MERCER COUNTY MARKET

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

🌽 Looking for food grown in Mercer County? Backyard growers and small farms around Aledo, Joy and New Windsor list it here. Watch for local sweet corn when it comes into season in Illinois. Posting an ad is free and sellers keep every dollar.

Farming in Mercer County by the Numbers

Mercer County has 690 farms on 251,455 acres (about 364 acres each). Together they sold $356.9 million of farm products in 2022, led by corn, hogs and soybeans.

Beekeepers tend about 96 honey bee colonies.

15 farms in Mercer County already sell straight to the public, about $25,000 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 Mercer County

Livestock is part of daily life here: the 2022 farm census found 323,916 hogs, 6,209 head of cattle and 1,292 sheep in Mercer County.

About 1,264 people run or help run farms in Mercer County, with an average age of 59. 28% of them are women. 89 are under 35 - the next generation of local growers. 1 farm earns money from agritourism - things like u-pick fields, pumpkin patches, farm stays and corn mazes.