CARTER COUNTY MARKET

Carter County, Tennessee Farmers Market — Buy & Sell Local Crops Near You

🌽 Crop Market is a free online farmers market where neighbors in Elizabethton, Hampton and and Watauga 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 Carter County by the Numbers

Carter County has 396 farms on 28,788 acres (about 73 acres each). Together they sold $7.6 million of farm products in 2022, led by cattle, vegetables and hay & other field crops.

Orchards and vineyards here grow apples, pears and grapes, and local fields produce potatoes, tomatoes, green beans and squash. Beekeepers tend about 91 honey bee colonies.

14 farms in Carter County already sell straight to the public, about $77,000 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 Carter County

Out in the pastures and barnyards, Carter County counts 10,499 head of cattle, 641 egg-laying hens and 556 goats. Grass-fed beef sold by the quarter or half is a common way ranchers sell direct.

About 677 people run or help run farms in Carter County, with an average age of 60. 37% of them are women. 36 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.