local growers. 17 farms earn money from agritourism - things like u-pick fields, pumpkin patches, farm stays and corn mazes.