Agritourism attraction

We were riveted on the action before us as we joined other people sitting on bleachers. Two Holstein cows sat on clean straw on the other side of a glass partition. As we watched one seemed to effortlessly birth a calf, while the other struggled. An attendant knelt beside her and gently helped ease her calf out.

We were in the Birthing Barn at Indiana’s Fair Oaks Farms. Farms? Well, it is a few farms with real life cows, pigs, crops and seasonal adventures like apple picking and ice skating. Few farms feature delicious dining, climbing walls, events and exhibits interspersed with exhibits of agriculture.

Fair Oaks Farms is one of them. A museum of sorts, but visitors experience adventures that connects them with food.

Shortly after watching calves being born, we walked a short distance to Pork Adventure. It is all about pigs, their history, and products made from them. We thought we had a good working knowledge about the animal but learned there’s more to pigs than chops and bacon. In the same building we watched kids test their courage and skill on a three-story ropes course, safely belayed and supervised by staff.

Coming this summer is a climbing wall shaped like a giant milk jug outside Dairy Adventure, a building devoted to linking visitors with the cows and their milk we enjoy with nearly every meal.

At Winfield Crop Adventure visitors burrow deep underground to see bugs and roots, and catch virtual raindrops. Mooville features a Dairy Air Jumping Pillow, the Moo Choo Train and Toddler Tractors. There’s even a Cowbunga Bungee Jump. It’s great fun for kids and adults.

Pig, Dairy and Crop adventures combine the fun with education. After touring them, visitors can delve deeper into agriculture by boarding a shuttle bus for a short drive to an active modern dairy where cows are robotically milked on a revolving carousel. Other shuttles take people to see pigs being raised.

Throughout the year, seasonal activities augment exhibits. Families can pick apples or pumpkins in autumn, see cows being milked, peer into a sonogram to see pig embryos within their pregnant mother, and let their dog ramble at the dog park, called Central Bark.

How did all this come about? In 2004 dairy farmers Sue and Mike McCloskey, with the help of others, opened Fair Oaks Farms with the goal of providing joy and enrichment by reconnecting people with the land. They began with what today is called Dairy Adventure. Later Pork and Crop adventures were added.

Fair Oaks Farms is agritourism. A visit is not a trip back to the nostalgic family farm of a century ago. It’s a well-crafted, creative experience helping visitors learn how pork, dairy products and crops are produced by today’s modern agriculture.

“It’s more than just a live working farm, it’s a destination. We hold special events throughout the year as well,” said Jacqueline McCloskey, special event manager. “Over the years, we’ve expanded and added new things like an apple orchard. Come September and October apple picking is a family activity and tradition. There are also other fruits, sunflowers and pumpkins. We host winter events like Princess Weekend, where kids and parents can participate with princess characters from different parts of the farm. We sponsor special wine and bourbon dinners on weekends and each spring celebrate Easter and music on the porch,” she added.

After watching kids maneuver across the ropes course, we were hungry. Instead of walking to the nearby Farmhouse restaurant we opted for sandwiches at the Cowfe Cafe for lunch and ice cream cones. While eating we could see cheese curds, yogurt, and ice cream being made past a glass wall. It’s hard to find food that’s more “local.”

Fair Oaks Farms is located adjacent to Interstate 65 about 72 miles south of Chicago and 114 miles north of Indianapolis. It’s about 300 miles from Cedar Rapids. A visit could be added to a trip to either big city without putting many extra miles on the car. Overnight visitors can stay in a farm-themed Fairfield Hotel by Marriott near the Farm House Restaurant.

Although Fair Oaks Farms is an intriguing and diverse place to visit, it is more.

“It is an agritourism and hospitality business set in rural Indiana that has both nonprofit and for-profit features,” said McCloskey. “Our visitors experience real working farms and learn what it takes to produce food on a large scale. Education is meant to be fun and entertaining for people of all ages.”

A visit certainly creates pleasant memories.

Fair Oaks Farms is a stellar example of agritourism but it’s hardly alone. Plenty abound in Iowa and around the world. Bass Farms and Big Apple Orchard, just east of Cedar Rapids on Highway 30, Kroul Farms on Iowa Highway 1 south of Mount Vernon, and Wilson's Orchard near Iowa City are just a few examples. All are fun to visit and offer food and memorable experiences, but, unlike Fair Oaks Farms, they are seasonal.

Iowa may be America’s No. 1 farm state but only 4.5 percent of its residents farm, compared to 1.3 percent nationally. Our state’s migration from rural to urban areas continues with many young Iowans as urban as if they grew up in a New Jersey or California suburb. They are far removed from food production. Only 38 percent of today’s Iowans under age 35 have ever lived on a farm. That compares with 60 percent of those over age 60. Agritourism is a powerful tool to connect people with the plants and animals that feed us.

“With fewer Iowans growing up on farms or having a close connection to one, we think it’s important to give people access so that they have an opportunity to learn more about an orchard by picking their own apples and, hopefully, creating good memories with their friends and family,” said Monte Marti, who co-owns the Big Apple Orchard with his wife, Mollie.

As Americans continue to urbanize, visiting an agritourism site is often the only way today’s children can learn that food doesn’t really come from the grocery store. Special farms that welcome visitors are as fun as they are educational.