SALINE COUNTY MARKET

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

🌽 Crop Market is a free online farmers market where neighbors in Carrier Mills, Eldorado and and Stonefort buy and sell food they grew, baked or raised. Fruit, vegetables, cottage foods, plants, seeds and farm gear are all welcome. It's free to post, there's no cut taken, and local farm food carries no sales tax.

Farming in Saline County by the Numbers

Saline County has 393 farms on 159,177 acres (about 405 acres each). Together they sold $134.6 million of farm products in 2022, led by corn, soybeans and hogs.

Beekeepers tend about 169 honey bee colonies.

3 farms in Saline County already sell straight to the public, about $16,000 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 Saline County

Out in the pastures and barnyards, Saline County counts 63,989 egg-laying hens, 41,048 hogs and 7,411 head of cattle. Fresh farm eggs are one of the easiest things to buy and sell locally.

About 696 people run or help run farms in Saline County, with an average age of 59. 29% of them are women. 60 are under 35 - the next generation of local growers. 2 farms earn money from agritourism - things like u-pick fields, pumpkin patches, farm stays and corn mazes.

Where Saline County stands out: it ranks #5 of 90 IL counties for egg-laying hens.