LAKE COUNTY MARKET

Lake County, Montana Farmers Market — Buy & Sell Local Crops Near You

🌽 This is the Lake County page of Crop Market, a free online farmers market in Montana for Arlee, Big Arm and Pablo. Watch for local honey when it comes into season in Montana. It's free to post, there's no cut taken, and local farm food carries no sales tax.

Farming in Lake County by the Numbers

Lake County has 1,078 farms on 596,272 acres (about 553 acres each). Together they sold $69 million of farm products in 2022, led by cattle, hay & other field crops and vegetables.

Orchards and vineyards here grow sweet cherries, apples and grapes, and local fields produce potatoes, onions, pumpkins and garlic. Beekeepers tend about 10,869 honey bee colonies.

115 farms in Lake County already sell straight to the public, about $506,000 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 Lake County

Lake County farms and homesteads keep 30,222 head of cattle, 2,629 horses and ponies and 2,054 egg-laying hens. Grass-fed beef sold by the quarter or half is a common way ranchers sell direct.

About 1,920 people run or help run farms in Lake County, with an average age of 60. 41% of them are women. 153 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 Lake County stands out: it ranks #3 of 56 MT counties for number of farms and #3 of 27 MT counties for honey bee colonies.