WINNEBAGO COUNTY MARKET

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

🌽 Looking for food grown in Winnebago County? Backyard growers and small farms around Rockford, Cherry Valley and Pecatonica 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 Winnebago County by the Numbers

Winnebago County has 691 farms on 167,697 acres (about 243 acres each). Together they sold $170 million of farm products in 2022, led by corn, soybeans and cattle.

Orchards and vineyards here grow apples, grapes and tart cherries, and local fields produce pumpkins, parsley, sweet corn and asparagus. Beekeepers tend about 277 honey bee colonies.

66 farms in Winnebago County already sell straight to the public, about $1.4 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 Winnebago County

Winnebago County farms and homesteads keep 10,269 head of cattle, 3,134 egg-laying hens and 977 horses and ponies. Grass-fed beef sold by the quarter or half is a common way ranchers sell direct.

About 1,174 people run or help run farms in Winnebago County, with an average age of 59. 34% of them are women. 121 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 Winnebago County stands out: it ranks #10 of 93 IL counties for selling food straight to the public and #18 of 90 IL counties for egg-laying hens.