Open Fields – The Blue Mountains Farm Tour
The Open Fields Farm Tour was developed in consultation with the Town’s Agricultural Advisory Committee as an opportunity to strengthen the relationship between local growers and the public. The tour was designed to teach the public about modern farming practices and the farm-to-table value chain through guided tours at five different locations. The different locations highlighted various aspects of the Town’s agricultural industry and provided engaging and interactive opportunities to learn about farming in The Blue Mountains. Each site offered different experiences including tours, workshops, and entertainment.
Through discussions with local farmers, many are finding it difficult to sustain themselves purely through agriculture and have had to introduce agri-tourism aspects to their businesses. This feedback has been especially common from first-generation farmers, who have increased start-up costs compared to second—or third-generation farmers. Open Fields is an opportunity for producers to see what potential agri-tourism or diversified on-farm uses could be for themselves or an opportunity to experience what other producers are doing and could be replicated on their own agriculturally zoned land.
Based on participant tracking, the sites had over 2,000 visitors throughout the day, with over half self-identifying as residents of Town of The Blue Mountains, and an additional 30% were from neighbouring municipalities. Many of the visitors also noted that they were farm owners or owners of agricultural land.
Feedback was overwhelmingly positive from both hosts and guests. Hosts appreciated the opportunity to share their passion and their lifestyle with interested guests, and guests appreciated the opportunity to learn about the agriculture operations that occur in their own backyard. A common refrain was that many had driven by the locations multiple times and had been interested in the operations and felt grateful to have a chance to learn. Many of the visitors were also new residents to the community and were experiencing a rural lifestyle for the first time.
While it is hard to measure KPIs for an event that features non-traditional locations, the host locations with a retail aspect or regular agri-tourism operations noted that sales and visitor traffic were 100% higher than a typical Saturday in October. The Town engaged with multiple partners for the event. The Town worked with its Agricultural Advisory Committee to help plan the event and set the priorities. The Town also engaged local producers to see who would be willing to be a host location for the event. Once the host locations were set, the Town worked with Grey County, a neighbouring municipality in Grey Highlands, The Blue Mountains Public Library, The Dairy Farmers of Ontario, and other regional groups. The Town also worked with the Province of Ontario to get the Rural Economic Development Grant funding with the ministry formerly known as OMAFRA.
The Open Fields initiative stands out due to its openness and ability for visitors to attend any of the sites in any order. Many farm tours are pre-scheduled and takes guests on a pre-planned tour that is very rigid and does not give visitors a chance to explore for themselves. Open Fields is an opportunity for people to take their time and visit any of the sites for however long they would like. It provides an authentic experience that visitors appreciate. It also incorporates many different locations throughout the day, when many farm tours focus entirely on one location. Being able to provide a breadth of options, from dairy, sheep, apple packing, apple orchards, and distilleries shines a wide lens on agriculture in The Blue Mountains and shows how much goes into the industry at all levels.
Videos showing the event: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6fsd6k9Vmgo
