JOHNSTON COUNTY MARKET

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

🌽 This is the Johnston County page of Crop Market, a free online farmers market in North Carolina for Benson, Clayton and Pine Level. Watch for local blueberries when it comes into season in North Carolina. It's free to post, there's no cut taken, and local farm food carries no sales tax.

Farming in Johnston County by the Numbers

Johnston County has 964 farms on 174,111 acres (about 181 acres each). Together they sold $300 million of farm products in 2022, led by hogs, poultry & eggs and vegetables.

Orchards and vineyards here grow grapes, pecans and apples, and local fields produce sweet potatoes, cucumbers, watermelons and sweet corn. Beekeepers tend about 538 honey bee colonies.

66 farms in Johnston 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 Johnston County

Johnston County farms and homesteads keep 143,851 hogs, 110,090 turkeys and 9,349 head of cattle.

About 1,615 people run or help run farms in Johnston County, with an average age of 56. 35% of them are women. 184 are under 35 - the next generation of local growers. 43 farms earn money from agritourism - things like u-pick fields, pumpkin patches, farm stays and corn mazes.

Where Johnston County stands out: it ranks #4 of 100 NC counties for number of farms and #6 of 92 NC counties for goats.