Jane Eckert Talks AgriTourism Today » Technology

Kentucky Farm Bureau visits Eckert’s Country Store

Jane — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 18:24:57 +0000

This past week, I was pleased to speak to 44 farmers from Kentucky on an ag tour through Indiana, Illinois and Missouri. Chris Eckert, 7^th 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.

Vote for America’s Favorite Farmers Market

Jane — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 17:57:18 +0000

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!

According to American Farmland Trust (AFT), the purpose of this contest is to re-connect local consumers to local farms, with the ultimate goal of keeping our nation’s farm and ranch land productive and healthy! Buying at the farmers market keeps money in the local community and helps farms and ranches remain economically viable. By voting, you’re helping support farms and communities across the nation. As American Farmland Trust says, “No Farms No Food™!”

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!

Eckert’s Celebrates 100 Years in Retail

Jane — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 16:16:11 +0000

I’m proud to tell you that our 7^th 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.