Sign-up is open for free agritourism training series for U.S. veterans and active military

Mural painter Pamela Kellough gave this barn a patriotic makeover. 
(Photo by Pamela Kellough, Successful Farming)

Veterans and active U.S. military interested in farming agritourism can sign up now to attend the in-person, hybrid or online training series: "Serving the Land: A Veteran's Guide to Farm Stays and Outdoor Experiences."

The training includes "five live online sessions held each Monday evening in March, with topics including budgeting, risk management, goal setting, taxes and recordkeeping, and digital marketing," reports Lisa Foust Prater of Successful Farming. "On-demand online classes on zoning, insurance, and agritourism laws can be taken anytime."

Cost: Free for active military service members and military veterans
When: March through August
Where: Online and participating farm stay locations across Nebraska (to be announced). Online tours will be provided for participants who can't attend in person.
Registration required by March 16: Click here to register.
Questions/assistance with registering: Contact Kirstin Bailey, kirstinb@cfra.org or 402.870.2390, or Deborah Solie, deborahs@cfra.org or 402.870.1133

Kirstin Bailey, senior project manager with the center, told Prater, "Participants will learn directly from farmers and agritourism leaders about the business of hosting guests on working farms. They will also receive practical tools, examples, and worksheets to help prepare them for launching or expanding guest-based agritourism enterprises."

Stipends are available to cover approved expenses, such as travel, meals and child care. Individuals are welcome to attend with family members. 

This program is sponsored by the Center of Rural Affairs, a nonprofit focused on cultivating strong communities through social and economic efforts and environmental stewardship.

Pick-your-own produce model offers farmers benefits and risks; it's part of agri-tourism, which has tripled since 2002

Tanner's Orchard near Speer, Ill., has offered U-pick since 1947.
The orchard has 11,000 apple trees. (Photo from Tanner's website)

Strawberries, peaches, berries, apples, pumpkins and a delightful December pine: The list of pick-your-own wonderfulness can start in May and go through year's end. But U-pick origins were born out of desperation, and in a culture of "instant-everything," its success is a curiosity.

"The concept first emerged during the Great Depression of the 1930s, when prices for fruit and vegetable crops reached historically low levels as war-torn countries began to recover and no longer relied on U.S. exports," reports Shelby Vittek of Ambrook Research. "For many growers, it was cheaper to leave their crops in the field to rot than to harvest and sell them for a pittance. That's when a ragtag bunch of cherry growers in Wisconsin decided to offer their fruit directly to the public for pennies a pound. The only catch was they'd have to come out to the farm to pick the cherries themselves. And so the bustling pick-your-own industry was born."

The model offers benefits, "reduces a farm's reliance on labor for harvesting, and eliminates the need for working with distributors, giving farms immediate access to the profits," Vittek writes. "Agritourism has boomed over the last two decades, with revenue more than tripling from 2002 to 2017. According to the USDA, agritourism revenue grew from $704 million in 2012 to $950 million in 2017. Pick-your-own farms have played a key role in that growth."

Pick-your-own operations also have unique costs and risks. Megan Bruch Leffew, a value-added agriculture marketing specialist at the University of Tennessee, told Vittek, "Consumers don't often know how to appropriately pick and can damage plants, so there's a loss aspect that needs to be built in when folks are pricing product." Also, "You need some added risk management and insurance," and "People are going to need access to a restroom, handwashing, and other things."

Poor weather "has the potential to wipe out an entire crop for a U-pick farm," Vittek notes. "This year, fruit growers across the country have experienced significant crop loss after erratic weather. Georgia lost more than 90% of its peach crop this year due to an abnormally warm winter."

But pick-your-own seems to have crowd appeal, even when a crop is scarce. "Our culture is starving for connections to nature. It's one more way that people can feel connected — connected to their food, connected to where they live," Anu Rangarajan, director of the Cornell University Small Farm Program, told Vittek. "U-picks do a huge service for connecting people to our food system, and especially the seasonality of food … and [gives farmers] the opportunity to have important conversations with people who can support agriculture more actively."

