HOWARD COUNTY MARKET

Howard County, Iowa Farmers Market — Buy & Sell Local Crops Near You

🌽 Buy local in Howard County: fruit, vegetables, honey, baked goods, plants and livestock from people in Chester, Cresco and and Protivin. Fruit, vegetables, cottage foods, plants, seeds and farm gear are all welcome. It's free to post, there's no cut taken, and local farm food carries no sales tax.

Farming in Howard County by the Numbers

Howard County has 869 farms on 296,769 acres (about 342 acres each). Together they sold $586.5 million of farm products in 2022, led by hogs, corn and soybeans.

Orchards and vineyards here grow grapes, and local fields produce pumpkins, cantaloupes, watermelons and green beans. Beekeepers tend about 799 honey bee colonies.

13 farms in Howard County already sell straight to the public, about $69,000 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 Howard County

Howard County farms and homesteads keep 531,959 hogs, 103,673 egg-laying hens and 33,433 head of cattle.

About 1,496 people run or help run farms in Howard County, with an average age of 59. 33% of them are women. 140 are under 35 - the next generation of local growers. 5 farms earn money from agritourism - things like u-pick fields, pumpkin patches, farm stays and corn mazes.

Where Howard County stands out: it ranks #5 of 93 IA counties for honey bee colonies and #12 of 74 IA counties for egg-laying hens.