This article originally ran in the Ruston Daily Leader on October 4, 2011.

Agritourism is growing in Louisiana and many farmers are diversifying their operations to include education and entertainment for visitors. Farmers have always shown their farming operations to guests visiting their farms, but today farmers are charging for these services.

I recently found an article entitled, “101+ Ways to Grow Your Farm with Agritourism,” by the agritourism coach, Greg Clement. I want to share some of Clement’s ideas.

Clement suggests using farm crops as attractions. He suggests the popular corn maze as a seasonal opportunity. Corn Mazes America lists three mazes in Louisiana. These are professionally designed mazes. Farmers can contract with a franchise to create these mazes or, using today’s technology, they can cut their own mazes. Each type offers its own set of advantages.

Since Halloween and Thanksgiving are fast approaching, farmers who planted pumpkins back in July should have a crop ready for sale. Purchasing pumpkins on the roadside or off the farm are more appealing that selecting one from a box in a grocery store. To sell more pumpkins, make a display. Display the pumpkins with a hay bale, corn stalks or potted flowers for a welcoming look around a doorway. Pair the doorway display with a round bale of hay in your front yard. These bales have so many options for decorating. Last year at the state fair, I saw a pink round bale of hay decorated like a pig. They added ears, nose and eyes. For the more traditional Halloween look, paint the bale orange draw eyes, nose and mouth of a jack-o-lantern.

Farms are great places to have Halloween parties. Mothers of young children, school and church groups are always looking for new and fun ways to celebrate the fall season. Hay is a great option for creating a hay maze for children under five years of age. Square bales can be arranged in a variety of designs. Make a tunnel or a maze. Children love to crawl through spaces and would enjoy a tunnel. Combine that with a maze when they get out of the tunnel. Use signs to show the beginning and end of a trail. Young children have more fun if they can see over the bales.

Older youth enjoy becoming lost in a maze. Some haunted mazes are popular. Night time mazes are also becoming popular but do require more infrastructure than a maze that can be used in the daylight hours.

Two of my favorite places to visit are Curry Farms in Start and PaPa Simpson’s in Arcadia, La. Both these agritourism operations have hay slides. They stack square bales in a configuration to allow for climbing to the top where a regular plastic slide is attached to the hay bales. The challenge is in getting to the top so you can slide down the slide. Bales leading to the slide can be stacked in various ways to accommodate several sliders at once. Some farms also offer round bales stacked together to create a natural slide.

To search for farm fresh produce and agritourism venues, remember to use the new farmer to consumer online program, MarketMaker found at http://la.marketmaker.uiuc.edu/.

Try these easy, seasonal ideas to begin agritourism on your farm. For assistance contact LSU AgCenter’s agritourism coordinator, Dora Ann Hatch.