COLES COUNTY MARKET

Coles County, Illinois Farmers Market — Buy & Sell Local Crops Near You

🌽 Looking for food grown in Coles County? Backyard growers and small farms around Ashmore, Charleston and and Oakland list it here. Illinois favorites like apples and honey show up here when they're in season. Posting an ad is free and sellers keep every dollar.

Farming in Coles County by the Numbers

Coles County has 673 farms on 214,931 acres (about 319 acres each). Together they sold $197 million of farm products in 2022, led by corn, soybeans and hogs.

Local fields produce pumpkins, squash and potatoes. Beekeepers tend about 82 honey bee colonies.

10 farms in Coles County already sell straight to the public, about $18,000 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 Coles County

Coles County farms and homesteads keep 16,756 hogs, 2,209 head of cattle and 434 egg-laying hens.

About 1,143 people run or help run farms in Coles County, with an average age of 61. 29% of them are women. 87 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.