North Carolina Locavore Overview

North Carolina Locally Grown Product

There are plenty of seasonal Locavore opportunities to find exactly the fruit, vegetables, beef, lamb, poultry, wine or dairy products that you may be looking for. The 2007 USDA Farm Census reported that North Carolina had approximately 52,913 farms and the average number of acres per farm was 160. Of those farms, 3,740 showed that they raised vegetables for sale, there were 1,551 orchards, 383 organic farms and 413 CSAs in the state.

Synopsis of 2007 USDA Ag census for North Carolina

Classification
Number of farms within the State
Top five counties with the greatest number of farms in each type of classification
Farms with Vegetables harvested for sale
3,740
Johnston Davidson Sampson Buncombe Wake
Number of Orchards
1,551
Henderson Surry Guilford Wilkes Ashe
Sweet Corn
1,620
Davidson Rockingham Guilford Forsyth Stokes
Potatoes
1,123
Davidson Stokes Ashe Madison Guilford
Tomatoes
1,429
Davidson Rowan Buncombe Guilford Alamance
Apples
673
Henderson Ashe Buncombe Wilkes Watauga
Peaches
384
Montgomery Johnston Alexander Ashe Henderson
Cantaloupe
804
Davidson Rowan Guilford Alamance Johnston
Watermelon
1,242
Davidson Sampson Guilford Johnston Rowan
Strawberries
380
Surry Guilford Wake Rockingham Lee
Blueberries
595
Bladen Buncombe Guilford Madison Rockingham
Raspberries
112
Buncombe Ashe Madison Surry Orange
Blackberries and Dewberries
250
Stokes Madison Rowan Chatham Orange
Poultry and egg production
4,096
Wilkes Union Randolph Duplin Sampson
Dairy cattle and milk production
381
Iredell Alleghany Randolph Orange Rowan
Beef and Cattle ranches
14,413
Randolph Wilkes Chatham Buncombe Iredell
Bison
11
Buncombe Person Rowan Cumberland Surry
Aquaculture or other animal production
6,290
Randolph Wake Surry Guilford Union
Farms that collect Honey
1,083
Buncombe Wilkes Cleveland Madison Surry
Farms that collect Maple Syrup
3
Ashe Avery - - -