BUFFALO, W.Va. — Brad Gritt’s memories of growing up on a farm remain fresh as spring corn.
He and his brother and his cousins were kicked out of their home by 9 a.m., sent out to roam the fields and burn their energy off.
A few years ago, when the Gritt family farm was evolving yet again, Gritt drew on those memories.
“We wanted to create a place and an opportunity for families to spend their time together on the farm, something I got to do as a kid,” said Gritt, general manager of the farm that has carried his family’s name since 1927.
“I really wanted to create that atmosphere and environment for other families to enjoy the things I got to do as a kid.”
So around 2012, Gritt’s started the evolution that a lot of West Virginia farms are now trying. It became not just a grower of produce, flowers and cattle — but now a family destination.
Fall visitors to Gritt’s may pick their own pumpkins, get lost in a corn maze, slide down a hill, shoot an apple into the sky or bury their bodies in a corn bin.
“We try to build all our attractions in a way that’s family friendly to where a dad can do the same things the little boy is doing,” Gritt said. “Everyone can have the same good time. It’s not just the kids getting to do it while the parent stands there and watches.”
This is an approach that more and more West Virginia farms are trying, with growing success. Some are involved with “agritourism,” which can be going to a farm and learning about history or agriculture. Others focus on “agritainment,” which may mean buying mums and hanging around for a hay ride.
“The tractor races are not traditional agriculture, but it’s a way of engaging folks and keeping them on the farm longer,” said Cindy Martel, marketing specialist for the state Department of Agriculture.
At least 130 family operations in West Virginia are now engaged in activities that qualify as “agritourism,” according to research by the agriculture department, West Virginia University Extension Service and West Virginia State University.
The 2016 study, which isn’t quite in its final form yet, showed visitors going to West Virginia farms for fun are spending about $8.6 million altogether. Total economic contributions, including indirect spending, amounted to $11.4 million.
Visitors are about half-and-half — 53 percent in-state and 47 percent out-of-state.
Related employment amounted to 219 full-time jobs.
In other words, results good enough to crow about.
“There was a significant impact,” Martel said. “It doesn’t approach what the state’s overall tourism impact is, but it’s a great start to know the impact the agritourism makes on the state economy.”
One challenge for those studying the agritourism sector is that it’s hard to measure the impact of some areas related to rural economies. For instance, with fairs and festivals, separating whether people have come for agriculture-related fun or for carnival rides.
This weekend’s popular Buckwheat Festival in Preston County is an example.
“Our problem is, how do you separate the direct agriculture impact from the gate or the receipts at the carnival,” Martel said. “We have to find a way to isolate that. This study only talks about on-farm activities.”
The study does delve into some ways West Virginia’s burgeoning agritourism could be supported.
Destinations would benefit from improved cell phone and internet coverage, for example. Farms also need help with writing grants, securing loans, finding interns and employees and with their taxes and liabilities.
“As we look down the road, it helps us find the group of people who are doing this and getting together and resolving land use issues, food safety issues, liability issues, doing some cooperative marketing, all those kinds of things,” Martel said.
Another step to success is mapping out what similar attractions are nearby so families can be steered toward more fun not far away.
“We have to be able to cluster things together in terms of geography,” Martel said. “We try to promote how we can be cooperative.”
Gritt’s Farm spends much of the year farming in very traditional ways. In the winter, when other activities slow down, calves are born and need attention. In spring and summer, corn, tomatoes, cucumbers and lettuce are sold.
In fall, you can buy pumpkins and mums. But thousands of people also show up on weekends for a fun farm experience.
“We’ve never been in just one thing,” Brad Gritt said. “We’ve always tried to be a really diverse farm.”
The farm began in 1927 with his great grandparents, Vito and Nelly Gritt, Italian immigrants. On the first incarnation of the farm in Buffalo, they raised cows and produce. They grew enough to feed themselves and sold some milk and vegetables for income.
The next generation, led by Brad’s grandfather Lee, invested in 10,000 laying hens and had egg routes all over the valley. Corn and pigs were also introduced.
In the early 1980s, spearheaded by Brad’s father Bob, Gritt’s started into the greenhouse business and experimented with hydroponic tomatoes. About that same time, the Gritts got into burley tobacco but found that market drying up.
Now the Gritts build on tradition while experimenting with new experiences. At least once a year, they head to conferences with like-minded farmers with the North American Farm Direct Marketing Association. Sometimes they hit upon an idea that sticks.
“You have to be on that edge of finding new ways and never getting complacent,” Brad Gritt said.