Wednesday webinar will discuss ideas for farmers and ranchers to make more money with agritourism

On March 19, the Texas AgrAbility program will present a free webinar called "Ideas for Starting Rural Agriculture Businesses" at 2 p.m. CT. The presentation will last about an hour; you will need to download (free) Zoom software to access it on your computer or phone.

The presenter will be Greg Clary, a business consultant with the Texas Center for Rural Entrepreneurship and a retired Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service economist with more than 30 years of experience in helping people start and expand agriculture- and natural resource-based businesses. During the webinar, he will discuss ideas for helping farmers and ranchers add new revenue streams to their agricultural operations via agritourism and other ventures.

Sustainable Farm Tour and Workshop Series coming up in Ohio, Indiana and Michigan

The Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association is offering a series of 20 farm tours, workshops and special events across Ohio, Indiana and Michigan this summer to promote sustainable farming. The first tour will take place on June 1.

Click here for a schedule and more information about the 2019 Sustainable Farm Tour and Workshop Series.

Farm tour attendees can visit a wide range of agricultural operations, including dairies, heritage livestock farms, aquaponics farms, and farms producing everything from hops and herbs to grains and mushrooms. Workshops will cover topics such as gardening to decrease food insecurity, community outreach, and composting.

Va. farms embrace agritourism, which is growing

The Parrish Pumpkin Patch in southern Virginia. (Parrish Farm photo)

Who doesn't love a visit to the farm? From pumpkin patches and hayrides to U-Pick-Em strawberries and wine tastings, there's something for everyone -- and savvy farmers know they can bring in extra revenue by hosting such events. "Farmers searching for ways to diversify their portfolios have added tourism to the mix as a way to bring in new business and new exposure to the industry. Agritourism now has several trends going for it: the growth of the experience economy and the popularity of farm-to-table foods, leading to a renewed interest in where food comes from," Tiffany Holland reports for The Roanoke Times.

Agritourism has become a big moneymaker over the past 10 years in Virginia, according to a study published in April by the Pamplin School of Business at Virginia Tech. It looked at the financial impact of agritourism in the state, and found that visitors to the state's more than 1,400 agritourism destinations spent about $1.5 billion in 2015 alone. "In total, agritourism accounts for about $2.2 billion in economic activity and it’s growing. The most growth for agritourism venues has been from 2010 to the present, with more than one-third of the venues opening in the past seven years," Holland reports.

State agencies have published materials to help guide farmers who want to get in on the trend. And rural counties are embracing it, even hiring coordinators to see to the industry. Big events such as tractor pulls or festivals can bring in profit to the whole community. And farmers who offer agritourism destinations say they love giving city dwellers the opportunity to learn more about farming and where their food comes from. Holland writes that "Carolyn Reilly, who opened Four Corners Farm in 2011 in Franklin County, said she and her husband offer farm tours to expose people to farming and show the public where the food comes from, in addition to making a living at it."

There are a few downsides to agritourism. it tends to be dependent on weather, so a festival getting rained out can cost a community thousands of dollars in lost income. Safety and liability are also a concern for farmers, as well as zoning issues and local ordinances. In short, the grape-picking expedition might get rained out, the on-site wine tasting bar at the vineyard might not be allowed, and the farmer might need to buy extra insurance in case a tourist gets hurt. But many farmers believe the promise of extra income in an increasingly cash-strapped industry is often worth the trouble.

Growing agri-tourism and local-food industry boosts income for farmers and other landowners

Locavore Farm in Grant Park, Ill. has found success
through agri-tourism (Journal photo by Tiffany Blanchette)

Agri-tourism is booming. The U.S. Census of Agriculture reports that in 2012, the last year covered by the census, 13,334 farms grossed $674 million from agri-tourism, up from 3,000 farms grossing $128 million four years earlier, Mary Hall reports for the Daily Journal in Kankakee, Ill. Of those farms, one-quarter were in the Midwest.

Only 8 percent of Illinois farms "have some kind of recreational side business and most make less than $5,000 per year on it," Hall writes. But most of the participants are "small, family-owned farms that are opening their doors to tourists who want to pick their own apples, see where their beef is raised or simply wake up to a sunrise over a corn field. The biggest growth areas are those just outside of metropolitan areas. And it's often tied to the local food movement. While city populations get more dense, there's also a push to experience the natural—through local food, urban gardening or taking a short drive south to the country for the weekend."

