Agritourism Farms Take Precautions During Fall Season. With fall’s arrival, many families will be looking to visit local farms for apple picking, pumpkin patches, corn mazes and other agritourism activities. As a result of COVID-19 things will look a little different this year on North Carolina agritourism farms, but the farms offering agritourism are ready to greet visitors.
“Farms that create educational, recreation and entertainment activities are ideal for families looking for fun,” said Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler. “Farms already offer plenty of room for social distancing in an outdoor setting. This year, farms that have diversified to include agritourism activities are taking additional measures to ensure that everyone has a safe experience on the farm in response to COVID-19.”
For some farms, such as Elodie Farm in Rougemont, this has meant limiting the number of visitors on the farm at one time. The historic tobacco farm turned goat dairy has plans to offer private sunset tours of the farm. They will also offer limited-seating farm dinners. In Banner Elk, Apple Hill Farm is taking a similar approach by offering small group tours of the working alpaca farm by reservation only.
Most apple orchards, pumpkin patches and corn mazes will not require reservations. Visitors will notice changes at these farms. Farms will include additional hand washing and hand sanitizer stations, increased signage promoting social distancing and face masks requirements for certain activities.
The department encourages those wishing to visit local farms this fall to continue to practice recommendations from public health officials. Wear a cloth mask over your nose and mouth. Wait six feet apart and avoid close contact. Wash your hands or use hand sanitizer. Visitors are encouraged to contact farms directly to learn about specific requirements or restrictions for each farm.
Families can start planning their next agritourism adventure with the help of the Visit NC Farms app. The free app is available for Apple and Android devices. The app offers over 800 listings from the mountains to the coast. Users can search by activity or location. More information is available at www.visitncfarmstoday.com. You can also find detailed agritourism activities in our Find Local Got To Be NC Directory.