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NW IL | I would say yes, it could be replicated in N IL. The closer to Chicago the better.
I have a neighbor driving 2 hr to sell I think 90 dozen "pasture" eggs into Chicago area for a ridiculous amount of money ($9/dz I think?). And I think he sold sweetcorn for over a dollar an ear this summer too.
I have friends in Rochelle that are licenced to sell raw milk and they have to turn people away because they can't keep up with demand at $8/gal.
I know a local dairy that has had people drive 2 hours to come get milk because everywhere closer is sold out. We have people ask all the time about our milk but our plumbing isn't set up very well for it.
We sell halves, quarters, and cuts from our steers. Dad refuses to raise his price as high as he could, we often run out of meat for ourselves because people keep buying. That tells me there's room for his price to go up.
My brother was selling backyard meat chickens for $20/bird in "rural" IL.
Dad's grinding and selling cracked corn to neighbors with little hobby farms.
A lot of it comes down to being able to market a product, think outside of the system, and be able to take some risks.
I see garden seed catalogs are selling common cover crop seed like oats and rye for $5-7/lb. That's a potential market.
Sunflowers are selling for $1/stem at the local small town farmer's market.
"Mini" square bales. Shucks of corn. squirrel corn.
A small farm in Bureau County put up a bunch of tents and "glamping" spaces and it was rented full all summer.
Sheep and goat prices come out better per acre than cattle, with markets in Savanna and St Louis.
I've been told there's a processor in Chicago paying a premium for food grade millet, and plenty of ethnic demand.
I know a farmer growing and packaging different kinds of dry beans to sell direct to consumers in NIL.
Central IL there's a farm raising pumpkins and selling their own brand of pumpkin seeds direct to consumer.
This summer I sold worn out disk blades to Hispanics who drove 2 hours to buy them from me for $10-15 a piece and they were going to weld them a bit and were re-selling for over $100-200 a piece as fancy cooking pans. Had 8- 10 different folks in that business drive that far for them.
Never underestimate the ability for a motivated person to spend money on something they think they should have, Lots of podcasts and books out there for anyone wanting to get into small scale direct to consumer.
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joel Salanti and PolyFace Farms
