Risky business.

Farm tours are in full swing.  Fall is a perfect time of year to invite the public to learn more about agriculture by spending a day on different farms and visiting nearby agribusinesses.  It’s an opportunity to teach people the ABCs of agriculture.  Most people have to hear the basics of the food industry's story because they are several generations removed from the farm.  Most have never raised anything edible.  The grocery store shelf is their closest connection to the food system.

My hat goes off to all the farmers who allow their operations to be opened up to the uninformed eyes of visitors.  It can be risky inviting people to view the behind the barn door scenes that go along with raising livestock , cultivating crops, and serving as the first link in the food chain.

This weekend Berks County will be hosting its annual farm tour, with eight different farm enterprises and businesses represented for an afternoon of agritainment and education for the non-farm public who will spend a day getting back to their roots.  A lot of work goes into a successful day, both on and off the farm.  It gives farmers a reason to spruce up their farmstead, and put on their best faces.  It’s amazing how much stuff can accumulate over the years that detract from the picturesque appearance we all want to share with our visitors.  Public tours are a good excuse to trim, trash, and tidy up around the farm.

Our organizing committee has been planning this weekend since the new year began.  The pace picked up during the past few weeks as our deadline loomed ahead.  With less than 24 hours to go, we are still tying up the loose ends of this educational event.  Ready or not, our tour starts at the Pennsylvania German Cultural Heritage Center, where participants will get their guide booklet and map, learn a bit about the history of the county and our agrarian heritage, and get the green light to wind their way through the Blue Mountain region of northeastern Berks County.

Will people come out for the tour?  Did we do enough to advertise the event?  Did we do too much and will we be too successful in having the public stop by?  Will the weather cooperate?  Will folks have a good experience?  Will they leave with a better understanding and respect for the farmers who work 24-7-365 to put food on their tables?

While this is a multi-farm tour, planned and executed by a group of agencies and farm organizations, some farmers host their own Open House events.  I recently participated in one of these individual invitations to the non-farm public at Keith and Margaret Masemore’s farm.  I came away from that dreary Saturday totally convinced that this type of public relations is key to the farm community’s survival in the future.

I watched as people who were clueless about agriculture were slowly but surely enlightened about the everyday tasks that farmers perform to make a living and produce food for their neighbors.  They smelled the strong aroma of fermented corn silage and haylage, some wrinkling their noses.  They walked cautiously across a strategically placed rubber mat placed on a cow walkway to avoid coating their shoes in fresh manure.  They gazed down at cows and heifers chewing their cuds and resting comfortably on mattresses.  They listened to the farmer as he explained how he mixes their feed to optimize milk production, milks them twice a day, and the financial investment he has made to make a living in farming.

The visitors were impressed by the conservation practices the farmer employed to protect the land and be a steward of the natural resources so integral to the farm business.  They appreciated the complexity of balancing fertilizer, genetics, and management to optimize field crop production.  They enjoyed the opportunity to pet and lead goats and bunnies, and to name calves that were housed in hutches.  Some children climbed aboard a securely parked John Deere tractor, posing for pictures and play-acting as farmers for a day.  Parents wished they could trade places with their kids but resisted asking the youthful drivers to relinquish the tractor seat to them.

Neighbors in the new homes across the road from the host farm left with a better understanding about the noise and daily activities they observed from across the fields.  They could see, hear and smell everything first hand, and make the important connection between knowledge and their senses.  Instead of questioning what was happening on the neighboring farm from afar, they now knew that the roar of a tractor, the mooing of cows, the bleating of goats, and the fresh country air aroma were all integral parts of this family farm.

Could a visitor misinterpret the facts about farming?  Could they criticize the normal husbandry that occurs on modern farms?  The answer is absolutely “yes.”  But, what I witnessed made me a firm believer that we all need to take a chance on teaching non-farm neighbors about our farms.  Better they hear the facts from those of us who live next door, farm the land, and care for the livestock, than if they listen to radical groups whose message is not a true representation of today’s agriculture.

Farm visits are risky business.  But, it is even more risky for farmers to not share their story.  Whether you join a group to sponsor a day of farm tours, or whether you open your farm to your nearest neighbors, take the time to teach these people the importance of agriculture in their lives.  You might be surprised at the results.

Lancaster Farming’s guidelines for posting comments on the website ask that you follow the Golden Rule, respecting other opinions and being truthful and civil.  Do not post any statements that are illegal, defamatory, obscene, threatening, or plagiarized.