Farm and Civic Groups Issue Joint Statement Calling for Ag-Centered Agritourism
As state and Montgomery County officials explore possible new definitions of and regulations on agritourism, four groups representing farmers and county residents call for support of agriculture itself to be clearly prioritized as interest grows in non-farm activities in the County’s highly praised Agriculture Reserve.
The group statement from the MoCo Farm Bureau, Montgomery Ag Producers, MCA and Sugarloaf Citizens Association comes as two key Montgomery County Council committees (Econ and PHP) meet on November 12 for briefing and discussion about this issue. The Council’s discussion is, in part, prompted by a detailed 36-page state report issued in October (Statewide Guidance and Analysis: Maryland’s Value-Added Agriculture and Agritourism) that probed emerging challenges to and opportunities for farm operations.
Landowners and farmers statewide have been enhancing revenue for years by building new markets for their products and new activities on their farms. In Montgomery County’s 93,000-acre Ag Reserve, hundreds of thousands of visitors flock every year to farms to buy fresh local produce; attend harvest festivals, educational tours, and equestrian events. Agritourism builds greater understanding about how food is produced and why it is important to support a strong local food system.
Promoting competition for land from distinctly non-agricultural commercial uses does not support the Ag Reserve and the local agricultural economy. Rather, it undermines it, the groups say.
As state and Montgomery County officials explore possible new definitions of and regulations on agritourism, four groups representing farmers and county residents call for support of agriculture itself to be clearly prioritized as interest grows in non-farm activities in the County’s highly praised Agriculture Reserve.
The group statement from the MoCo Farm Bureau, Montgomery Ag Producers, MCA and Sugarloaf Citizens Association comes as two key Montgomery County Council committees (Econ and PHP) meet on November 12 for briefing and discussion about this issue. The Council’s discussion is, in part, prompted by a detailed 36-page state report issued in October (Statewide Guidance and Analysis: Maryland’s Value-Added Agriculture and Agritourism) that probed emerging challenges to and opportunities for farm operations.
Landowners and farmers statewide have been enhancing revenue for years by building new markets for their products and new activities on their farms. In Montgomery County’s 93,000-acre Ag Reserve, hundreds of thousands of visitors flock every year to farms to buy fresh local produce; attend harvest festivals, educational tours, and equestrian events. Agritourism builds greater understanding about how food is produced and why it is important to support a strong local food system.
Promoting competition for land from distinctly non-agricultural commercial uses does not support the Ag Reserve and the local agricultural economy. Rather, it undermines it, the groups say.
