HOWARD COUNTY MARKET

Howard County, Maryland Farmers Market — Buy & Sell Local Crops Near You

🌽 From Columbia to Dayton, Howard County gardeners, small farms and home cooks post their extra harvest here for people nearby. Watch for local honey when it comes into season in Maryland. It's free to post, there's no cut taken, and local farm food carries no sales tax.

Farming in Howard County by the Numbers

Howard County has 345 farms on 37,639 acres (about 109 acres each). Together they sold $29.6 million of farm products in 2022, led by nursery & greenhouse plants, corn and soybeans.

Orchards and vineyards here grow grapes, walnuts and hazelnuts, and local fields produce pumpkins, tomatoes, green beans and lettuce. Beekeepers tend about 589 honey bee colonies.

48 farms in Howard County already sell straight to the public, about $2.6 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 Howard County

Out in the pastures and barnyards, Howard County counts 2,222 head of cattle, 1,805 egg-laying hens and 1,683 horses and ponies. Grass-fed beef sold by the quarter or half is a common way ranchers sell direct.

About 726 people run or help run farms in Howard County, with an average age of 59. 41% of them are women. 71 are under 35 - the next generation of local growers. 23 farms earn money from agritourism - things like u-pick fields, pumpkin patches, farm stays and corn mazes.