As a means to bring awareness to the breadth and diversity of agriculture in Shelby County, as well as to bridge and strengthen the rural-urban interface, the Shelby County Horticulture and Agriculture Council implemented the Shelby County Good Neighbors Farm Tour for the sixth year.  This event also serves to promote Extension programming while connecting the community to local agriculture.

After a two year hiatus, Cooperative Extension staff and a growing committee of Horticulture and Agriculture Council representatives and outside volunteers brought back the tour this year and collaborated with nine farms and agribusinesses to provide unique learning experiences to the community at large. Each tour stop offered hands-on educational experiences.

A great deal of excitement and anticipation surrounded this year’s Farm Tour following the two year absence.  Social media “chatter” touted the Farm Tour as a must-do activity.  Comments were posted such as, “Looking forward to it! Always been one of our favorite Kentucky events!,” and “(name omitted), we are soooo doing this!”   Facebook reach during the 3 weeks leading up to the event included more than 18,000 people through post likes, shares, tags and comments!  Throughout the day of the Tour, participants, including Louisville Family Fun and Oldham Family Fun, posted pictures and comments highlighting their adventures.  More than 6,700 people interacted via Facebook during the day of the tour.

Participants were given the opportunity to provide feedback via an evaluation on the back of the Farm Tour Passport as well as via the Facebook page.  Input such as the following was common, “Great farm tour looking forward to next year” and “absolutely so much fun, thank you.”

More than 70% of survey respondents indicated that they participated in the farm tour to learn more about their farmer neighbors.  60% of respondents said their motivation was to learn about local food and where it comes from and to buy local products.

The Good Neighbors Farm Tour is beneficial to not only the attendees, but to the host farms, as well.   Hosts were surveyed following the event and when asked if they perceived any advantages to their farm/business from participating as a host farm, shared these comments:

1. Yes – education about the benefits of native plants
2. Yes – I had more customers for the fall produce and more awareness of farm’s produce
3. We loved it and enjoyed sharing our story.  Agriculture need to tell its story and we are the only ones who can tell it correctly
4. More interest in my farm tour program from this

Additionally, host farms offering products for sale were able to increase their income during the Farm Tour and attract future customers.  One farm sold $360 worth of native plants to benefit the Shelby County Master Gardeners Association.  Another sold around $650 in produce and said they have seen an increase in demand for their pumpkins and gourds.  Another farm had several follow-up calls about freezer beef.  Host Farms said they would be willing to participate again in the future, and made comments such as, “yes, we enjoy educating the public on farming/agriculture,” and “Absolutely.  I think we learned a lot and could focus our presentation a little better if we did it again.”

Comments such as these few examples indicate the enthusiasm being generated about local agriculture by the Farm Tour, within the agriculture community, as well as among consumers. By bringing non-farm citizens to the farm, relationships are built that will serve to strengthen agriculture's image and help to offset the many negative attacks being waged by anti-agricultural and animal rights groups. An intentional side-effect is increased awareness of Cooperative Extension in the community and building a new audience for Extension educational programs.