Experience New Hampshire Agriculture

There are many ways to experience New Hampshire agriculture.

New Hampshire agriculture is ever changing. Today's industry is quite diverse, encompassing many crop, livestock and specialty products. Agritourism has become an integral part of many farm operations and visits to New Hampshire by agriculture-related tourists has grown.

Farming activity provides the fields, pastures and meadows that buffer New Hampshire's residential and commercial development and affords the views of the hills, valleys and mountains. Without land kept open by farming, there would be no greenbelts around our towns and cities and without farming, there would be no barns, silos, or sugar houses that give our state its special character.

Some 4,100 individual operations qualify as commercial farms in New Hampshire, managing 425,000 acres including crop, pasture, maple and Christmas tree production, conservation and other agricultural uses. The state's farms produce a wide variety of conventional bulk commodity crops, with milk and apples being the most significant. New Hampshire farms produce many specialty and horticultural crops for markets both within and beyond the state.

There are many ways to experience New Hampshire Agriculture including visiting one of a dozen fairs around the state; go right to the farm and pick your own apples, berries, flowers, cut your own Christmas tree, (while you're there, have a picnic, go hiking, enjoy horse drawn hayride, cross country ski or snowshoe) take in a harvest festival, go to an open barn event, visit a farm at milking time; visit one of over 70 community farmers' markets in New Hampshire (including 25 winter markets operating from December through May), go to a New Hampshire Growers Dinner which is an all New Hampshire food menu - or visit one of the new Certified Local restaurants from the restaurant certification program.

For help finding ways to experience New Hampshire Agriculture, visit our selection of farm publications and directories. Also, find us on social media channels: visit our Facebook page for event and activity information: Twitter; Instagram (nhagriculture); You Tube; and Pinterest.

Experience New Hampshire Agritourism.

Agritourism by the Numbers

The national Census of Agriculture, conducted every 5 years by the US Dept. of Agriculture, has collected information about agritourism on farms across the country since 2002. The numbers of farms with agritourism activities and income generated from agritourism for New Hampshire is as follows:

• 2002 16 farms; $265,000 agritourism income reported
• 2007 88 farms; $2.3 million income reported
• 2012 190 farms; $3.8 million income reported
• 2017 136 farms; $4.0 million income reported

Agritourism Planning for Farmers

For farms considering adding activities and events to their operations, we encourage you to make thorough plans and consider impacts like parking and traffic flow, insurance needs for the activity and safety for you and your employees, as well as visitors to the farm. Following are some resources to help you in this process.

• Agritourism Safety Guidelines
• Requirements for Carnivals, Festivals and Fairs – NH Dept. of Safety
• Corn Maze Venue Best Practices – NH Sept. of Safety
• Hayride Safety Recommendations
• NH definition of agriculture/farming (including agritourism)