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Farms produce our food, but more and more, they're serving up our recreation, vacations and favorite pastimes. Called agritourism, or recreational agriculture, it has farmers and ranchers providing a lot more of Americans' fun along with their food.
Millions of both urban and town dwellers are going out to farms, ready and willing to pay for recreation and straight-off-the-farm foods: bed-and-breakfasts, pick-your-own fresh fruits or Christmas trees, petting farms, hay and sleigh rides, plus ranch activities such as baling hay and fixing fences. Farm settings are popular for family reunions and outdoor weddings, too. Little hard data is available nationally, but a 2006 Colorado study found over $1 billion worth of farm tourism in that state alone.
Why the national rush to fun on the farm? City dwellers need to escape the daily grind -- crowds, lines, traffic, crime and pollution. Going to the country with family or friends for weekends or longer trips fills the need for relaxation and novel diversions. Picking fresh produce from a field or a roadside stand, fishing, chasing friends in a corn maze and other delights fill the bill.
That need hands farmers a big opportunity. "For most people, there's no grandpa's farm anymore," says Martha Glass, agritourism manager for the North Carolina Department of Agriculture. "Few of those in their 30s and 40s -- those with kids -- have family connections on a farm today," she says, but they still want to get out into the countryside. And farm-based recreation tends to be reasonably close, affordable and family-oriented, she points out.
Add to that a new rage in American dining: eating locally grown foods, even sit-down meals on some farms. The result is a tide of people going to farms to pick fruits, veggies and herbs, or buy eggs, flowers and even raw milk. Organic farmers get a lot of such action. People in swelling urban areas who have extra disposable income are looking for high quality foods and new foods, says Mark Powell, marketing director for the Maryland Department of Agriculture, and they want to connect to the farms where the food is produced. He notes a Maryland survey showing that nearly half of adults say they'll pay higher prices for Maryland-grown foods.
For the country's small and midsized farms, tourism is the new economic lifeblood, providing incomes and jobs on farms that lack the size and resources to produce big-volume crops. In tourism-heavy Maine, farms making $50,000 to $1 million a year report that over half of their earnings are derived from tourist-oriented diversions. For smaller farms, it's closer to two-thirds.
The trend is hardly lost on bigger farms, which tend to have the capital to launch new ventures. The U.S. Department of Agriculture reports that the median farm with recreational agriculture activity in 2004 had 3,100 acres and nearly $800,000 in assets.
Typically, farms start modestly, with one or two activities, and then add more, depending on business. For example, a farmer in W.Va. started a herb greenhouse as a sideline in 2001. He now also sells apples (43 varieties) and makes cider, including a squeeze-your-own sideline. He expects to add a cut-your-own Christmas tree business soon.
The Internet helps put farmers and ranchers in touch with potential customers and gives consumers an easy way to shop around. Abby Cash, Oklahoma's agritourism director, says her agency is trying to help and cajole farmers to create Web sites and become adept at marketing online. She says that's where their customers are: Most are Web-savvy and have mid-to-high income.
For anyone mulling farm tourism ventures, the state agriculture departments are a big help, and participants in several states have formed agritourism associations as well. The departments eagerly promote ventures, holding producer forums, helping with planning and listing the ventures on their Web sites. Several states, including Kansas, Michigan, New York, Oklahoma and Tennessee, offer grants to help with start-up or advertising. State tourism offices are joining in, promoting farm stops to all of the state's visitors.
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