For example, Locavore Farm in Grant Park, Ill. (Best Places map) puts together an Oktoberfest event that features food and music and draws 500 visitors, Hall writes. Dinners for the year, which sold out on July 1, will serve 2,400 people from June to November. The success of places like Locavore Farm, which has been featured in national magazines, "lets tourist get a taste of the rural life" and lets "farms take advantage of their unique nostalgic and family appeal."

Each week, newspaper makes an obit a feature; latest one is on famed Appalachian Trail hiker

The Valley News, a daily newspaper in the Upper Connecticut River Valley, publishes a weekly feature called "A Life," in which the paper turns an obituary of someone with local ties into a fuller portrait of that person. On Sunday it featured Leonard "Baltimore Jack" Tarlin (Mike Sisemore photo), a renowned hiker who walked the entire Appalachian Trail eight times. Tarlin died May 3 at the age of 57.

Josh Weinreb started the story this way: Mike Sisemore was heading north on the trail 17 years ago "and found himself on a slow-moving stretch up a hill in Virginia. About 100 yards ahead he saw a disheveled form. Another hiker, presumably, but this one was different. His backpack was crooked, with long straps hanging from its sides. His shoes were untied. He wore a bandana on his head. He wore black nylon shorts and a black T-shirt."

"As Sisemore put it, the hiker was 'bouncing' along the trail," Weinreb writes. "And then Sisemore saw him fall, slip on a mud patch and front flip into a bed of rocks. When Sisemore caught up, the hiker was sitting on the ground holding his broken glasses. 'You got any tape?' he asked Sisemore in a grizzled voice. It was, Sisemore knew immediately, Baltimore Jack, a legend along the Appalachian Trail."

Tarlin "was known for his gruff personality, his deep knowledge of history and his uncanny thoughtfulness,' Weinreb writes. "He also had strong roots in Hanover and thru-hiked the trail eight times. He “had no need for the finer things in life,” Sisemore told Weinreb,. “He was absolutely content sleeping in a sleeping bag in the middle of February under a tree in New Hampshire. Nobody could understand that about Jack. He just didn’t need a lot of things in his life. He was mobile. He carried his life in his backpack." (Read more)

The Valley News is based in Lebanon, N.H., just south of the trail's crossing of the river.

Study: Rural Western counties with most federal land are in better economic shape than rural peers

Rural counties in the West with more federal or protected land are in much better economic shape than rural counties in the region with less federal and protected land, says a report by Montana non-profit Headwaters Economics. The study, which looked at data from 1970 to 2014, found that rural counties with more federal and protected land "on average had faster population, employment, personal income and per capita income growth than their peers with the lowest share" of federal and protected lands.

From 1970 to 2014, rural counties in the top 25 percentile with federal land saw a population growth of 124 percent, compared to a 26 percent growth in the counties in the bottom 25 percent. Employment in the top counties increased 242 percent, compared to 73 percent in the bottom counties and personal income increased 333 percent in the top 25, compared to 122 percent in the bottom 25. Per capital income was much closer, with an 81 percent increase in the top 25, compared to a 78 percent increase in the bottom 25.

Differences were similar for counties with protected land. Population grew 122 percent in the top 25, compared to 47 percent in the bottom 25. Employment increased 263 percent in the top 25, compared to 98 percent in the bottom 25, personal income increased 380 percent in the top 25, compared to 154 percent in the bottom 25 and per capita income increased 97 percent in the top 25, compared to 78 percent in the bottom 25.

"The study looked at all 276 Western counties without a city of 50,000 or more or with population density below 1,000 people per square mile, designated as 'non-metro' by the U.S. Census Bureau," Krista Langlois reports for High Country News. "To be fair, the overall gains are thus skewed by a few very wealthy counties, like Colorado’s Summit County (home to ritzy ski resorts) and Teton County, Wyoming (home to Jackson Hole), which had personal income growth of 2,757 and 2,253 percent, respectively." Study author Megan Lawson "says that when she took the top 5 percent—the Vails and Aspens—out of the equation, the difference in economic growth between counties with the highest and lowest protected federal land decreased by about 16 percent. But the overall gains were still significant."

