Family farms in the Tristate are discovering that tourists are a promising cash crop.

        As more farmland is cultivated for subdivisions, city and suburb dwellers seem to seek out remaining cornfields, orchards and pastures to revel in the autumn pleasures their grandparents took for granted. As a result, local farmers — like others across the country — are turning their farms into destinations.

Arranging peaches for sale, Kris Ullrich welcomes visitors to Hidden Valley Fruit Farm in Lebanon. (Michael Snyder photos) | ZOOM |

        “You might call it entertainment farming,” said Tom Theobald, owner of Barn 'n' Bunk Farm Market in Trenton. “We host school tours and fall festival weekends during September and October.”

        Thousands of tourists, most from more than 10 miles away, stop by Barn 'n' Bunk from April to December to pick fresh produce or a Christmas tree, take a hayride, browse among the crafters' stalls and the art gallery or visit the candy or broom shop.

        The enterprise, situated on the Theobalds' 70-plus acre farm, pays full-time salaries to Mr. Theobald and his son, Brian, and employs more than 100 students in the summer and on fall weekends.

        When he purchased his family's farm in the 1970s, Mr. Theobald envisioned working it in the future, when he retired from his job at General Electric.

        “Then I got laid off,” he said. “That retirement project came about a little early.”

Corn mazes like this one at Hidden Valley entertain city folk. | ZOOM |

        Charles Touchette, executive director of the North American Farmers Direct Marketing Association, said agritainment is rooted in the pick-your-own-crops farms that started sprouting up decades ago.

        But agritainment, a term coined by the farm-marketing industry, has accelerated in the past five years, he said.

        “It keeps the land in the farm-family ownership and is an alternate way of making income,” said Stephanie Olson, of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's small-farm program. “They're learning they need to incorporate these marketing approaches because there is a lot of competition out there for the food-and-fiber dollar.”

        The Irons family of Lebanon has been opening its farm to the public for years.

        “We've been doing this for as long as I can remember, and I've been here for 36 years,” said Gayle Irons of Irons Fruit Farm. “We have a lot of school groups, mostly preschool through first grade, come here for orchard walks. Our hayrides are popular with home-school groups, church groups, Scouts and even senior citizens. We have 10 acres of corn maze and right now we're picking peaches, pears and red raspberries.”

        John and Jenny Benton of Walton began pitching in on the family farm to help his father. Seven years ago, they began planting some of the farm's 260 acres in pumpkins.

        “We got into pumpkins to lessen the farm's dependence on tobacco,” Mr. Benton said. “We used to plant 11-12 acres in tobacco; now we're down to 4. Pumpkins are increasing every year. We're now planting 25-30 acres. The rest is in pasture and hay, although we do have some limited Christmas tree sales.”

Turkeys are among the attractions at J.C. Benton's farm in Walton. (Patrick Reddy photo) | ZOOM |

        That pasture and hay is for the livestock, which lure thousands of schoolchildren each fall to milk cows, feed goats, collect eggs and pet sheep. Visitors also take hayrides to the pumpkin patch to choose just the right potential jack-o'-lantern.

        “It's increased every year,” Mr. Benton said. “People are wanting to do more stuff in the fall, and do something together as a family.”

        Mr. Benton estimates that 28 percent of the farm's income now comes from the October school tours. Another 25-30 percent comes from its pumpkin weekends.

        Bob Ullrich figures that tourism accounts for about half of his farm's income, too.

        “Normally we're a fruit farm, landscape and nursery business,” said the owner of Hidden Valley Fruit Farm in Turtlecreek Township. “But every September, something happens to us, called fall. Sometimes it goes right to Thanksgiving.”

        Mr. Ullrich started programming for visitors in the early 1980s, when he thought the folks who stopped to pick their own apples or pumpkins might like a hayride, too. He has since started hosting mini-festivals on fall weekends that feature live music, crafts and produce-based treats. Farm attractions include a haunted barn and mill, children's mazes, and — of course — hayrides.

        “We have had hayrides for every conceivable group from the Better Business Bureau to singles' night out,” Mr. Ullrich said.

        They may be selling a healthy dose of yesterday along with their fresh produce, but farmers are using today's technology and promotional savvy.

        “We used global positioning to design our corn maze,” said Beth Ferguson of Glen Cairn Farm in Union. Her husband, Bruce, and son Stuart are planning for visitors to their farm for the first time this fall. They traveled to Kansas to see how a relative's entertainment farm operated.

        “We are cooperating with the YMCA in Florence, and they came up with a mailing list for us,” Mrs. Ferguson said. “We're hoping the maze, the hayrides and the bonfires will augment the farm income.”

       The Associated Press contributed.
       

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