COLUMBIA COUNTY MARKET

Columbia County, New York Farmers Market — Buy & Sell Local Crops Near You

🌽 Crop Market is a free online farmers market where neighbors in Ancram, Ancramdale and Claverack buy and sell food they grew, baked or raised. New York favorites like sweet corn and maple syrup show up here when they're in season. Posting an ad is free and sellers keep every dollar.

Farming in Columbia County by the Numbers

Columbia County has 444 farms on 79,391 acres (about 179 acres each). Together they sold $111.2 million of farm products in 2022, led by dairy (milk), fruit & nuts and nursery & greenhouse plants.

Orchards and vineyards here grow apples, peaches and sweet cherries, and local fields produce sweet corn, pumpkins, potatoes and squash. Beekeepers tend about 463 honey bee colonies.

114 farms in Columbia County already sell straight to the public, about $10.4 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 Columbia County

Columbia County farms and homesteads keep 141,959 egg-laying hens, 14,966 head of cattle and 1,585 sheep. Fresh farm eggs are one of the easiest things to buy and sell locally.

About 870 people run or help run farms in Columbia County, with an average age of 58. 39% of them are women. 71 are under 35 - the next generation of local growers. 34 farms earn money from agritourism - things like u-pick fields, pumpkin patches, farm stays and corn mazes.

Where Columbia County stands out: it ranks #3 of 50 NY counties for egg-laying hens and #10 of 59 NY counties for selling food straight to the public.