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What is an agritourism farm? originally appeared on Quora: the place to gain and share knowledge, empowering people to learn from others and better understand the world.
Answer by Janice Person, works at Monsanto, on Quora:
I have been to several farms that do agritourism (tourism that is agriculturally-oriented) and there are differences within them, but generally, members of the public can pay fees to experience farm life. These fees make up a percentage of the farm budget rather than being a one off type of event for the community. The farm is staffed and insured for that type of activity.
These farms typically differ from your general working farm in a few ways because of the emphasis on marketing to the public, though more and more working farms have been doing more in this space over the last few years.
The example most Americans can identify with is the movie “City Slickers” which showed Billy Crystal and other comics on a cattle ride. They paid fees, stayed in the bunk house, etc. and left thinking they knew lots about ranch life. In reality that is far more intense than most agritourism businesses I have seen. I had the chance to participate myself… this is from my experience helping friends “work cows.”
I think of it as a scale that goes from straight tourism with very little learning or participation in agriculture, to total agriculture with a focus on getting the work of the farm or ranch done and little to do with enjoyment. In reality, I usually see a combination of the two as most successful since people have such interest in learning about where their food is grown.
In Italy, and some other parts of Europe, there are government programs that support agritourism as cultural programs. This helps keep the countryside operating in a way that draws visitors.
These are some of my favorite real-life examples of agritourism:
Pumpkin picking farms — This time of year so many families take trips out to a local pumpkin patches to find the perfect pumpkins for Halloween decorating. They may have a hay ride, talk to you about growing pumpkins, offer surprising facts about the crop — like the biggest pumpkin, etc., have fun photo backdrops, trains or some other fun rides and they may have pumpkin-based snacks like pumpkin bread for purchase. Friends at Enchanted Acres in Iowa showcase their farm on their blog.
(Train photo by permission from Carrie Mess of DairyCarrie.com)
In-season fruit picking — The ability to go out to farms in-season and pick fruit to take home (or eat it in the field!) The experience tends to make the berries taste better, even if I am certain it’s all in our heads. We’ve all noticed that farms charge more for us to have the honor of picking our own fruit. That’s because we eat too much along the way.
Fun corn mazes and more — Another fall favorite is corn mazes. Depending on the farm, there are varying degrees of fun and farm… some are all out entertainment, putting on fright nights, etc. Others also combine with pumpkin patches, apple kicking or open other areas of the farm. Friends of mine in New Jersey have a corn maze, they also show movies on the farm, make the best apple cider donuts and slushies and more!
Event space rental and farm-to-table dinners — More and more, farms in and around big cities offer the ability to host events and dinners on farms. I have been to weddings on farms and some of the farm-to-fork dinners that let the farmers come out to discuss the production year. This is a photo from a farm I’ve visited several times in Austin, Texas.
Livestock Learning — Most of the farms that have historically done agritourism are like the ones above, that have an easy way of connecting directly to consumers, but more and more, farms further along the spectrum have to find ways to protect their animals' health and show visitors how our milk is produced, etc. The first one I went to is Dairy Discovery in Grand Rapids, Michigan where I was able to learn a lot about milk, cheese and cows that help produce those parts of our diet.
My top agritourism recommendation — The premier agritourism piece I have seen in the US is Fair Oaks Farm, just outside of Chicago in Fair Oaks, Indiana. They bring together so many of the previously mentioned activities plus so much more. You can tour the dairy, seeing cows in the barns as they eat, others being milked, you can even see brand news calves.
There is also a pig adventure where you can see piglets at birth, see them nursing, view hogs as they near market weight, etc. and there is so much to learn about the pigs from nutrition, to disease prevention, you even have a chance to run a pregnancy check! They also have a crop adventure which I plan to tour this year to see what they share about corn, soybeans, etc. I confess my favorite part was the grilled cheese and ice cream they sold in the cafe. You can also buy some great souvenirs. All of that and I know I can buy FairLife milk in my local grocery.
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