Laura Young
ECB Publishing, Inc.
The February 2025 meeting of the North American Farmers Direct Marketing Association (NAFDMA) took place in Lexington, Ky., and drew more than 800 people from across the United States as well as Scotland, Canada, Austria, Australia, Nova Scotia, the United Kingdom and more. Among them was Rose Murray of Monticello, the owner of Blue Sky Farm, a u-pick operation on the Ashville highway that specializes in organically grown blueberries and flowers for cutting. Murray attended not only in the interest of her own farm but also as a representative of the statewide board of the Florida Agritourism Association.
The conference included sessions on trends in agritourism, flower production, festivals/events; field trips to farms near the conference site; an exhibit area with more than 100 vendors; and roundtable discussions on a variety of subjects, such as retail display, succession planning for the family farm and many more.
Agritourism is an agricultural enterprise attracting visitors to a farm or ranch to experience a connection with agriculture production and/or processing through entertainment, education, and/or the purchase of farm products. Murray learned at the conference that agritourism activities are evolving.
“In some parts of the country farms are trading in their corn and sunflower mazes for tulip or lavender fields,” said Murray. “The corn pit is shifting to ball pits between hay bales. Hayrides are now used to control the flow of people. Cow/calf operations are shifting to direct to consumer beef sales.”
Agritourism activities like these are very popular for school field trips, she added. The conference also included a showcase of farm products that are trending, such as candles with floral scents, homegrown local products, vintage décor and “apocalyptic” staples (such as freeze-dried, canned and picked foods). More farms are now offering their sites for workshops as well as offering culinary experiences, such as cooking classes and take-home kits.
During a session on Flower Production, Festivals and Events, Murray learned about creating photo opportunities with mass plantings, such as staging photographs in the middle of a cut flower field. This session also offered new ideas for flower workshop topics, workshops for children, container gardening, holiday wreaths, pumpkin arrangements and generally how to make workshops more special. A future event for 2026 that interests Murray is Daffodil Days, which takes place each March to spread awareness about cancer and help people live longer and healthier lives.
While exploring among the more than 100 exhibitors at the conference, she took an interest in vendors with farming and kitchen equipment, rides/entertainment providers, wearable gear, plushies to sell, crop maze designers, playground builders, seed/bulb suppliers and more.
Outings that Murray participated took her to see operations at Stepping Stone Farm, which after eight generations converted to agritourism three years ago; the Buffalo Trace distillery, which gave insights into retail space, customer service and tastings; Mulberry Orchard, which has a farm store, commercial kitchen and partnership with the local school district; Devine's Corn Maze & Pumpkin Patch, which specializes in seasonal events.
Murray’s first opportunity to apply what she learned at the NAFDMA conference to her own operation will be the annual Mother's Day weekend workshop at Blue Sky Farm, May 10-11.
Next year's NAFDMA national conference will be held in Florida. In the meantime, Murray will continue to serve as board member for the Florida Agritourism Association. Currently, she serves as chair of the association's Conference Planning Committee.
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