Kentucky Farm Bureau visits Eckert’s Country Store
This past week, I was pleased to speak to 44 farmers from Kentucky on an ag tour through Indiana, Illinois and Missouri. Chris Eckert, 7th generation, spoke to the group and led them on a behind the scenes tour of the new farm market, restaurant and peach packing plant.
The Kentucky Farm Bureau has an agritourism initiative and has over 100 certified roadside markets that are part of their group.
The best way to learn about what other farms are doing is to take tours. Farmers are always open to sharing their back doors with other out-of-state operators. While summer and harvest seasons are a hard time to get away, most of these Kentucky farmers acknowledged that it is exactly the time to be visiting other farms.
At the conclusion of the tour, I spoke to the group briefly about, “Getting On Board the Internet Superhighway” and other marketing strategies they could use to grow their business.
The Kentucky Farm Bureau did a great job in organizing this trip and stopping at a variety of locations. While the farmers were at Eckert’s Country Store in Belleville, IL, I asked them a couple questions to produce a video. To view the clip, click HERE.
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Vote for America’s Favorite Farmers Market
Farmers markets are an important part of our communities and they help keep local farms thriving. Voting for your favorite farmers market in the America’s Favorite Farmers Markets contest is one great way to support local farms and homegrown products.
The process is simple. To vote for our market, all you have to do is:
1.) Go to www.farmland.org/vote
2.) Type in [Your Market Name]; and,
3.) Click “Vote”
That’s it. That’s all it takes to bring your local market one step closer to being America’s favorite farmers market!
So don’t forget to vote for your local market at www.farmland.org/vote and spread the word! Big thanks to everyone who has already voted!
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Eckert’s Celebrates 100 Years in Retail
I’m proud to tell you that our 7th generation family farm business, Eckert’s Country Store just outside Belleville, IL, has recently opened a new 22,000 square foot market. Our old building built in 1927, was just too small and outdated to accommodate our current customer base. The new store features wider aisles, larger displays and plenty of family photos and memorabilia to maintain the country look that customers expect of Eckert’s.
The store features a large center island bakery with an oven to spread the wonderful baking aroma for the shoppers to enjoy as they browse the many new products. In addition, we feature a deli, prepared foods, fudge, wine, and specialty foods section. The homegrown produce department now offers everything in season from local farms. Of course, this time of the year is when our tree-ripened peaches are in good supply. Eckert’s has ready picked peaches to make shopping easy or also available is pick-your-own out in the orchards.
Now that the old store has been vacated, that space is under renovation so we can expand the restaurant by another 160 seats.
The family is proud to share our farm with you and invite you to come celebrate our 100 year farming tradition. If you would like to take a sneak peak at the new market, just CLICK HERE to view a video produced by my summer intern, Kristen Bereswill.
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Minnesota Family Farms Take on the Law.
Recently Eckert AgriMarketing discovered a disturbing lawsuit in Lake Elmo, Minnesota that is hurting several small family farms. Currently farmers in Lake Elmo can only sell the products they grow at their farm. If they do not grow the crops inside the city limits, they cannot sell it.
This law goes as far as saying even if the farmer owns a parcel of land just outside Lake Elmo, they cannot sell the crop within the city limits. If you disobey and sell agricultural products that are not grown in Lake Elmo, you could spend 90 days in jail and fined $1,000.
Institute for Justice is teaming up with the farmers affected by this law to help bring on a federal lawsuit which the small farms couldn’t bring about themselves. Institute for Justice believes this law violates a protection Americans receive in the U.S. Constitution: Right to free trade. Meaning Lake Elmo does not have the right to restrict the sales of agricultural products because they were grown outside the city limits.
City officials say they support this law because it will make farmers grow the products that they sell, keeping Lake Elmo a rural area and keeping out products grown elsewhere. But actually this law could end up hurting many small farmers here and everywhere and has potential to put these farmers out of business. Because when farmers in Lake Elmo have a bad season, they rely on small farmers in other states to grow products they would want to sell at their farm markets. This law ends up hurting not only local farmers, but out-of-state farmers who rely on selling crops to the small farms in Lake Elmo.
