LEE COUNTY MARKET

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

🌽 Crop Market is a free online farmers market where neighbors in Colon and the rest of Lee County buy and sell food they grew, baked or raised. Fruit, vegetables, cottage foods, plants, seeds and farm gear are all welcome. Posting an ad is free and sellers keep every dollar.

Farming in Lee County by the Numbers

Lee County has 264 farms on 31,204 acres (about 118 acres each). Together they sold $60.1 million of farm products in 2022, led by poultry & eggs, tobacco and soybeans.

Orchards and vineyards here grow apples and pecans, and local fields produce sweet potatoes, sweet corn, watermelons and tomatoes. Beekeepers tend about 108 honey bee colonies.

37 farms in Lee County already sell straight to the public, about $116,000 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 Lee County

Livestock is part of daily life here: the 2022 farm census found 2,166 head of cattle, 430 hogs and 397 sheep in Lee County. Grass-fed beef sold by the quarter or half is a common way ranchers sell direct.

About 422 people run or help run farms in Lee County, with an average age of 62. 35% of them are women. 13 are under 35 - the next generation of local growers. 9 farms earn money from agritourism - things like u-pick fields, pumpkin patches, farm stays and corn mazes.