How to Sell at a Farmers Market in Michigan

1. Know which kind of vendor you are

What you sell sets your paperwork, and Michigan's lines are refreshingly simple.

• •Cottage food: you can sell non-perishable homemade food — baked goods, jams and jellies in glass jars, dried herbs, granola, roasted coffee — with no license, registration, or inspection, as long as gross sales stay under $50,000 a year (raised from $25,000 by a 2025 law). Anything needing refrigeration, plus meat, dairy, and canned or pickled vegetables, is excluded.
• •Every cottage food package must carry the exact label "Made in a home kitchen that has not been inspected by the Michigan Department of Agriculture & Rural Development" in at least 11-point font, with your name and home address.
• •Farmers selling whole, uncut produce need no license. Cutting or processing it (salad mixes, cut melon) makes it a processed food that needs a licensed kitchen. Eggs from a flock under 3,000 hens are exempt with the right label; honey and maple syrup are exempt under $15,001 in sales.
• •Hot or prepared food needs a temporary food service license from the local health department, and value-added foods must be made in an approved commercial kitchen.

2. Registrations almost every vendor touches

Even with no cottage food license, two things come up for most vendors:

• •A Michigan sales tax license from the Department of Treasury (Form 518) — free — if you sell taxable items. Food for home consumption is exempt; prepared food for immediate eating is taxable at the state's 6% rate.
• •Liability insurance: major Michigan markets commonly require general liability coverage, typically $1M, with the market or city named as additional insured. Check the market's application for its requirement.

3. Costs to expect

Michigan stall fees are reasonable — an established market like Holland charges about $25–$60 per 10'×10' stall per day for the 2026 season, and smaller community markets can be lower or charge a flat seasonal rate. Because cottage food needs no license, startup costs are mostly equipment: a canopy with weights, tables, signage, a cooler chain for perishables, and insurance. A $300–1,000 startup budget is realistic.

4. Getting accepted

Most Michigan markets take applications through the market manager or website, often with a jury and frequently a waiting list for limited stalls. Selection weighs product type and quality, stall availability, and the market's existing vendor mix — many markets enforce a producer rule (Holland's, for instance, requires you to grow or make at least 80% of what you sell).

Apply before the season opens, typically in late winter or early spring; popular markets fill early.