Conference seeks to educate farmers, entrepreneurs on using the area's agriculture as a tourism draw

SIKESTON, Mo. -- A conference on Feb. 28 in Sikeston will seek to educate farmers and entrepreneurs in the area on how to beef up the local economy through agritourism.

The third annual Agriculture Tourism Conference will take place at 5 p.m. at the Clinton Building. Speakers Dr. Beth Barham from the University of Missouri and Missouri tourism director John Robinson will encourage local farmers and businesspeople to think of creative ways to bring more tourism dollars to Southeast Missouri.

Agritourism is essentially a way to bring people to rural areas and farms for a variety of activities, said Van Ayers with the Stoddard County office of the University of Missouri Extension.

"It creates jobs," said Ayers. He added that job creation is something that can be done using local resources.

The area's rural and agricultural resources can be used as a tourism draw, not only bringing in local residents to businesses and events but also attracting urban populations for which rural lifestyles are a novelty, said Ayers.

Examples include Begg's Family Farm's fall corn maze, duck hunting operations in Scott County and the annual Tour de Corn bicycle race in East Prairie, Mo., Ayers said.

Barham will discuss the Missouri Regional Cuisines project, which seeks to market regional agricultural products and food businesses using regional labeling. A six-county area in Southeast Missouri is one of the pilot sites for the project.

"We have 200 locations to visit in the six counties, and many are local restaurants and shops and farmers markets, or on farm places you can go to purchase products," Barham said.

Robinson's talk will dovetail with Barham's by addressing the importance of marketing, but will also talk more broadly about the agritourism concept and how it applies to Southeast Missouri -- an area with a wealth of farm and natural resources.

Robinson's agency can offer help in marketing through promotion on its Web site, which is expected to get 2.5 million visits this year, he said.

Agritourism is in its infancy in Missouri, so no economic impact studies have been completed yet, said Robinson, but the Missouri Department of Agriculture should have one finished by April or May.

Ayers said flat commodity prices coupled with rising energy costs makes pulling in tourism dollars to the agriculture-heavy local economy even more important. Locals can use resources already present in the area to accomplish that goal, he said.

High gas prices also mean people are traveling shorter distances for recreational opportunities, so residents of the area are looking for recreation locally, Ayers said. Agritourism can help fill the demand, he said.

"Most people, when they think about agriculture, think about agricultural production, but there's a profit to be made here," Ayers said.

The conference is open to anyone interested in attending. To register, call the Stoddard County extension office at (573) 568-3344 by Tuesday.

msanders@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 182