MCLEAN COUNTY MARKET

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

🌽 Crop Market is a free online farmers market where neighbors in Bloomington, Anchor and Chenoa buy and sell food they grew, baked or raised. Homemade jams, breads and honey are listed right next to fresh produce and seedlings. It's free to post, there's no cut taken, and local farm food carries no sales tax.

Farming in McLean County by the Numbers

McLean County has 1,488 farms on 597,397 acres (about 401 acres each). Together they sold $721.2 million of farm products in 2022, led by corn, soybeans and hogs.

Orchards and vineyards here grow peaches, apples and pears, and local fields produce pumpkins, sweet corn, tomatoes and bell peppers. Beekeepers tend about 223 honey bee colonies.

86 farms in McLean County already sell straight to the public, about $527,000 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 McLean County

Out in the pastures and barnyards, McLean County counts 141,996 hogs, 16,277 head of cattle and 2,894 egg-laying hens.

About 2,581 people run or help run farms in McLean County, with an average age of 58. 27% of them are women. 232 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.

Where McLean County stands out: it ranks #2 of 102 IL counties for total farm sales and #3 of 102 IL counties for number of farms.