MADISON COUNTY MARKET

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

🌽 Crop Market is a free online farmers market where neighbors in Bevington, Earlham and Saint Charles buy and sell food they grew, baked or raised. Homemade jams, breads and honey are listed right next to fresh produce and seedlings. Listing is free and you keep 100% of every local sale.

Farming in Madison County by the Numbers

Madison County has 1,133 farms on 311,851 acres (about 275 acres each). Together they sold $235.5 million of farm products in 2022, led by corn, hogs and cattle.

Orchards and vineyards here grow apples, grapes and peaches, and local fields produce pumpkins, okra and tomatoes. Beekeepers tend about 1,276 honey bee colonies.

76 farms in Madison County already sell straight to the public, about $535,000 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 Madison County

Madison County farms and homesteads keep 55,247 hogs, 31,279 head of cattle and 1,575 sheep.

About 1,977 people run or help run farms in Madison County, with an average age of 58. 35% of them are women. 161 are under 35 - the next generation of local growers. 8 farms earn money from agritourism - things like u-pick fields, pumpkin patches, farm stays and corn mazes.

Where Madison County stands out: it ranks #3 of 93 IA counties for honey bee colonies and #11 of 95 IA counties for selling food straight to the public.