As Bonnie Jones sits peacefully on her front porch in Hayden, Ala., a
gentle October breeze triggers memories of a childhood spent on the
land.
"We had a big hall in the house that the breeze came through," Bonnie
says as she rocks back and forth scanning the horizon of hills. "It
feels just like it did when I grew up."
But the 100-year-old farmstead where Bonnie was raised has changed.
Instead of selling row crops and peaches for a living, the Jones
family has opened their land to the public. Now, they sell a taste of
the country.
There's a word for what the Joneses are doing. It's called
"agritourism," and it is a trend spreading across the country.
Agritourism is a way for landowners to hold onto family farmsteads by
making a business out of educating visitors on the importance of the
rural lifestyle.
The Great Pumpkin Patch. October used to be a month the Jones family
would park their tractors after harvest. Not anymore. Now they crank
up their engines for hay rides to their 30-acre pumpkin field, a
popular Alabama attraction known locally as The Great Pumpkin Patch.
Bonnie, her husband, Dwight, daughter Alice, son Danny and his wife,
Judy, look forward to October all summer long. Friends and neighbors
pitch in to help create a memorable fall experience for visitors.
For 14 years now, the Joneses have turned to pumpkins and the public
to help the family financially. It was an idea born from a meeting on
agritourism at Auburn University. With severe weather impacting their
crops that year, the family was anxious for other ways to use their
property for profit.
They quickly opened The Great Pumpkin Patch while still growing 40
acres of peaches, heirloom tomatoes, squash, cucumbers, eggplant and
okra. The Great Pumpkin Patch expanded to include a corn maze, general
store, hay rides, live bands and even helicopter rides.
"You don't get rich doing this, but it helps offset costs. It's a fun
thing," says Bonnie. "Usually we're not doing anything in October,
so it gives us revenue we wouldn't have otherwise." (continued)
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A Slice of Life. How do you teach Americans where their food comes
from and add to your property's income? Build a farm in the shape of
their favorite food.
The Pizza Farm at Cobb Ranch in Madera, Calif., is laid out in the
shape of a pizza. Each slice of the farm produces an ingredient used
to make America's favorite food &151from the dough to the cheese topping.
But Italian cuisine and agritourism were far from the Cobb family's
original intentions.
"We started out as a cattle ranch in the 1800s," says Jim Cobb,
current owner of the farm. "We ran cattle all over the Sierra Nevada
Mountains. The heart of agriculture is where our family came from."
After college, Jim became a math and science teacher. But he returned
to the ranch 30 years ago to open a Christmas tree farm. Soon school
groups were visiting the ranch.
"I love kids and education," says Jim. "It was a natural fit for me to
teach kids about agriculture."
Jim's passion for children and education was matched by Darren
Schmall, owner of the nearby Pizza Farm. The two joined forces in 2000
to market their businesses together, and the idea took on a life of
its own. Today the ranch offers a pumpkin patch, corn maze and
facilities for birthday parties and weddings, in addition to its
famous Pizza Farm and the Christmas tree operation.
For Jim, all the work this requires is worthwhile. "It is who I am,"
he says. "I see what is happening with kids not understanding the root
of agriculture. Teaching them about agriculture is bigger than
money."
Cobb Ranch does that for thousands of people every year. Jim says on
any given day 5,000 to 10,000 people can visit the ranch. But he is
emphatic about one thing: "We are a farm. We are staying a farm. We're
not Disneyland."
Dairy Adventure. Fair Oaks Farms Adventure Center is agritourism taken to the extreme.
Nine Indiana dairy farmers came together with the idea of promoting
their product and their industry. They are making it work with an
elaborate visitor's center within driving range of big cities like
Chicago and Indianapolis.
The center opened in 2003. It is a nonprofit, educational facility
with more than 60 interactive exhibits, a 3-D movie and a tour of the
dairy operation where visitors ride a bus to the milking parlor.
Julie Basich, general manager of the visitor's center says, "We have
three primary messages: One, large dairy farms can co-exist with the
environment; two, we take care of the cow; and three, milk is good
for you. Simply put, good for the cow, the environment and for you."
What's good for the cow is something Fair Oaks emphasizes. It also
helps explain their strict biosecurity policy. "None of the guests
have any contact with the animals," says Basich. The cows stay behind
glass in the milking parlor. "The visitors understand we don't have a
petting zoo."
More than 100,000 people visit Fair Oaks Farms Adventure Center each
year, making it the largest agritourism destination in Indiana. The
operation has expanded to include a cheese and ice-cream plant that
offers products fresh from the farm. Retail shops and a Starbucks
provide all the amenities of a tourist site, yet visitors are in the
heart of agriculture, surrounded by 27,000 milking dairy cows.
For more information, visit these web sites:
http://www.utextension.utk.edu/publications/pbfiles/pb1648.pdf
www.greatpumpkinpatch.com
www.cobbranch.com
www.fairoaksdairyadventure.com