Lawson told Langlois, “We’re data-driven, and our reflex to hearing (recent anti-public lands) rhetoric is to look at the data. There are certainly rural places that are struggling, but that’s not the primary story we’re seeing across the West.”

BLM's inconsistency when dealing with rule breakers being blamed for armed Oregon standoff

Some are blaming the Bureau of Land Management's inconsistency when dealing with law breakers on federal land for the armed standoff at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon, Jonathan Thompson reports for High Country News. One of the reasons Ammon and Ryan Bundy began the standoff was "to protest what they see as an unjust punishment of a father-son pair of local ranchers, Dwight and Steven Hammond," who in October were ordered by a judge to "finish a five year required minimum sentence for lighting fires on public land back in 2001 and 2006." (Washington Post graphic: Malheur National Wildlife Refuge)

High Country News, which examined several similar BLM cases that had varying results, found that the Bundys' father, Cliven, has for years grazed cattle illegally on BLM allotment without paying fees and has never been punished "for his role in inciting supporters to threaten federal agents at gunpoint back in May of 2014," Thompson writes.

In 2014, BLM and then no fewer than three federal judges found that Cliven Bundy "was trespassing and ordered him to remove his cows," Thompson writes. "They also determined that he owes anywhere from $300,000 to $1 million in back grazing fees. After Bundy’s continual refusal to remove his cows or pay the money owed, BLM contractors showed up to confiscate his cattle. But a heavily armed group of supporters converged on the ranch, threatening the federal officers at gunpoint. BLM backed down, returned the cattle and left. Bundy—and those 'defending' him—have yet to be prosecuted. The cattle yet roam free."

Bob Abbey, former director of the BLM, told High Country News, “At the end of the day, most people have a common respect for the law, and with Mr. Bundy, he just believes differently, that he’s above the law. The fact that their trespass hasn’t been dealt with in a timely matter reinforced beliefs.” (Read more)

Armed protesters: Occupation about who controls the land in the West

Armed protesters at Oregon's Malheur National Wildlife Refuge say government interference is the reason why the area's rural economies have struggled in recent years, Kirk Johnson and Jack Healy report for The New York Times. They say the federal government should hand control of the land over to ranchers and local governments, much like it was 100 years ago when the West was taking shape. (Wikipedia map: Harney County, Oregon)

Ammon Bundy, the leader of the occupation group said at a news conference Tuesday, “It is our goal to get the logger back to logging, to get the rancher back to ranching, to get the miner back to mining, the farmer back to farming—and to jump-start this economy in Harney County."

But not everyone involved in the protest seems to be on the same page, Johnson and Healy write. "The participants surrounding Mr. Bundy appear to have in common a reverence for the United States Constitution, which many quote from at length or brandish in paper form from a pocket to cite. But after that, their paths diverge into a tangle of other causes, beliefs and motivations, with some more focused on personal liberty, others wanting to talk about economic harm to the agricultural heritage or tradition of the West—which they say comes from government overreach in control of natural resources like the grass that grows on public lands."

"Last year, a yearslong dispute between Mr. Bundy’s father Cliven and federal officials over his illegal grazing on public lands erupted into a tense, armed confrontation," Johnson and Healy write. "And Ammon Bundy, his brother Ryan and his followers—who are now in their fourth day of protest at the federally owned sanctuary—echo the terms and tenets of that conflict: who controls the land in the West." (Read more)

Wildlife refuge with armed protesters was one of the nation’s first; U.S. has 563 such sanctuaries

The U.S. has 563 national wildlife refuges and 38 wetland management districts, states the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The refuges "provide habitat for more than 700 species of birds, 220 species of mammals, 250 reptile and amphibian species and more than 1,000 species of fish. More than 380 threatened or endangered plants or animals are protected on wildlife refuges," and millions of migrating birds stop at the refuges during annual trips to their summer and winter homes. (Washington Post graphic: Malheur National Wildlife Refuge)

Oregon's Malheur National Wildlife Refuge has become center stage after armed protesters on Saturday seized the main building to protest "the arson convictions of two local ranchers, Dwight Hammond and his son Steven Hammond, who set fires that burned federal lands," Lisa Rein reports for The Washington Post. "The ranchers said they were fighting wildfires and invasive vegetation, but federal officials said they were covering up poaching on federal land."

