OLMSTED COUNTY MARKET

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

🌽 Buy local in Olmsted County: fruit, vegetables, honey, baked goods, plants and livestock from people in Rochester, Byron and and Viola. Homemade jams, breads and honey are listed right next to fresh produce and seedlings. Posting an ad is free and sellers keep every dollar.

Farming in Olmsted County by the Numbers

Olmsted County has 1,102 farms on 308,004 acres (about 279 acres each). Together they sold $337.1 million of farm products in 2022, led by corn, soybeans and dairy (milk).

Orchards and vineyards here grow apples, grapes and walnuts, and local fields produce sweet corn, pumpkins, tomatoes and cabbage. Beekeepers tend about 272 honey bee colonies.

67 farms in Olmsted County already sell straight to the public, about $1.2 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 Olmsted County

Livestock is part of daily life here: the 2022 farm census found 45,167 head of cattle, 37,041 hogs and 1,977 egg-laying hens in Olmsted County. Grass-fed beef sold by the quarter or half is a common way ranchers sell direct.

About 1,990 people run or help run farms in Olmsted County, with an average age of 58. 34% of them are women. 156 are under 35 - the next generation of local growers. 15 farms earn money from agritourism - things like u-pick fields, pumpkin patches, farm stays and corn mazes.

Where Olmsted County stands out: it ranks #12 of 87 MN counties for number of farms and #12 of 77 MN counties for goats.