HIGHLANDS COUNTY MARKET

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

🌽 Highlands County has more backyard fruit trees and home gardens than anyone could eat from. Crop Market connects them with neighbors in Sebring, Avon Park and and Venus. Watch for local strawberries when it comes into season in Florida. Posting an ad is free and sellers keep every dollar.

Farming in Highlands County by the Numbers

Highlands County has 836 farms on 389,622 acres (about 466 acres each). Together they sold $225.5 million of farm products in 2022, led by nursery & greenhouse plants, fruit & nuts and cattle.

Orchards and vineyards here grow oranges, tangerines and lychees. Beekeepers tend about 9,197 honey bee colonies.

21 farms in Highlands County already sell straight to the public, about $3.1 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 Highlands County

Livestock is part of daily life here: the 2022 farm census found 74,469 head of cattle, 1,535 egg-laying hens and 597 horses and ponies in Highlands County. Grass-fed beef sold by the quarter or half is a common way ranchers sell direct.

About 1,530 people run or help run farms in Highlands County, with an average age of 59. 37% of them are women. 89 are under 35 - the next generation of local growers. 18 farms earn money from agritourism - things like u-pick fields, pumpkin patches, farm stays and corn mazes.

Where Highlands County stands out: it ranks #2 of 65 FL counties for selling food straight to the public and #14 of 67 FL counties for total farm sales.