Saturday, April 24, 2004
Many states are taking advantage of what farms have to offer.
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- Generations after their ancestors gave up farming in search of a better life in the city, a growing number of Americans are rediscovering their rural roots and the countryside's simple pleasures.
From wandering a cornfield maze to milking a cow or taking a juicy bite out of a fresh-picked apple, it's the kind of old-fashioned fun many people crave these days.
Their eagerness to reconnect with the rural world -- if only for an afternoon -- has fueled a trend called agritourism that gives urban or suburban dwellers a refreshing outdoors experience and farmers a way to supplement their income.
"It's a little bit history, a little bit education. A lot of our folks in the city are a generation or two removed from their rural roots," said Roy Ballard, a Purdue University agricultural extension specialist who works in southeastern Indiana.
"This gives them a chance to look back at what maybe their own parents, or even their grandparents, never experienced."
States' efforts
Many states are tapping into the public's yearning for a taste of country life as part of their rural development efforts.
By tying several attractions together in packages -- such as fruit orchards, state parks, a farm tour and antique stores -- they hope people hang around long enough to stop and spend at local gas stations and restaurants.
Greg Bedan, the Indiana Tourism Council's international marketing manager, said state officials realized only a few years ago that just as people want to tour California's Tuscan-like vineyards, they're also interested in Midwestern farms.
He said one popular new attraction is a northern Indiana dairy, called Fair Oaks Dairy Adventure, with 15,000 acres and 16,000 milk cows that offers public tours.
"They take you through the whole process of how a dairy farm operates and they have a cheese factory at the end where you can buy cheese," Bedan said.
Indiana is working to compile county by county lists of agri-destinations on the state's official Web site, something already in place in several states, including North Carolina, which last year created an office dedicated to agritourism.
Officials in New York, New Jersey, Ohio, West Virginia, Florida, Maryland and other states are also working to cultivate agritourism destinations around their traditional crops. Even Hawaii is getting into the act, by planning a railway for visitors to tour a sugarcane plantation on Kauai.
While autumn is probably the busiest time for many farms that invite the public to try pumpkin- and apple-picking and corn mazes, spring marks the start of the season for farmers who offer pick-your-own strawberries and peaches.
A big selling point in country excursions is that they can be family affairs that give parents and children alike a look at where food comes from.
Family trips
Molly Ling, a corporate librarian in New York City, visits Keepsake Orchards in New York's Hudson Valley every couple years with her husband, Alfred, and their three sons. They return home with sacks bulging with crisp, fragrant apples.
Although both sides of her family have farming backgrounds, Ling said her sons -- ages 11, 13 and 6 -- are growing up in an apartment and are thoroughly urbanized. One of her sons even refused for years to go barefoot on grass.
But visiting an apple orchard with a corn maze, live music and a farm stand selling country delicacies makes for a full day even the boys can appreciate.
"The apple orchards they like because it's fun -- you're outside, you're in the country and it's really beautiful. It smells good and they can throw apples at each other and climb trees," said Ling, 45.
Over the years her family has visited Pennsylvania's Amish County and New Jersey's scallop fisheries. And in an upcoming trip to California, the Lings may squeeze in a side trip to a winery.
Nothing new
In a sense, agritourism is nothing new -- farmers long ago began setting up roadside stands to sell fresh produce to city folk or invited them to pick their own crops.
That was how Joe Huber Sr.'s family got into agritourism long before someone coined the phrase. Back in 1966, the Hubers began planting fields of pick-your-own strawberries and green beans in southeastern Indiana's Clark County.
In the decades since, that venture has grown into Joe Huber Family Farm & amp; Restaurant, an attraction near the town of Starlight, about 15 miles north of Louisville, Ky. The farm has a 400-seat restaurant featuring fresh-fried chicken and other country specialties, a farmer's market, gardens and ponds.
Down the road, Huber's cousin operates a vineyard, winery, bakery, petting zoo and cheese factory. Both farms attract visitors year-round.
Huber, 70, said his family's business strategy is simple and homespun. "It's our family entertaining your family. That's our goal here," he said.
More involved
In northwestern Indiana, fifth-generation farmer David McAfee and his wife, Bonnie, grow about 20 varieties of apples at an orchard near the city of Hobart.
County Line Orchard's 5,000 trees of 20 different varieties are alive with visitors from the Chicago area during October's prime apple-picking time. The orchard also has a dining room, corn maze, bakery and pumpkin fields.
Last year, the McAfees made their venture year-round by moving an old barn to their farm and adding oak dance floors, bathrooms and wheelchair-accessible features. It already has hosted several corporate parties and wedding receptions.
"It was quite a move, and she's starting to pay for herself," said Paige Sullivan, who books events at the barn.
Recently, the barn was the site for a golden wedding anniversary celebration.
Getting started
Jane Eckert, a St. Louis-based consultant who helps farmers come up with ideas for marketing their farms to the public, said a 2001 survey by the U.S. Forest Service found that 62 million Americans visited a farm or a ranch that year.
Eckert, whose family operates a fruit orchard, restaurant and country store in southwestern Illinois, said it takes creativity to tap into the agritourism trend.
She suggests landowners start by assessing their land for something that might interest visitors -- such as a fishing hole or a river for canoeing.
Eckert said farmers need to start with something small like a roadside stand to gauge if there is money in it and whether they like dealing directly with the public.
Inviting the public onto private property also means getting liability insurance.
"The family really has to be ready and willing for someone else to come to their property," she said. "What they're essentially doing is opening their barn doors and inviting people onto their property."
Copyright 2004 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.