PORTAGE COUNTY MARKET

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

🌽 Crop Market is a free online farmers market where neighbors in Kent, Atwater and Hiram 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 Portage County by the Numbers

Portage County has 927 farms on 85,762 acres (about 93 acres each). Together they sold $58.7 million of farm products in 2022, led by corn, soybeans and nursery & greenhouse plants.

Orchards and vineyards here grow apples, peaches and grapes, and local fields produce sweet corn, pumpkins, potatoes and bell peppers. Beekeepers tend about 1,011 honey bee colonies.

149 farms in Portage County already sell straight to the public, about $2.3 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 Portage County

Out in the pastures and barnyards, Portage County counts 6,743 egg-laying hens, 6,447 head of cattle and 2,421 horses and ponies. Fresh farm eggs are one of the easiest things to buy and sell locally.

About 1,647 people run or help run farms in Portage County, with an average age of 56. 39% of them are women. 160 are under 35 - the next generation of local growers. 26 farms earn money from agritourism - things like u-pick fields, pumpkin patches, farm stays and corn mazes.

Where Portage County stands out: it ranks #7 of 86 OH counties for honey bee colonies and #12 of 88 OH counties for selling food straight to the public.