The history of the refuge dates back to the late 1880s, when "the land captured the attention of two photographers who became alarmed that plume hunters had decimated many North American bird species in pursuit of feathers for the hat industry," Rein writes. "They approached the Oregon Audubon Society and pressed for a reservation to protect the remaining birds and other wildlife."

President Teddy Roosevelt, who created 51 refuges, "agreed to set aside what at the time were unclaimed government lands in the area 'as a preserve and breeding ground for native birds,” marking it as one of the nation's first refuges, Rein writes. "Gradually the area under federal control expanded. The government bought a 65,000-acre parcel under private ownership in 1935. The Civilian Conservation Corps built many of the 13 historic buildings in the 1930s and early 1940s, including the one occupied by the protesters. Another 14,000 acres was sold in 1942 by a livestock company, adding to the refuge’s shorebird habitat and waterfowl nesting areas."

"Today the refuge is more than 187,700 acres of wildlife habitat, including 120,000 acres of wetlands that provide a crucial stop for waterfowl along the Pacific Flyway," Rein writes. "Colonial waterbirds, sandhill cranes, redband trout are represented." Last year the refuge had 23,967 visitors, including birders, hunters and outdoor recreationists. (Read more)

Report details climate change concerns facing rural communities; looks for ways to identify solutions

The Rural Climate Network has released a report, "Rural Climate Policy Priorities: Solutions from the Ground," that includes 10 recommendations specific to climate change in rural areas, Brandon Campbell reports for Public News Service. The report, which focuses on agriculture, conservation, education, energy, fisheries, forestry, health, infrastructure and recreation and tourism, includes "suggestions such as how to keep the U.S. agriculture industry resilient to extreme weather conditions and how federal agencies can do more to help conserve local ecosystems."

Tara Ritter, climate and rural communities program associate with the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP), told Campbell, "Rural areas have different concerns. They generally have longer travel distances between destinations, different energy use, different building stock, different industries that their economies are based upon. We weren't seeing those concerns reflected in climate policy."

Ritter said "one of the key ways the U.S. can help rural communities do that is by incentivizing clean energy infrastructure projects or making renewable energy production a priority," Campbell writes. She told him, "There are already so many incentives for fossil fuels that in order to level the playing field, we need to see some clean energy incentives to get that industry up and running and going even stronger than it already is." (Read more)

Calif. drought a nightmare for small agri-tourism businesses that once thrived at Halloween

The California drought is forcing many small agri-tourism businesses to skip Halloween festivities this year that require water, such as pumpkin patches and corn mazes, Geoffrey Mohan reports for the Los Angeles Times. "The travails haunting some of the state's small farms this Halloween come even as large-scale growers of the ornamental gourds in the San Joaquin Valley say they've had a bumper crop that is in high demand because of rain-damaged harvests in the Midwest, Texas and East Coast. The divergent fates illustrate a paradox of California's drought: farmers with recourse to deep wells can reap a tidy profit. Those who don't might not farm again." (Times photo by Kirk McCoy: Bob Lombardi, owner of the shut-down Lombardi Ranch, looks at one of the baby bear pumpkins he was able to grow on only two acres because of the drought)

"Statewide, growers have gambled on crops that give them the best yield per drop, agriculture experts say," Mohan writes. "Despite the drought's estimated $1.5-billion toll on the agriculture economy last year, many of California's vegetable crops, and a few fruits, have had increased yields, according to University of California Davis and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Pumpkin harvests were up 16 percent last year."