Is this law fair? Should farmers in Lake Elmo be restricted to sell only what they grow in the city limits? Or does Institute for Justice make a valid point by saying this violates our constitutional right? I welcome your comments.
Watch this video clip to learn more.
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Crop Mobs Begin To Grow
Have you ever heard of crop mobs?
Until recently I was not aware of this phenomenon that is popping up all over the country. But an article in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, opened my eyes to this recent trend. Basically a crop mob is a group of people pulling together to help accomplish tasks on small farms. Typically this happens at the beginning of the season and some of the chores include pulling weeds, patching up fences and planting crops.
Crop Mobs started in North Carolina over a year ago and have been expanding across the country. So who participates is in a crop mob experience?
Crop mob volunteers consist of a wide variety of people who want to help small farmers and learn farm chores. A lot of these people are city dwellers who are looking for a different experience. Many consumers are making very proactive choices in eating locally grown food and this experience lets them get their hands dirty and see firsthand the hard work involved in growing this food. Some of the volunteers are people who are looking to start their own farms and desire a real hands-on experience to see just how much work it does require to be a farmer. The best part for the small farmer is crop mobbers work for free and for many small farms that can mean the difference of losing or making money with the crop.
The word about crop mobs is growing so quickly because of the Internet. Crop mobbers are using a variety of techniques to get the word out about what farms they will be helping and how others can sign up to volunteer. Right now, crop mobs use social media and e-mailing as their main method of communication.
So does your small farm need an extra hand? You might be surprised at the people willing to help you perform your ordinary farm chores. The crop mob experience could be a great marketing technique to expand the customer base! By offering this experience for your customers to learn how the farm works could spike an interest. People like trying new things and this could offer a great learning experience that would also increase your farms productivity and bottom line.
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American Agri Women TV Show – Features Agritourism
The American Agri-Women Show, a new weekly television program for farm and ranch women, began airing Tuesday, May 4, on In Country Television, at 6:00 and 9:00 pm EST on Direct TV and DISH Network.
Last night, my segment on agritourism aired and in case you missed it you can CLICK HERE to view the show from my website which takes you to Ron Frank Films prodution. I was pleased to be a contributor to the show’s content and you may be surprised to meet other farm women you know in future programs.
Chris Wilson, AAW President, is excited that these segments will now be available for viewing on the In Country station. “Each weekly show will feature a topic of concern to women in agriculture and tools and resources to help women in their farming and ranching operations” says Chris.
The American Agri-Women Show is made possible through a grant from USDA’s Risk Management Agency. For more information, visit the AAW website: http://americanagriwomen.org
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Agritour to Israel – January 4-13, 2011 – Hosted by Eckert AgriMarketing
I am pleased to announce that I will be hosting my fourth annual Agritour and have chosen Israel as the destination for January 4-13 2011. We will depart as a group from Newark, NJ and arrive in Tel Aviv where our tour begins.
Agriculture in Israel is found on the kibbutz where we will be touring local farms. A highlight of our trip will be meeting Steve Applebaum, an international expert on orchard drip irrigation and speaker/member of the International Fruit Tree Association. Steve will be our host at Kibbutz Ortal to view their orchards and packing house. Our trip includes touring of several kibbutzim as well overnight accomodations at Kibbutz Nof Ginosar and Kibbutz Yahel. Today, the agricultural activities on the kibbutz are also supplemented by the development of tourism or agritourism activities as we have here in North America.
Other ag stops include a tasting at the Golan Height Winery, touring a state of the art dairy barn, viewing the Yair research station to learn of new innovations in the Arava region plus a meeting with a representative from the Israel Ministry of Agriculture. We will have lunch under a Bedoin banquet tent, concluding with a camel ride for all.
We end our trip by spending a couple of nights in Jerusalem and visiting the important sites of our Christian heritage which includes the Mount of Beatitudes, Capernaum, Garden of Gethsemane, Via Dolorosa, Bethlehem, the Garden Tomb plus a memorable boat ride on the Sea of Galilee. Our travel company, Dehoney Travel, has been taking groups on spiritual pilgrimages to Israel for over forty years.
