MITCHELL COUNTY MARKET

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

🌽 Mitchell County has more backyard fruit trees and home gardens than anyone could eat from. Crop Market connects them with neighbors in Carpenter, Little Cedar and Riceville. Homemade jams, breads and honey are listed right next to fresh produce and seedlings. Posting an ad is free and sellers keep every dollar.

Farming in Mitchell County by the Numbers

Mitchell County has 798 farms on 255,760 acres (about 321 acres each). Together they sold $493.9 million of farm products in 2022, led by corn, hogs and cattle.

Orchards and vineyards here grow apples and grapes, and local fields produce pumpkins, onions, cantaloupes and squash. Beekeepers tend about 20 honey bee colonies.

27 farms in Mitchell County already sell straight to the public, about $618,000 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 Mitchell County

Mitchell County farms and homesteads keep 239,896 hogs, 139,479 egg-laying hens and 58,128 head of cattle.

About 1,369 people run or help run farms in Mitchell County, with an average age of 55. 31% of them are women. 208 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 Mitchell County stands out: it ranks #9 of 95 IA counties for selling food straight to the public and #9 of 74 IA counties for egg-laying hens.