Mainebiz

V O L . X X X N O. X I I M AY 2 7 , 2 0 2 4 12 L O C A L LY G ROW N D own a sloping hill in Gray behind a weatherworn farmhouse built in 1901, more than a dozen goats are scurrying around their pen like children at a playground. Nearly all have beards and rounded horns, making it hard to tell males and females apart. One pair playfully locks horns as others climb on boulders or munch on a pine branch. Taking it all in from the back of the pack is a wooly furball named Philip, a 7-year-old Romney sheep awaiting his annual haircut. e whole herd — mostly French Alpine dairy goats — are the main attraction at Ten Apple Farm, where Margaret Hathaway and Karl Schatz offer guided goat hikes on the 18-acre wooded property they and their three daughters call home. For short overnight stays, they rent out a three-bedroom Cape house touted on Airbnb as a "great goat getaway in southern Maine." "We started the diversified home- stead just as a lifestyle, and as it become sort of an example farm for people, we leaned into that," Hathaway says while sipping herbal tea at the family's clut- tered dining room table, one chair still decorated from her daughter's 16 th birth- day celebration the day before. "Instead of selling people something, we're selling them information…" "Providing an experience," adds her husband. Like many farms across Maine, Ten Apple Farm has found its niche in agritourism, broadly defined as any commercial activity that brings visitors to a farm or ranch. After honeymoon- ing at an agriturismo in Italy's north- western Piedmont region, the couple spent a year visiting goat farms across the U.S. with plans to raise their own. Over time, goat hikes with friends in Gray evolved into a business that boomed during the pandemic and has been going strong ever since. Schatz notes that while the tourism part of agritourism is new to some farm- ers, others start with hosting in mind. Regardless of the path, "you can't get into agritourism not knowing about agricul- ture, and you can't get into agritourism not knowing about hospitality." Business boom Nationwide, 28,617 agricultural busi- nesses earned an income from agritour- ism or recreational services in 2022, according to the latest census by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. While the number is little changed from 28,575 in 2017, the average gross income per farm from those activities went up 32% from $33,222 in 2017 to $44,004 in 2022. In Maine, out of 7,036 total farms and ranches counted in the 2022 census, 241 or 3.4% of the total earn money from agritourism. at puts Maine among the top 10 states in terms of the proportion of farms active in agritourism, and well above the 1.4% U.S. average. While the number of Maine farms engaged in agritourism was little changed from 2017, income from those activities nearly doubled in Maine, from $6.6 million in 2017 to $12.2 mil- lion in 2022. e increase comes as the number of farms and farmland continues to dwindle. But the numbers reflect only part of the picture, since the USDA's tally excludes direct farm sales such as pick-your-own produce or wine pur- chased after a complimentary vineyard tour, as noted in a May report by the Northeast Regional Center for Rural Development. Instead, those and recreation-related activities are counted among $172.6 million in Maine agricul- tural products sold in 2022 directly to consumers, institutions, retailers, restau- rants and food hubs. "e business landscape for Maine agriculture is changing rapidly," says Jason Entsminger, an assistant professor at the University of Maine and adviser to small businesses. "Lots of people sought to recon- nect with traditional, slow-food ways, P H O T O / J I M N E U G E R F O C U S Karl Schatz and Margaret Hathaway, owners of Ten Apple Farm in Gray. They are holding 2-week-olds Sorrel (left), a male, and Rhubarb, a female. B y R e n e e C o r d e s From goat hikes to flower festivals, Maine agritourism is thriving

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