BEAUFORT COUNTY MARKET

Beaufort County, North Carolina Farmers Market — Buy & Sell Local Crops Near You

🌽 Crop Market is a free online farmers market where neighbors in Aurora, Bath and Edward buy and sell food they grew, baked or raised. Homemade jams, breads and honey are listed right next to fresh produce and seedlings. It's free to post, there's no cut taken, and local farm food carries no sales tax.

Farming in Beaufort County by the Numbers

Beaufort County has 259 farms on 139,853 acres (about 540 acres each). Together they sold $139 million of farm products in 2022, led by corn, soybeans and hogs.

Orchards and vineyards here grow pecans and peaches, and local fields produce pumpkins, collard greens, watermelons and potatoes. Beekeepers tend about 145 honey bee colonies.

30 farms in Beaufort County already sell straight to the public, about $1.3 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 Beaufort County

Out in the pastures and barnyards, Beaufort County counts 21,214 hogs, 1,035 egg-laying hens and 637 head of cattle.

About 459 people run or help run farms in Beaufort County, with an average age of 55. 27% of them are women. 71 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 Beaufort County stands out: it ranks #18 of 89 NC counties for selling food straight to the public.