SENECA CO., N.Y. — With the Farm to Table movement, a focus on improving one’s health and nutrition, and the recent experience with the food supply chains during COVID, people are expressing a continued interest in learning more about local farms and where their food is coming from. Part of this learning often includes experiencing agriculture firsthand.
These experiences can include U-pick, harvest festivals, farm bed & breakfasts, a field to fork restaurant, or day camps for kids. Others may include a wine, cheese, or beer making class at a local winery, creamery, or brewery. Perhaps walking a pasture with animals. The opportunities can be limitless.
There are three key basics to agri-tourism. These are:
- Have something for people to see
- Have something for them to do
- Have something for them to buy
Expanding farm operations to include agri-tourism can be a means to increase farm income.
Seneca County is known for the diversity of its farms as well as the Cayuga and Seneca Lake Wine Trails. Visitors come to the area to enjoy the scenery and explore the numerous wineries but also the many other craft beverages now offered. But what are some other opportunities for agri-tourism?
Residents and those visiting from out of the area are invited to share their thoughts by taking a quick survey found on Seneca County Cornell Cooperative Extension‘s website www.senecacountycce.org. All responses are anonymous and who knows? Maybe your idea will become reality! Questions? Contact Judy Wright, Agriculture Economic Development Educator with Seneca County CCE at 315-539-9251 ext.109 or by email at jlw24@cornell.edu.
With over 100 years of serving the people of the County, Seneca County Cornell Cooperative Extension puts to practical use the scholarship and research of Cornell University and the national land grant system in the areas of agriculture and food systems sustainability; nutrition, food safety and security, and obesity prevention; 4-H youth development, and children, youth , and families; environment and natural resources, sustainable energy and climate change; and community and economic vitality. The office is located at 308 Main Street Shop Centre in Waterloo. For more information about this and other programs, please visit our website: www.senecacountycce.org, our Facebook pages: @CCESeneca, @senecacounty4hny, @WildHarvestTable, @CCEsenecaF2S, and contact us at 315-539-9251 or email seneca@cornell.edu.
–Cornell Cooperative Extension – Seneca County
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