HARDEE COUNTY MARKET

Hardee County, Florida Farmers Market — Buy & Sell Local Crops Near You

🌽 Crop Market is a free online farmers market where neighbors in Duette, Ona and and Zolfo Springs buy and sell food they grew, baked or raised. Watch for local citrus when it comes into season in Florida. Posting an ad is free and sellers keep every dollar.

Farming in Hardee County by the Numbers

Hardee County has 920 farms on 290,694 acres (about 316 acres each). Together they sold $228.5 million of farm products in 2022, led by fruit & nuts, nursery & greenhouse plants and vegetables.

Orchards and vineyards here grow tangerines, grapefruit and avocados, and local fields produce watermelons, bell peppers, green beans and mustard greens. Beekeepers tend about 8,673 honey bee colonies.

22 farms in Hardee County already sell straight to the public, about $175,000 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 Hardee County

Out in the pastures and barnyards, Hardee County counts 71,991 head of cattle, 1,172 egg-laying hens and 508 sheep. Grass-fed beef sold by the quarter or half is a common way ranchers sell direct.

About 1,576 people run or help run farms in Hardee County, with an average age of 60. 34% of them are women. 99 are under 35 - the next generation of local growers. 6 farms earn money from agritourism - things like u-pick fields, pumpkin patches, farm stays and corn mazes.

Where Hardee County stands out: it ranks #13 of 67 FL counties for total farm sales and #14 of 67 FL counties for number of farms.