184 farmers make part or all of their living farming in the county.

The 120 male and 64 female farmers of the county matches closely the ratio of 70/30 men to women farming in our Country.

The 45 acre average farm in Cook County is symbolic of specialized, direct market farm operations common in many urban areas.

Nearly two-third’s of the county’s $15,270,000 annual sales comes from the green industry, greenhouse, nursery, floriculture and sod.

16 farm operations in the county blend element of "agri-tourism" as a portion of their operation.

The major "traditional" farm crops in the county include Corn, Soybeans, Oats, Silage and Hay.

Hogs and Dairy cattle are noticeably absent from the county which does feature horses, alpacas, bees, beef cattle, chickens, goats and sheep. Horses inventory is the largest at 1,890 with 1,479 colonies of bees.

Vegetable production (679 acres), and sweet corn production (238 acres) provide food for citizens and a nutritional staple for area populations.

A sizable chunk of Cook County’s work force is involved in agricultural production, processing, marketing, retail, preparation, transportation and manufacturing of supplies.

Chicago citizens were projected to consume $38,250,000,000 of food/beverages at and away from home in 2008.