MASON COUNTY MARKET

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

🌽 Buy local in Mason County: fruit, vegetables, honey, baked goods, plants and livestock from people in Allen, Biggs and Luther. Watch for local apples when it comes into season in Illinois. It's free to post, there's no cut taken, and local farm food carries no sales tax.

Farming in Mason County by the Numbers

Mason County has 588 farms on 324,668 acres (about 552 acres each). Together they sold $315.1 million of farm products in 2022, led by corn, soybeans and vegetables.

Local fields produce green beans, pumpkins and sweet corn. Beekeepers tend about 97 honey bee colonies.

10 farms in Mason County already sell straight to the public, about $139,000 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 Mason County

Mason County farms and homesteads keep 4,964 head of cattle, 321 egg-laying hens and 68 horses and ponies. Grass-fed beef sold by the quarter or half is a common way ranchers sell direct.

About 902 people run or help run farms in Mason County, with an average age of 60. 23% of them are women. 83 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.