Agri-tourism increases across Western Massachusetts

Date: 8/22/2023

The small rural town of Hardwick was the location where promoters wanted to build a horse facility with a racetrack that ultimately was rejected by voters in a special election in January.

Proponents believed such a facility would bring additional revenue to the town of about 3,000 people and preserve farmland. Opponents feared negative impacts.

This proposal is an example of a growing trend: agri-tourism.

That trip to a favorite farm for produce or dairy or a couple of hours picking your own apples, strawberries or blueberries or a visit to a maple sugar shack are well-known seasonal activities in Western Massachusetts.

They are, however, more than just rural retail transactions. They are all part agri-tourism.
As a term, agri-tourism with a definition was adapted by the state through a bill passed in the Legislature, Katie Rozenas-Hanson explained to Reminder Publishing. She wears two hats at the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources, working in Agricultural Education & Agritourism/Culinary Tourism, as well as the Massachusetts Dairy Promotion Board Coordinator.
Agri-tourism includes corn mazes, pick-your-owns, farm bed and breakfasts, picnic areas, hayrides, cross country skiing and maple sugar houses, as well as other features.

Rozenas-Hanson said that at the broadest level, it’s activities that bring people to farms. While Western Massachusetts may be seen as the rural part of the state, there are agri-tourism businesses across the state, such as cranberry bogs and seafood festivals on Cape Cod. There are even dig-your-own clam operations at the Cape, she added.

“It’s such a wide array," she said.

According to the MassGrown Map (https://massnrc.org/farmlocator/map.aspx?Type=Agritourism) when set at a radius of 25 miles of Springfield, there are 24 maple sugar houses, eight dairy farms, 22 farmers markets, 128 farm stands, 52 pick-your-owns, 13 equine stables, 16 honey producers, 13 Christmas tree farms, seven organic farms and 21 greenhouses and nurseries — all considered part of agri-tourism.
Rozenas-Hanson said that in the 1990s when the Buy Local movement started to grow, there was a sense among many people to “get back to basics.” She said, “Shaking the hand of a farmer was a really big thing.”

She added that people wanted a “Kodak moment” such as a family posing in a pumpkin field.

New England’s fall colors are also part of agri-tourism with leaf-peepers spending money at restaurants and hotels, she noted.

Diversification of revenue streams became more and more important for farmers as it became “harder and harder for farmers to survive,” she explained.

Agri-tourism definitely has an economic impact although Rozenas-Hanson noted the most recent figures are from 2017. She explained the U.S. Department of Agriculture does a survey and showed that Massachusetts had 240 farms participating in some sort of agri-tourism. The economic impact was figured by the USDA as $13.5 million.

“That’s a decent chunk of change,” Rozenas-Hanson said.

She believes the sector is growing, for instance, there are farm-to-table dinners popping up at Massachusetts farms.

Within 25 miles of Springfield, there are nine fairs, which Rozenas-Hanson said she sees as part of agri-tourism, whether it’s The Big E, one of the largest fairs in the country, or smaller more traditional fairs.

“It’s bringing people together to experience farm activities,” she said.

Although she doesn’t know when the next USDA survey will be completed, she anticipates this economic sector will be seen on an upward trend.