SHELBY COUNTY MARKET

Shelby County, Kentucky Farmers Market — Buy & Sell Local Crops Near You

🌽 Crop Market is a free online farmers market where neighbors in Bagdad, Finchville and and Waddy buy and sell food they grew, baked or raised. Kentucky favorites like apples and sorghum syrup show up here when they're in season. It's free to post, there's no cut taken, and local farm food carries no sales tax.

Farming in Shelby County by the Numbers

Shelby County has 1,350 farms on 160,081 acres (about 119 acres each). Together they sold $91.7 million of farm products in 2022, led by corn, soybeans and cattle.

Orchards and vineyards here grow apples, peaches and pears, and local fields produce tomatoes, potatoes, onions and bell peppers. Beekeepers tend about 586 honey bee colonies.

75 farms in Shelby County already sell straight to the public, about $1.1 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 Shelby County

Livestock is part of daily life here: the 2022 farm census found 25,269 head of cattle, 5,131 egg-laying hens and 3,328 horses and ponies in Shelby County. Grass-fed beef sold by the quarter or half is a common way ranchers sell direct.

About 2,419 people run or help run farms in Shelby County, with an average age of 58. 41% of them are women. 180 are under 35 - the next generation of local growers. 22 farms earn money from agritourism - things like u-pick fields, pumpkin patches, farm stays and corn mazes.

Where Shelby County stands out: it ranks #4 of 120 KY counties for number of farms and #4 of 111 KY counties for honey bee colonies.