Fall agritourism is getting underway across Oklahoma, with dozens of farms preparing pumpkin patches, mazes, and other activities for visitors. Whitney Hinrichsen, agritourism coordinator for the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food, and Forestry, said in a conversation with associate farm reporter Carli Davenport that about 42 fall venues are part of the state’s agritourism program this year.
“We have about 42 fall venues across the state,” Hinrichsen said. “For the agritourism program, that is pumpkin patches or mazes could be one or both, and all of these pumpkin patches or mazes are located on family or privately owned farm property.”
Fall Activities Bring Families to Oklahoma Farms
The farms offer more than seasonal entertainment, with many providing opportunities for children and families to learn about agriculture while visiting. “A lot of our pumpkin patches and mazes will offer some big things throughout the year, so they’ll be open to the general public, and they’ll also offer a lot of field trips or education opportunities for kiddos,” Hinrichsen said.
Those educational opportunities can include public and private school groups, homeschool groups, and other field trips. Hinrichsen said birthday parties have also become popular at farms, particularly for children with fall birthdays.
Activities can vary from farm to farm and may include wagon rides, corn mazes, hay mazes, slides and games. “There’s lots of fun slides and games and educational opportunities to learn about animals on the farm, maybe how the pumpkins are grown, and maybe see a little bit about where their food comes from,” Hinrichsen said.
Slides, Hay Mazes and Corn Pits Popular With Visitors
While Hinrichsen is preparing to begin visiting farms for the season, she said some activities consistently draw visitors. “Typically slides are really popular,” Hinrichsen said. “There’s a bunch of different versions of slides on the farms. They can be made out of pretty much anything.”
Hay mazes are another popular attraction, along with corn pits. “Hay mazes are always a big popular thing,” she said. “Trying to think, corn pit is one of the most popular activities. Kids really like that.”
Hinrichsen described a corn pit as similar to a sandbox, except that it is filled with corn instead of sand. “It’s just a big, almost like a sandbox, but instead of sand, it’s corn, and kids love it,” she said. “I see them as big as whole barns, even.”
Agritourism Provides a Look at Where Food Comes From
While fall activities provide entertainment for families, Hinrichsen said many participating farms also focus on helping visitors understand agriculture and where their food comes from. “A lot of our farms, they’re really passionate about telling people where their food comes from or what the activity entails,” Hinrichsen said.
Some farms have petting areas featuring animals such as alpacas, sheep, pigs, cattle, and goats. Those experiences can provide opportunities for farmers and farm staff to explain what those animals produce and their role in agriculture. “A lot of the farms will have a petting farm on the property, so they may have alpacas or sheep or pigs or cattle, goats,” Hinrichsen said. “Those farms are really great about either telling the story about what those animals produce or where they came from.”
Other farms use signs to connect the animals visitors see with the food they eat. “Some of them may just have signage up that says chickens produce your eggs or the meat in your hamburger comes from the cattle,” Hinrichsen said.
Some farms take that education a step further with guided tours. “We have some really great farms that will give a guided voiceover hay or hay wagon tour,” she said. “They’ll talk about the property as they drive through it and kind of explain what uses each of those pieces of the property have.”
Educational activities can also include story time and lessons during school visits. “Some of the farms will have maybe like a story time or a lesson, and we’ll sit down with the kiddos during a field trip and read an accurate ag book,” Hinrichsen said. Hinrichsen said many of the farms work with Oklahoma Ag in the Classroom to obtain agricultural education books for those activities.
Finding Oklahoma Agritourism Destinations
Families looking for a fall agritourism destination can use the Oklahoma Agritourism website to search for farms based on the activities they offer and their location. “On our website, Oklahoma Agritourism, you can sort by activities and you can click on either maze or pumpkin, and it will show you all the farms in those specific categories,” Hinrichsen said.
Visitors using a computer can also view a map showing where the participating farms are located. The site allows users to narrow their search by region as well. “You can also sort it by click maze and say you’re located in Central Oklahoma,” Hinrichsen said. “Click Central and Maze, and it will show you all the maze farms in Central Oklahoma.”
For families looking to make the most of their visit, Hinrichsen has one simple recommendation: participate in the activities together. “I would say visit a pumpkin patch or maze in your area, and then while you’re there, everyone in the family should go down the slide,” Hinrichsen said. “That’s my favorite thing.”
She said the slides are designed for both children and adults, making them an activity the entire family can enjoy. “I think it’s fun to see a family do an activity together rather than mom and dad kind of sitting off to the side,” Hinrichsen said. “I think it’s more memorable for everyone to participate.”
