PORTER COUNTY MARKET

Porter County, Indiana Farmers Market — Buy & Sell Local Crops Near You

🌽 Buy local in Porter County: fruit, vegetables, honey, baked goods, plants and livestock from people in Beverly Shores, Hebron and Valparaiso. Homemade jams, breads and honey are listed right next to fresh produce and seedlings. It's free to post, there's no cut taken, and local farm food carries no sales tax.

Farming in Porter County by the Numbers

Porter County has 462 farms on 122,238 acres (about 265 acres each). Together they sold $102 million of farm products in 2022, led by corn, soybeans and vegetables.

Orchards and vineyards here grow apples, grapes and pears, and local fields produce tomatoes, pumpkins, bell peppers and chile peppers. Beekeepers tend about 436 honey bee colonies.

37 farms in Porter County already sell straight to the public, about $337,000 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 Porter County

Porter County farms and homesteads keep 2,043 head of cattle, 1,540 egg-laying hens and 487 goats. Grass-fed beef sold by the quarter or half is a common way ranchers sell direct.

About 788 people run or help run farms in Porter County, with an average age of 56. 33% of them are women. 69 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 Porter County stands out: it ranks #13 of 88 IN counties for honey bee colonies.