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There was a time when most people might have driven right past a corn field or cow pasture and not thought twice about stopping by.

Nowadays, some farmers across Ohio and the nation welcome visitors to their operations with pumpkin patches, blueberry picking, farm tours, petting zoos and farmers’ markets, just to name a few.

That’s in no small part because Ohio Farm Bureau has helped make agritourism more appealing for farmers who want to expand their earnings and help the public see what farming is all about.

“It helps people understand where their food comes from,” said Renee Hamilton, who has run a freezer beef and feeder calf operation on Violet View Farms in Mechanicsburg with Logan Eades since 2020. Three years ago, the couple decided to add a pumpkin patch after a nearby farmer phased his out, and that fall they opened their doors to a pick-your-own pumpkins operation.

Since then, they’ve made the farm a destination from Labor Day to Halloween, offering mums, Indian corn, and straw, as well as an annual tractor show.

Hamilton and Eades added the pumpkin operation as a second stream of income and felt comfortable taking that leap in part because of an Ohio agritourism law passed in 2016 that limits a farmer’s liability when the public visits an agritourism operation.

Under the law, Ohio agritourism operators are protected from legal liability for injuries from “risks inherent in an agritourism activity” if they post a warning sign with specific wording near entrances to the activity.

For example, if someone at a U-pick strawberry field tripped on a rock and sprained an ankle, the law would protect the farmer from liability if the warning sign was posted.

“We can’t stop someone from being sued, but this can help them if they are,” said Leah Curtis, Ohio Farm Bureau associate general counsel. Curtis said Ohio Farm Bureau suggested the law to the Ohio Legislature, proposed the language and worked on its passage.

“A number of farmers were adding agritourism and other activities to their farms as a way to diversify and they had a number of concerns; one of them was liability,” Curtis said. “Across the country we had seen a few situations where agricultural events had been targets of lawsuits related to injuries, so that’s where the thought came to limit liability and allow agritourism to thrive and grow in Ohio.”

Hamilton learned about the vast array of agritourism in Ohio through AgriPOWER, a year-long Ohio Farm Bureau leadership program that teaches participants how to advocate for the agricultural industry, exposes them to public policy work and improves their leadership skills.

She applied for the program to build her professional skills after graduating from The Ohio State University with an animal sciences degree.

“I got to see the vast landscape of agriculture in Ohio,” said Hamilton. That included visiting operations centered around Christmas tree sales, hog production, horse racing and animal genetics, as well as a trip to Washington, D.C. to talk to congressional representatives. The last of nine AgriPOWER sessions was a trip to Texas, where the group visited a cotton gin, a dairy and the Fort Worth Stockyards.

“It included a lot of personal development, including how to leverage others who have a strength we don’t have,” Hamilton said. “I learned I liked to build community and connections with other people, and I realized my passion for event planning.”

A project Hamilton did about agritourism while in AgriPOWER also taught her about the risk associated with a fall agritourism business and how to mitigate those risks by developing a plan for all aspects of the business. Hamilton encourages other farmers to consider agritourism.

“I would not be afraid of letting the public on your farm,” she said. “Of course, make sure you have liability insurance. It’s not as scary as you might think, and from our experience it’s been positive and worth it.”

Both Hamilton and Eades have been able to quit their former full-time jobs and work full time at the farm instead, thanks to the additional income from the pumpkins and mums. They rent the farm from Eades’ family, which has owned it since 1980. In addition to about 80 head of cattle, they plant five acres of pumpkins and 170 acres of corn, soybeans and wheat.

“The pumpkins seemed like a logical way to diversify and grow our operation,” Hamilton said. “I don’t think we’ve even tapped the potential. Plus, it’s a community builder and our rural areas and small towns need that. Agritourism is a cool way to help a small town flourish.”

KEY POINTS

• Inviting the community onto your farm can build good relationships with rural neighbors.
• Diversification of a farming operation can include agritourism.
• Mitigating risk and having liability protection is essential for an agritourism operation.

WHAT’S NEXT
It is essential that members with an agritourism operation post a liability sign on their property. There are specific requirements for that signage, which is a legal necessity. Members should contact their county Farm Bureaus about acquiring that sign. Visit ofb.ag/counties to find your county Farm Bureau’s contact information.