An Apple a Day Farm tour focuses on education
The Butler County Farm Tour on Saturday and Sunday offered visitors an opportunity to see how food is raised, grown and prepared to be eaten.
“These kids today, they have no idea where their food comes from,” said Harold Foertsch, co-owner of Har-Lo Farms in Jefferson Township. “We're showing them that it all starts here.”
Foertsch said he likes to participate in educational programs, such as the farm tour, to help teach children about the hard work that goes into the products they buy at the grocery store.
Organized for the first time by the Butler County Tourism and Convention Bureau, the tour featured 34 stops all over the county.
Sites ranged from dairy farms to farms specializing in fruits and vegetables to restaurants that get their ingredients from nearby farms. Alpaca farms, like Alpaca Palace in Center Township, also welcomed visitors.
Renee Ritenour, who owns and operates Alpaca Palace with her husband, Rick, said the event attracted hundreds of people interested in learning about the animals.
“It was really good. We had a lot of interested visitors,” Ritenour said. “We probably had hundreds of people tour the farm over the weekend.”
Though several farmers reported a light turnout mid-day Saturday due to rain and cool weather, the event continued Sunday with better weather.
Ritenour and Vick Cheeseman, who runs the Cheeseman Farm in Portersville, both said Saturday's poor weather failed to stop visitors.
“They weren't deterred by the weather,” Cheeseman said.
He estimated the farm tour drew about 75 visitors to his business — a working farm that also offers hay rides, a gift shop and a catering venue — each day.
Cheeseman said he and other farmers in the Portersville area believe the tour, which made broad changes this year and expanded its program, is on the right track. He said the new format prompted people to visit other attractions, such as the Portersville Steam Show.
He noted Saturday's rainy, cold weather gave him a chance to visit with people because the farm's regular customers weren't showing up.
“That wouldn't have been possible on a normal day,” Cheeseman said. “It (the farm tour) would have been much more interesting than a few years ago.”
At Chestnut Run Farm in Connoquenessing Township visitors got to learn about farming grains and raising dairy cows.Owner Steve Lesney displayed his heavy equipment, including tractors and machinery designed for tilling, planting and harvesting grains.“I've gotten questions about the equipment. People don't know what it is,” Lesney said.Chestnut Run sells a truckload of milk to Marburger Farm every other day. That milk is processed, bottled and sold in the area's grocery stores, Lesney said.Another dairy product that can be bought in the Butler area is frozen yogurt. That's why Erik Lingren, co-owner of Menchie's Frozen Yogurt in Butler Township, was giving away free samples at Chestnut Run.Despite a low turnout Saturday morning, the people who were taking the tour were enthusiastic, he said.“Farming is a profession that's been around a long time, so it's neat to see that families and people sharing that with their kids,” he said.Dyann Duffy Herrmann, who runs Horse on Course Equestrian Center in Valencia, said the tour attracted people from as far away as Cleveland.At the center, Herrmann said, Sunday's turnout vastly exceeded Saturday's and hit about 150 people — including visitors who work in agriculture but had never visited the equestrian center before.“I think it's a great event that highlights some of these agricultural businesses that people may not feel welcome to visit,” Herrmann said. “This weekend, it was an open-door policy that attracted people.”
At Metrick's Harvest View Farm in Connoquenessing Township, people not only got a chance to shop for produce, but also learned about farming and how products such as apple cider and honey are made.Owner Ken Metrick said he hopes the focus of the newly expanded farm tour remains on teaching people.“When the farm tour first got started there was a big emphasis on education. Educating people on agriculture,” he said.Fall is one of the busiest times of year for Metrick's because apples are in season. The farm has 25 acres planted with produce and about 300 apple trees. The apples are picked starting in September and different types come into season in September, October and November.Don Dambaugh, owner of Pine Hill Farms in Connoquenessing Township, said it was the first time his farm has been on the tour.He showed visitors examples of pine trees, how they are planted, trimmed and eventually cut down.His 40 acres are planted with six types of pine trees, which, once they have matured for 12 to 15 years, are sold as Christmas trees and used for holiday wreaths.“I thought it would be a good way to show people all the beautiful trees I have here,” he said about the tour.Har-Lo Farms, which grows potatoes, soy beans, grains and raises beef cattle, was one of many farms on the tour that are long-running family businesses.Foertsch said he has been working his land for almost 50 years and has two of his sons working with him full time.“This farm will stay a farm forever. There will be no homes built in this place,” Foertsch said.Agriculture remains a huge part of the county's economy, not only because people need food to eat, but also because the crops are used for other things, too.Some of the corn grown at Har-Lo is sent to Clearfield County where it is turned into ethanol, while soy is often processed and used in products such as ink.Erin Davis of Cranberry Township said her family, including three generations, were visiting several stops on the tour.Her two sons, ages 6 and 10, enjoyed getting to see some farm animals and do hands on activities at some of the stops, she said.“It's getting them to experience something that is not a part of their everyday lives. We're from the suburbs so this is quite new to them,” she said.Andrea Throm of Prospect said her two sons enjoyed seeing the turkeys at Jones Turkey Farm and playing in two feet of dry corn inside a corn bin at Har-Lo Farms.“Our littlest boy really likes the farm animals,” she said.
