RIO GRANDE COUNTY MARKET

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

🌽 Crop Market is a free online farmers market where neighbors in La Garita, Monte Vista and and South Fork buy and sell food they grew, baked or raised. 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 Rio Grande County by the Numbers

Rio Grande County has 318 farms on 174,641 acres (about 549 acres each). Together they sold $150.7 million of farm products in 2022, led by vegetables, hay & other field crops and barley.

Local fields produce green peas, spinach, bell peppers and garlic. Beekeepers tend about 12 honey bee colonies.

23 farms in Rio Grande County already sell straight to the public, about $297,000 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 Rio Grande County

Rio Grande County farms and homesteads keep 10,733 head of cattle, 5,065 sheep and 842 horses and ponies. Grass-fed beef sold by the quarter or half is a common way ranchers sell direct.

About 654 people run or help run farms in Rio Grande County, with an average age of 55. 38% of them are women. 97 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.

Where Rio Grande County stands out: it ranks #11 of 60 CO counties for total farm sales.