AITKIN COUNTY MARKET

Aitkin County, Minnesota Farmers Market — Buy & Sell Local Crops Near You

🌽 Looking for food grown in Aitkin County? Backyard growers and small farms around Aitkin, Hill City and Palisade list it here. Fruit, vegetables, cottage foods, plants, seeds and farm gear are all welcome. It's free to post, there's no cut taken, and local farm food carries no sales tax.

Farming in Aitkin County by the Numbers

Aitkin County has 449 farms on 120,748 acres (about 269 acres each). Together they sold $22.3 million of farm products in 2022, led by hay & other field crops, poultry & eggs and cattle.

Orchards and vineyards here grow apples, and local fields produce cucumbers, pumpkins, potatoes and squash. Beekeepers tend about 12,121 honey bee colonies.

42 farms in Aitkin County already sell straight to the public, about $482,000 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 Aitkin County

Livestock is part of daily life here: the 2022 farm census found 7,879 head of cattle, 1,681 egg-laying hens and 618 goats in Aitkin County. Grass-fed beef sold by the quarter or half is a common way ranchers sell direct.

About 783 people run or help run farms in Aitkin County, with an average age of 59. 36% of them are women. 50 are under 35 - the next generation of local growers. 7 farms earn money from agritourism - things like u-pick fields, pumpkin patches, farm stays and corn mazes.

Where Aitkin County stands out: it ranks #2 of 64 MN counties for honey bee colonies.