"Meanwhile, farms with few choices have withered: the state lost about 1 percent to 2 percent of its dairy industry from 2010 to 2014, according to Lesley Butler, a dairy economist at UC Davis," Mohan writes. "And while farm revenues for vegetable crops in the San Joaquin and Sacramento regions are expected to rise by $4 million to $8 million this year, they probably will plummet by more than $100 million in Tulare County, according to UC Davis' Center for Watershed Sciences." (Read more)

Growing agri-tourism industry posing safety and liability risks for landowners

While the agri-tourism industry led to a 42 percent increase in income for U.S. farms from 2007 to 2012, the growing business is also putting a greater number of landowners at risk of liabilities that can be prevented by obtaining the proper insurance and educating visitors of hazards, Lisa Rathke reports for The Associated Press. "As more farms open themselves up to visitors for apple picking, hayrides and some extra income, experts are advising owners to take steps to prevent accidents—be they minor or serious." (Rathke photo: Beatrice LeVesque of Montreal feeds a horse while visiting an apple orchard at Allenholm Farm in South Hero, Vt)
 
Farming, one of the nation's most dangerous businesses, becomes even more dangerous when adding inexperienced urban visitors "who might not be familiar with hazards such as irrigation ponds or farm equipment that could pique a child’s interest," Rathke writes. "So, experts say farmers have to purchase the proper insurance, know where the hazards are and keep tourists away from those areas. Doing so can prevent injuries, lawsuits and notoriety."

Marsha Salzwedel, an agritourism safety specialist with the National Children’s Center for Rural and Agricultural Health and Safety in Marshfield, Wis., said there are no official records of the number of agri-tourism injuries and deaths, Rathke writes. But Salzwedel told her, “The majority of these incidents, if not all of them, are pretty much preventable.”

Brian Schilling of Rutgers’ Cooperative Extension in New Brunswick, N.J., said, "The first key is assessing the risks," Rathke writes. He told her, “If you’ve grown up on a farm, you’re sort of blind to a lot of these things.” He advises owners "to have an extension agent, emergency official or insurance agent walk the farm to identify hazards. The extension also has a safety checklist that reminds farmers to, among other things, designate areas that are closed to the public, train employees to operate farm machinery properly, secure and restrict areas that contain chemicals, provide hand-washing or hand-sanitizing stations and have employees assist with parking." (Read more)

Smithsonian names 20 best small towns to visit

Smithsonian has unveiled its annual list of the top 20 small towns to visit. To be considered, towns had to have a population under 20,000 and were judged based on cultural attractions, historical sites, nature opportunities and food-and-drink destinations, "then researched to find the places commemorating important anniversaries, openings, renovations, recoveries and other milestones in 2015," Bess Lovejoy reports for Smithsonian. "Think of this list not as a ranking but as a menu, with something for every taste—whether it’s country bluegrass, Florida’s white beaches or Alaska’s blue mountains." (Corbis photo by Richard T. Nowitz: Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colo.)

The list, in order from No. 1 to No. 20, is: Estes Park, Colo.; Nantucket, Mass; Stuart, Fla.; Traverse City, Mich.; Cooperstown, N.Y.; Port Townsend, Wash.; Calistoga, Calif.; Sevierville, Tenn.; Boonville, Mo.; Saint Simons Island, Ga.; Edenton, N.C.; Bayfield, Wisc.; Nashville, Ind.; Put-in-Bay, Ohio; Whitefish, Mont.; Thibodaux, La.; Custer, S.D.; Stowe, Vt.; Homer, Alaska; and Vernal, Utah.

Cheaper to preserve old barns as businesses or tourist attractions than to build a new barn

Repairing an old barn or preserving its historic value by altering it into a business or tourist attraction is often more cost effective than tearing it down and building another one, said Steve Stier, former president of the Michigan Barn Preservation Network, Juliana Moxley reports for Great Lakes Echo, a service of the Center for Environmental Journalism at Michigan State University. (Echo photo by Cindi Van Hurk: A sunflower quilt block outside Harrisville, Mich.)

Stier said the cost of legally disposing of a farm can be steep and older barns are most likely taxed at lower rates than newer ones, Moxley writes. And because traditional barns were used for storage and shelter, they are sturdy and easily adaptable because they've been used as churches, restaurants, furniture stores, wineries and event spaces.

