POPE COUNTY MARKET

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

🌽 Crop Market is a free online farmers market where neighbors in Brownfield, Eddyville and and Robbs buy and sell food they grew, baked or raised. Fruit, vegetables, cottage foods, plants, seeds and farm gear are all welcome. Posting an ad is free and sellers keep every dollar.

Farming in Pope County by the Numbers

Pope County has 332 farms on 77,364 acres (about 233 acres each). Together they sold $18.2 million of farm products in 2022, led by soybeans, corn and cattle.

Beekeepers tend about 9 honey bee colonies.

4 farms in Pope County already sell straight to the public, about $12,000 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 Pope County

Out in the pastures and barnyards, Pope County counts 7,026 head of cattle, 693 egg-laying hens and 357 horses and ponies. Grass-fed beef sold by the quarter or half is a common way ranchers sell direct.

About 600 people run or help run farms in Pope County, with an average age of 59. 31% of them are women. 47 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.