CHAFFEE COUNTY MARKET

Chaffee County, Colorado Farmers Market — Buy & Sell Local Crops Near You

🌽 From Buena Vista to and Salida, Chaffee County gardeners, small farms and home cooks post their extra harvest here for people nearby. Homemade jams, breads and honey are listed right next to fresh produce and seedlings. It's free to post, there's no cut taken, and local farm food carries no sales tax.

Farming in Chaffee County by the Numbers

Chaffee County has 273 farms on 63,301 acres (about 232 acres each). Together they sold $10.1 million of farm products in 2022, led by cattle, hay & other field crops and nursery & greenhouse plants.

Orchards and vineyards here grow apples, and local fields produce squash, garlic, potatoes and cabbage. Beekeepers tend about 46 honey bee colonies.

34 farms in Chaffee County already sell straight to the public, about $290,000 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 Chaffee County

Out in the pastures and barnyards, Chaffee County counts 6,387 head of cattle, 1,077 horses and ponies and 932 egg-laying hens. Grass-fed beef sold by the quarter or half is a common way ranchers sell direct.

About 497 people run or help run farms in Chaffee County, with an average age of 58. 43% of them are women. 39 are under 35 - the next generation of local growers. 12 farms earn money from agritourism - things like u-pick fields, pumpkin patches, farm stays and corn mazes.