Another fad is turning old barns into quilt trails, "where painted wooden squares are displayed on a series of barns as a tourist attraction," Moxley writes. "Many barn quilt trails in Michigan attract tourists who buy gas, food and lodging, Stier said." There are at least 13 quilt trails in Michigan, where hand-painted designs on wood are displayed on nearly 30 barns and other buildings on the trail. (Read more)

Forget the past; rural communities trying to draw tourists with novelty of present-day life

While many rural towns try to draw tourists by re-creating the past or claiming to be the birthplace of someone famous, a small struggling town in New York is following a new trend in rural America, in which towns market the present, offering tourists a glimpse into the culture of what's happening now, Patricia Leigh Brown reports for The New York Times. (NYT photo by Nathaniel Brooks: Showing how to cultivate seven acres of vegetables)

In New Lebanon, located in the Hudson Valley, locals are pushing “Behold! New Lebanon,” where "ticket-buying visitors are promised an unvarnished glimpse of present-day country culture, organizers say, which includes being ferried by school buses to working farms, forests, kitchens, corrals and a speedway," Brown writes. "There they will 'behold' guides like Cynthia Creech, showing off her genetically rare breed of Randall cattle; Eric Johnson, training Border collies to shoo Canada geese off public fields; and Melissa Eigenbrodt, the local postmaster, who can demonstrate the art of tracking deer—without a gun—by following hoof scrapes along the trail."

"If the effort succeeds, New Lebanon will join an emerging rural renaissance—a movement that some are calling 'rural by choice'—in which small towns are reinventing themselves by embracing local skills and artisanship," Brown writes. "Across the country, communities are trying a variety of approaches with varying success, from designated downtown culinary districts (Bridgeton, N.J.), to artist collaboratives spearheading small-town revivals (Arnaudville, La.), to the annual Fermentation Fest in Reedsburg, Wis., which pumps roughly $300,000 into the local economy." So far, the museum project has netted $55,000, charging $15 to $25 for day tickets or $40 for the weekend.

Other areas have already found success with similar projects, Brown writes. "In Green River, Utah (population 953), a group of Auburn University design and architecture graduates and former AmeriCorps/Vista volunteers started the nonprofit Epicenter in 2009 (motto: 'Rural & Proud'). They have restored 14 houses and run school arts programs and sponsor a 'frontier fellowship' for artists in residence."

"In Reedsburg (population 9,000), between Chicago and Minneapolis, Donna Neuwirth, 60, and Jay Salinas, 55, are urban transplants who started as farmers but went beyond food, creating the nonprofit Wormfarm Institute to develop what they call a regional culture-shed," Brown writes "The Fermentation Fest—which includes artist-designed farm stands, a drive with scenic overlooks of art installations in fields, and opera performed in a hay wagon—drew 12,000 people last October." (Read more)

Agricultural tourism is growing in Appalachia

Advocates say agricultural tourism can help revive struggling rural economies, especially in Appalachia, reports The Associated Press. Ag tourism — which "refers to working farm enterprises geared to visitors, encompassing farm stands, pumpkin patches, barn dances, zip-line rides, pick-your-own berries, corn mazes and even weddings," generated about $700 million in 2012, a 24 percent increase since 2007, and has become one of agriculture’s fasting growing sectors, said Kelly Smith, marketing and commodities director at the Missouri Farm Bureau.

Appalachian areas, many of which are trying to find economic alternatives after the loss of coal dollars, are pushing ag tourism as a way to improve local economies, AP reports. "Last month, the Appalachian Regional Commission, a federal agency charged with promoting economic development in that area, launched a map and guide of nearly 300 farmers markets, vineyards, farm-to-fork restaurants and other destinations in an effort to boost the industry. The map and guide were published in Food Traveler Magazine and online."

Bloomery Plantation Distillery

"Linda Losey, who had never owned a farm before, started Bloomery Plantation Distillery in 2011 after deciding to try her hand at making limoncello, an Italian lemon liqueur," AP writes. The distillery, located in Charles Town, W.Va., "uses many of its home-grown products in its drinks — 'Moonshine Milkshake' and hard lemonade among them — plucking fresh raspberries, pumpkin, lemons and ginger. Now, the business generates nearly $1 million in annual sales and employs 14 people." The business has also found success on the Internet, with offsite sales rising from 3 percent a year ago to 20 percent today.

Katy Orr-Dove, whose family farm opened a retail market in 1995 in Martinsburg, W.Va., said retail sales generate about 15 percent of business, up from 5 percent seven years ago, AP writes. She told AP, "People started having a greater interest in finding locally grown fruits and vegetables and they started looking for us. At about the same time, we decided we wanted to reach out more and increased our advertising, our website, our e-newsletter.”

