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Agritourism – It’s a new word to many people

Agritourism – It’s a new word to many people

UMASH connected with Township Officials across the state at the Minnesota Association of Townships annual meeting on November 16-17, 2017. Visitors to the UMASH booth were asked to complete a 2-question survey about the types of agritourism events occurring in their part of the state.

Many people who answered the questions were surprised to learn about the types of activities that are considered agritourism. For example: pumpkin patch, apple orchard, breakfast on the farm, pizza farm, educational farm, historical farm, school field trips to a working farm, petting zoo, and others.

Since there is no state agritourism organization in Minnesota, the information gathered will help us understand the types of agritourism events happening in different regions of the state and identify locations to hold Agritourism Workshops in the future.

UMASH shared FREE information and resources on:

  • Safe Agritourism – educational videos and fliers, Handwashing posters
  • Rural Firefighters Delivering Agricultural Safety and Health (RF-DASH) project – a project to train and prepare firefighters on how to identify farm hazards and work with farmers on farm safety prevention and preparedness in case of an emergency.
  • Roadway Safety – resources from our partners at the Great Plains Center for Agricultural Health
  • Down on the Farm Workshops – The Minnesota Department of Agriculture is partnering with a number of other organizations to offer a free, three hour workshop to help agricultural advisors (and others who work with farmers) recognize and respond when they suspect a farmer or farm family member might need help.