Getting to know a country and their people through agriculture is truly a way to connect at the deepest level with the tour experience. The Israel Agriour will truly be a once in a lifetime experience to see this county from two perspectives. If you want to read more about the trip and costs go to my website Eckert AgriMarketing to learn more. If you desire a printed brochure just send me an email through my website and I’d be happy to mail to you. For tour questions, you can also contact Dehoney Travel in New Albany, Indiana.
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Win a FREE $17,500 Farm Wedding Package!
Does this offer sound to good to be true? Well, the Today Show is not the only place that has made an offer to have a prospective bride’s dream come true. Seven Sycamore Ranch in Ivanhoe, California just recently announced a FREE $17,500 All Inclusive destination wedding package contest.
Kelly Maxwell, wedding coordinator, at Seven Sycamores came up with the idea for the contest and convinced her other local wedding suppliers to partner in giving away this package. The prospective bride and groom not only receive the beautiful Seven Sycamore outdoor venue for their April 2011 nuptials but also receive the bridal gown, decorated cake, wedding photographer, flowers, DJ, party rental fixtures, full catering for the event plus a romantic night at a local B & B. Another words – the wedding will be FREE to the couple.
Entries are now being accepted through May 31, and the winner will be announced at the ranch on June 19. There is one catch – you must be present to win. Kelly, and all the service providers will be on the ranch that day available to answer any questions regarding wedding planning and to show their services.
Bridal industry experts now tell us that having your wedding on a farm has become a top trend for prospective couples in choosing the site to hold their nuptials. By the way, I have been to Seven Sycamores and am very impressed with how they have created a magical place to have a wedding in the midst of a large, fragrant orange grove.
If you would like to check out the details for the FREE $17,500 Farm Wedding Package just CLICK HERE.
Otherwise, if California is not a convenient location for your wedding then visit www.ruralbounty.com. This is a farm and ranch directory that shows all types of agritourism activities available on farms today - including weddings.
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Mississippi Agritourism Association Hosts Annual Meeting
Cathy & Mike May,Lazy Acres Plantation
Last weekend I was pleased to participate in the Mississippi Agritourism Association annual meeting at Lazy Acres Plantation in Chunky, MS. Jo Lynn Mitchell of Mitchell Farms and Stanley Wise helped to organize and put together the day.
We were hosted by Cathy and Michael May of Lazy Acres Plantation, and met in their new group rental building they named Plantation Hall. It was a perfect setting for the presentation, mini-trade show and lunch for the near 80 attendees.
I’m always pleased to speak to new audiences and this meeting attracted farmers from the four neighboring states of GA, AL, AR & LA. My talk featured steps to Growing & Marketing, and Agritourism Business. Based on the feedback and questions presented to me, this audience was eager for the information and ready to go home and implement new ideas.
Agritourism is still very much a growing industry in Mississippi but the founders and board members of the organization are ready to have it thrive. We even attracted the attention of WTOK TV from Meridian, MS which came to the meeting to film a segment for the Evening News. Getting publicity for our farms happened to be a topic of discussion and the fact that the local news station came to feature a story was truly a bonus for the day.
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Eckert Family Farm Celebrates 100th Anniversary
It’s not easy for a family business to survive for seven generations but I’m proud to say that our family farm has done so – www.eckerts.com. Johann Eckert came to America with his family in 1837 to find orchard ground similar to what he had in Germany and found the perfect spot near Fayetteville, IL and he named the property Drum Hill. Since those early years the family farm has grown to mulitple orchard locations and pick your own farms in Belleville, Millstadt and Grafton, IL.
While our family started with one small farmhouse and orchard ground the business has grown into a much larger orchard operation. The start of our agritourism business began in 1910 when we opened a farm stand. Now, 100 years later we are looking to expand our retail with a brand new country store and doubling the size of our restaurant to 400 seats. In fact, our local Public Television Station KETC ”LIving St. Louis” program just produced a video on the farm now posted on You Tube.
The goal of Eckert Farms is to “create family memories” and to preserve the family traditions that customers have come to count on over the years. It is not easy today for family farms to succeed but with sound marketing ”agritourism” farms are thriving across North America and beyond.
To assist you in your search for agritourism farms just go to RuralBounty.com
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