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.

Lead by a growing committee of Horticulture and Agriculture Council representatives and outside volunteers, as well as Extension staff, this year’s tour 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. Facebook reach during the month leading up to the event included more than 22,000 people through post likes, shares, tags and comments!  Throughout the day of the Tour, participants, including Louisville Family Fun and Shelby Family Fun, posted pictures and comments highlighting their adventures.  More than 4,500 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 75% 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.  97% of respondents strongly agreed or agreed that they increased their knowledge about agriculture in Shelby County and 93% indicated that their views about agriculture changed in a positive way due to the Farm Tour.  

Additionally, host farms offering products for sale were able to increase their income during the Farm Tour and attract future customers.  96% of survey respondents indicated that they plan to seek our more information about locally produced food, fiber and crafts.

Participants reflected 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.