WASHINGTON COUNTY MARKET

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

🌽 Crop Market is a free online farmers market where neighbors in Hagerstown, Big Pool and Fort Ritchie buy and sell food they grew, baked or raised. Watch for local sweet corn when it comes into season in Maryland. Posting an ad is free and sellers keep every dollar.

Farming in Washington County by the Numbers

Washington County has 869 farms on 121,251 acres (about 140 acres each). Together they sold $167.9 million of farm products in 2022, led by dairy (milk), cattle and corn.

Orchards and vineyards here grow apples, peaches and grapes, and local fields produce sweet corn, pumpkins, cucumbers and bell peppers. Beekeepers tend about 1,705 honey bee colonies.

71 farms in Washington County already sell straight to the public, about $5.9 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 Washington County

Washington County farms and homesteads keep 36,191 head of cattle, 3,551 sheep and 3,497 hogs. Grass-fed beef sold by the quarter or half is a common way ranchers sell direct.

About 1,603 people run or help run farms in Washington County, with an average age of 55. 38% of them are women. 216 are under 35 - the next generation of local growers. 10 farms earn money from agritourism - things like u-pick fields, pumpkin patches, farm stays and corn mazes.

Where Washington County stands out: it ranks #1 of 21 MD counties for goats and #2 of 23 MD counties for honey bee colonies.