MERCER COUNTY MARKET

Mercer County, Ohio Farmers Market — Buy & Sell Local Crops Near You

🌽 Crop Market is a free online farmers market where neighbors in Burkettsville, Carthagena and Mendon buy and sell food they grew, baked or raised. Homemade jams, breads and honey are listed right next to fresh produce and seedlings. Posting an ad is free and sellers keep every dollar.

Farming in Mercer County by the Numbers

Mercer County has 1,292 farms on 270,984 acres (about 210 acres each). Together they sold $1.1 billion of farm products in 2022, led by poultry & eggs, hogs and dairy (milk).

Local fields produce pumpkins, sweet corn, watermelons and okra. Beekeepers tend about 260 honey bee colonies.

25 farms in Mercer County already sell straight to the public, about $238,000 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 Mercer County

Out in the pastures and barnyards, Mercer County counts 5,822,729 egg-laying hens, 1,826,696 turkeys and 242,661 hogs. Fresh farm eggs are one of the easiest things to buy and sell locally.

About 2,291 people run or help run farms in Mercer County, with an average age of 54. 24% of them are women. 294 are under 35 - the next generation of local growers. 4 farms earn money from agritourism - things like u-pick fields, pumpkin patches, farm stays and corn mazes.

Where Mercer County stands out: it ranks #2 of 88 OH counties for total farm sales and #2 of 74 OH counties for egg-laying hens.