Columbia's Agriculture Park

Where Urban Meets Rural in Columbia

Tucked within Clary-Shy Community Park in Columbia, Missouri, the 10-acre Agriculture Park is where city life and farming culture beautifully collide. This space combines agriculture, education, recreation, and community under one canopy (sometimes literally). Created through collaboration between the Columbia Center for Urban Agriculture, Columbia Farmers Market, Sustainable Farms & Communities, and Columbia Parks and Recreation, the park represents a joint community effort.

Since opening its gates in 2019, the park has been on a mission to tackle food insecurity, encourage healthier living habits, boost local farming, and create hands-on learning opportunities for everyone who visits.

Farm-Fresh Markets and Growing Spaces

A central feature of the park is the Columbia Farmers Market. Its covered pavilion gives shelter to up to 98 vendors all year long, rain or shine. Take a stroll around this hub and you'll discover demonstration gardens, urban farming plots, a food forest, and native habitat areas that showcase sustainable growing practices in action.

These spaces function as working landscapes that produce fresh food for local food pantries while teaching visitors about growing and preparing nutritious meals. The urban farm is quite the powerhouse, expected to yield around 50,000 pounds of food each year. That's a lot of vegetables!

More Than Just Farming

Beyond the agricultural focus, this park truly shines as a community gathering place. You can find an interactive nature trail well-suited for curious explorers, an outdoor playground where kids can burn off energy, a greenhouse for year-round growing, and an outdoor classroom where learning comes alive.

Looking ahead, the park plans to add a 10,000-square-foot event center and a community kitchen where you can learn about nutrition and cooking techniques firsthand. Built on what was once the historic Boone County Fairgrounds, the space connects to both Columbia's modern focus on sustainability and health while honoring its local history.