Buzzword or strategy?

As dire as that may sound, Fletcher homes in on a key question about Rappahannock’s ability to maintain its unique feel. The vision conveyed in the county’s comprehensive plan of an agricultural showpiece is based on keeping the community’s larger farms intact. With many farmers struggling financially, that’s becoming more difficult.

“My grandfather was born on Red Oak Mountain,” said Kathy Flaherty Grove, who moved to Woodville with her husband, Larry, in 2004 after a career as an administrator with Arlington Public Schools. “I have a real desire to keep farms together. But I do think it’s unrealistic to think that the people who live on family farms are going to be able to keep that acreage together without some outside income.”

More often these days, those options come through agritourism, a term that covers a lot of ground — from farm weddings to “pickyour-own” operations to corn mazes. It’s even swelled to include wineries and farm breweries. Skeptics are dubious that many farmers approaching or already past retirement age will be eager to plunge into a new business — particularly one that might require them to spend time socializing with strangers. They also point out that it may not make much sense to take on new challenges to save a farm when there are no longer children or grandchildren around to take it over. Agritourism, they say, is more marketing buzzword than survival strategy.

But there are salvation stories. Take Susan Sink. Back in 1980, she and her husband, Henry, bought a dairy farm in Christiansburg, Va. The plan was to run it like the one on which Henry had grown up. But a string of “horrible” droughts wiped out their corn and hay crops, and they ended up spending way more than anticipated on feed. Three times, she said, they thought they might lose everything.

So, they started looking for other ways to make money. They created a “pick your own” strawberry patch, sold Christmas trees, and then, in 1991, switched to pumpkins. Today, Sinkland Farms hosts one of the biggest pumpkin festivals in Virginia. During its five weekends last fall, it drew more than 30,000 people, according to Susan Sink, who said other businesses in the area tell her October is usually their best month, thanks to the tourists coming to the festival.

Henry died in an accident in 2007, but Susan persevered, continuing to add new revenue streams. Last year, 30 weddings were held at Sinkland and, in November, it opened a brewery. At her accountant’s advice, she sold off the herd; now, more than 95 percent of the farm’s revenue comes from tourism.

Sink has had some distinct advantages, none more so than an enviable location a few miles from I-81, between Radford University and Virginia Tech. Spending by domestic travelers increased in local counties between 2012 and 2016.

Domestic travel expenditures,

Nelson Fauquier Warren Page Orange Culpeper Madison It’s also helped that she’s always had an “off the farm” job as an administrator at Radford.

It’s all taught her the value of staying open to fresh possibilities. “Agritourism enabled us to keep our land and our farm and our home,” she said. “When you think everything may go up on the auction block, you start being very entrepreneurial.” Casanova, not far from Route 28 in Fauquier County.

Kevin and Melody Powers, both in their 30s, had always wanted to build a brewery on their small farm — they’d been home brewing for years. Melody, who grew up on a farm in Pennsylvania, raised herbs, tomatoes, squash, greens and hops, while Kevin kept working as an accountant in D.C. Their farm income came mainly from selling produce through a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program, where consumers can sign up and buy food directly from a farm.

Their customer base grew steadily — they now provide seasonal produce to about 75 families — but they knew that if they ever were going to have a brewery, they needed to go all in. Kevin quit his accounting job at the end of 2015, and a year and a half later, they were serving custom brews in their own farm taproom.

Kevin Powers said he doesn’t really think of it as agritourism since most of the brewery’s customers are locals. He sees it more as a way to add another productive component to the farm.

“You can grow hops and sell them. But if you use them in your own beer, you add more value to the product, and that’s more sustainable,” he said.

“The brewery allows us to use this agricultural land, take care of the soil, grow nice crops,” Powers added. “Yes, we can sell tomatoes, but we can also take some of that tomato crop and make an interesting heirloom Belgian ale. For us, that’s like an opportunity for the farm to express itself and be known in a different way.”