The Changing Face of Agri-tourism

BY LILIAN SCHAER

Today, it’s more complex than that, with the most successful agri-tourism operations offering festivals, food service, corporate events, birthday parties and even weddings to make their farms a memorable destination for visitors.

Brooks Farms near Uxbridge has developed a thriving agri-tourism enterprise alongside its traditional agricultural production that Kelly Brooks notes has become an essential part of the farm business.

“We think our farm is about 50-50 production and agritourism but what’s important is that we need both to survive,” she says. “One doesn’t survive on its own; if we lose a season of apples, we can help make up for that with a festival.”

Currently, the farm produces maple syrup, asparagus, strawberries, raspberries, peas, potatoes, apples, pumpkins, and squash. Most of the crops are sold via the on-farm market, with some also available as pickyour-own.

Her husband Paul started the farm down the agritourism path in the late 90s after graduating from university, but that part of the business didn’t begin to grow in earnest until Kelly joined the farm fulltime in 2007 and set about putting her costuming, merchandising, and marketing background to work. Since then, growth has been steady, with the farm now hiring upwards of 70 seasonal employees during peak times.

Alongside a farm market, bakery and café, Brooks Farms runs a large educational program during maple syrup season, an Easter egg hunt, a summer fun festival, and a fall fun festival, as well as offering birthday parties, corporate events and school tours.

The latest addition is the Brooks Farms After Dark night festival where the farm is transformed into a scary Halloween town complete with live entertainment, zombie graveyard and creepy corn maze.

“We are a destination farm; it’s very unlikely that you will drive past us by chance. Most of our customers will plan their days and drive 45 minutes to an hour to get here from Oshawa, Toronto or Mississauga,” she says.

In December 2019, the farm suffered a tragic loss when their heritage barn, which held all their equipment and signage, burned to the ground. Although devastating at the time, the Brooks’ have now rebuilt a beautiful two-story barn that will serve as an event facility.

“We’ve been rebuilding into something better, like a phoenix rising from the ashes, that will be a stunning event space. We hope to add a liquor license and grow a corporate business,” she says, adding that she’d also like to get day and summer camps up and running.

Longer term, she and Paul would love to regain some of their privacy by moving the family off the farm –which could also open up new opportunities for farm stays or weddings on the farm.

At Thatcher Farms near Rockwood, agri-tourism began as an idea during former school teacher Dana Thatcher’s first maternity leave.

“My husband was raising hogs and we had a hay and straw business. Teachers were interested in seeing what I brought for lunch, which was often meat we raised and things we made from scratch,” she recalls. “I thought, wouldn’t it be cool to welcome people onto our property and show them what we do?”

It all started with a freezer in their wood shed that soon led to an on-farm butcher shop, thanks to a grant from Beef Farmers of Ontario. Today, Thatcher Farms also includes an on-farm store and bakery selling baked goods and ready-made meals alongside beef, pork, lamb, chicken and turkey.

About eight years ago, the Thatchers added you-pick strawberries, a corn maze, and a farm fun yard – and in 2019, began construction on a rustic on-farm wedding venue called Barn Swallow Fields that finally saw its first wedding in August 2022.

“We are trying to craft an experience for people to come, enjoy the property, and see animals and how we live,” she says. “We have 30 weddings booked for next year so the wedding venue is taking on its own life that will quickly overshadow the market, although we’re not giving up the market.”

In their early days, all the meat was raised on the farm, but as the business grew, the Thatchers began working with other producers to meet their needs – they didn’t have their own chicken quota, for example. The growth of the wedding venue has also meant an end to hog production on the farm to avoid flies and manure.

“My husband still farms full time, but I’ve been pulled away from farming to run the market and the venue, but we’re the perfect team: I have crazy ideas and he helps execute, he’s always building or fixing something,” she says, adding her focus now that construction is behind them is creating a seamless event process on the farm.

Her future vision includes running family functions for corporations or offering events and experiences aimed at young girls and women.