Local farmers, (Snohomish, WA) reap benefits of tourism business

SNOHOMISH — Bob Ricci began selling sweet corn from the side of Elliott Road at age 9, offering passers-by a 13-ear "baker’s dozen" for $1.

By Jane Hodges
Times Snohomish County bureau

At the time, the money didn’t help much with business on the family’s 500-acre dairy farm.

But it did prepare Ricci for a future in "agri-tainment." Now a 30-something farmer with children of his own, Ricci manages Bob’s Corn, which offers a two-mile corn maze, hayrides, a pumpkin patch, and a barn store that sells fresh produce and home-style foods such as applesauce and spiced peaches.

Two years ago, rather than pay fees to comply with new state Department of Ecology dairy regulations, Ricci converted the family farm into a tourist venue — one that makes its money solely from farm-related fun and food sales.

Since then, the farm has sold off 200 acres, and Ricci has traveled to Wisconsin to participate in seminars on corn-maze designs. Though he works a 40-hour week elsewhere to make ends meet, he said the farm-as-attraction brings in most of his income.

His is not the only farm in the so-called agri-tourism business. This year, Snohomish County’s Planning and Development Services Department counts 23 pumpkin patches, 11 corn mazes, eight farm-animal displays and five educational farm tours.

Bob Hilgenberg, a county senior planner, said there’s no official data on how much money farms make from agri-tainment ventures versus old-fashioned farming. But he said half of the 11 farms that offer corn mazes are former dairy farms, such as Ricci’s. At least one, he said, makes $400,000 a year from agri-tainment.

Hilgenberg said the trend among farmers isn’t unique to Snohomish County, and that the combination of low farm profits from dairy production and new regulations has caused many farmers to look for alternatives.

Snohomish County’s population growth also has squeezed farmland. Local farm acreage has declined from 180,000 acres during the 1950s to 60,000 acres.

Some farmers run agri-tainment ventures to keep their farms in the family. Keith Stocker and his wife, Janet, moved to Washington from California five years ago to keep Stocker Farms — which has been operating since the late 1800s — in business.

"October is to farming like Christmas is to the retailers," Keith Stocker said. "October is where you make it."

Stocker Farms runs a market from June to October, raises 11 acres of pumpkins a year, and grows vegetables and berries on 5 acres. For the Stockers, "pumpkins are just a part of it."

Hilgenberg and Ricci both said that as farmers have looked to tourist activities and festivals — such as Snohomish’s Festival of Pumpkins and Everett’s Cider in the City — for revenue, they’ve also collaborated more. Over the past two years, they’ve begun collaborating on marketing materials and co-sponsoring events.

"The farms down the road used to be competition during this time of year," Ricci said. "Now we work together."

He added that Snohomish farmers promoting the Festival of Pumpkins, which runs through Halloween, hope pumpkins will do for Snohomish what tulips have done for Mount Vernon.

Hilgenberg said the county and its tourism bureau are working on finding a way to use hotel-motel tax dollars to fund road signs pointing out farm attractions, an approach that may face hurdles because farm activities are seasonal.

"If we can get the message out there to people to visit farms and try their products, we can help them to be successful," Hilgenberg said. "They’re making a living doing this now."

Seattle Times free-lance reporter Lee Revere contributed to this report. Jane Hodges: 425-745-7813 or [email protected]

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