In 2012, the state's 174 ag-tourism farms "generated about $1.2 million in ag tourism — up from 112 farms and $970,000 in 2007," AP writes. Orr-Dove told AP, “The possibilities are endless. West Virginia is known for being mountainous farmlands. And there are a lot of people who have small farms already.” (Read more)

Champions of Change in agriculture to be honored by USDA Tuesday morning

The White House and the U.S. Department of Agriculture will honor 15 Champions of Change in agriculture for their extraordinary work in bringing about change at the local level. The event will be broadcast live at 10 a.m. ET Tuesday. To view it click here. Some of this year's winners include:

Quint Pottinger, New Haven, Ky.: Pottinger owns a mixed row-crop and herb farm called Affinity Farms. The University of Kentucky graduate serves on the Kentucky Soybean Association board, serving in a leadership education capacity and has just started a year of service with the Corn Farmers Coalition.

Jake Carter, McDonough, Ga.: Carter operates Southern Belle Farm, 30 miles outside of Atlanta. This farm has you-pick strawberries, blueberries, blackberries and peaches, as well as a fall corn maze and educational school tours. Jake was recently elected as chair of the American Farm Bureau's Young Farmer and Rancher Committee. (Southern Belle photo: picking berries)

Pierre Sleiman, Encinitas, Calif.; Sleiman is the founder and CEO of Go Green Agriculture, which grows produce inside climate-controlled greenhouses using hydroponics, a method of growing plants without soil. He is a director of the San Diego County Farm Bureau and will graduate this year from the California Farm Bureau leadership program. 

Vena A-dae Romero, Pueblo, N.M.: Romero, who is Cochiti Puebloan and Kiowa Indian, consults for First Nations Development Institute, a leading Native American nonprofit whose mission is to strengthen American Indian economies. (Read more)

Climate report says change already affecting cultures and economies of rural areas; warns of more floods, lower corn and soybean yields

Climate change is already happening throughout the entire U.S., according to the National Climate Assessment released Tuesday by a scientific panel overseen by the government. Justin Gillis reports for The New York Times that the panel found "water growing scarcer in dry regions, torrential rains increasing in wet regions, heat waves becoming more common and more severe, wildfires growing worse and forests dying under assault from heat-loving insects."

"One of the report’s most dramatic findings concerned the rising frequency of torrential rains," Gillis writes. "The proportion of precipitation that is falling in very heavy rain events has jumped by 71 percent in the Northeast, by 37 percent in the Midwest and by 27 percent in the South, the report found." The report also found that "severe, long-lasting heat waves were likely to become much more common," and "bitterly cold winters will continue to occur, even as they become somewhat less likely." (Read more)

Climate change can help and harm agriculture, the report says. The length of growing seasons could increase, allowing more diverse crops, but an increase in the number of dry days, especially in the West and South, could negatively affect both crops and livestock. "The trend toward more consecutive dry days and higher temperatures will increase evaporation and add stress to limited water resources, affecting irrigation and other water uses." (National Climate Assessment graphic: Crop yields decline under hotter temperatures)

"Warming, climate volatility, extreme weather events and environmental change are already affecting the economies and cultures of rural areas," the report says. "These changes will progressively increase volatility in food commodity markets, shift locations where particular economic activities can thrive, alter the ranges of plant and animal species and—depending on the region—increase water scarcity, exacerbate flooding and coastal erosion and increase the intensity and frequency of wildfires across the rural landscape."

"Rural America has already experienced impacts of climate change related weather effects, including crop and livestock loss from severe drought and flooding, damage to levees and roads from extreme storms, shifts in planting and harvesting times and large-scale losses from fires and other weather-related disasters," the report says. "These impacts have profound effects, often significantly affecting the health and well-being of rural residents and communities, and are amplified by the essential economic link between these communities and their natural resource base."

The report also found that "hunting, fishing, bird watching and other wildlife-related activities will be affected as wildlife habitats shift and relationships among species change" and that areas that rely on winter tourism, especially in the West, Northeast and Southwest, could be hurt by warming temperatures. To read the full report click here.