UNION COUNTY MARKET

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

🌽 From Alto Pass to and Wolf Lake, Union County gardeners, small farms and home cooks post their extra harvest here for people nearby. Homemade jams, breads and honey are listed right next to fresh produce and seedlings. Posting an ad is free and sellers keep every dollar.

Farming in Union County by the Numbers

Union County has 601 farms on 140,501 acres (about 234 acres each). Together they sold $54.6 million of farm products in 2022, led by soybeans, corn and fruit & nuts.

Orchards and vineyards here grow pecans, pears and plums, and local fields produce cucumbers, pumpkins, tomatoes and bell peppers. Beekeepers tend about 67 honey bee colonies.

39 farms in Union County already sell straight to the public, about $3.2 million 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 Union County

Union County farms and homesteads keep 8,382 head of cattle, 1,214 egg-laying hens and 361 horses and ponies. Grass-fed beef sold by the quarter or half is a common way ranchers sell direct.

About 1,083 people run or help run farms in Union County, with an average age of 59. 30% of them are women. 116 are under 35 - the next generation of local growers. 17 farms earn money from agritourism - things like u-pick fields, pumpkin patches, farm stays and corn mazes.

Where Union County stands out: it ranks #3 of 93 IL counties for selling food straight to the public.