DURHAM, Maine — Get acquainted with the phrase "agricultural tourism."
Agritourism, as it's called, comes in various forms, "from farm visits, tours, and local shopping, to cultural, recreational, and learning experiences," according to a website through the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation, and Forestry.
Though many farms have regular visiting hours each week, the state has promoted "open farm day" for more than 30 years. The celebration is held one day each year, and farms use it to welcome additional visitors, meet their neighbors, and sell products.
Seren Sinisi and her family own Old Crow Ranch in Durham.
We met them on Sunday, on Open Farm Day 2022, as Seren greeted customers in the farm's small shop, while husband Steve led tours around the property. Old Crow is a grass-based livestock farm where cattle, chickens, and pigs roam large, fenced-in fields and graze as they please.
"It's not commercial ag, it's not big ag; it's small scale," Seren explained. "It’s a chance for the customer to really believe in how their meat is raised."
For scores of Mainers, many summer days have been spent at a fair, where farmers bring their animals to show off and bring their goods to sell. The smell of fried dough hangs in the air.
At Old Crow, touring visitors got to see the cattle and stand within inches of the pigs. Seren sold floral bouquets and meat out of the shop. Grindstone BBQ and its owners, who live down the road from the ranch, slung smoked meat tacos as the tours passed by.
All that was missing was a rigged (allegedly) carnival game.
The Sinisis agreed, wholeheartedly, that they had brought the fair to their farm.
"Education is a big part of it," Steve said. "My belief is that the consumer has the power. To have an open door where they can come see how you farm, what your practices are, and see if that works for them."
The flood of customers made the Sinisis dance. However, it’s hard to talk to a farmer this July without mentioning what hadn't flooded in: rain.
As of the previous Tuesday, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's National Drought Mitigation Center marked roughly two-thirds of the state of Maine as experiencing abnormally dry of moderate drought conditions.
Another couple of weeks without significant rain, Steve said, and the Sinisis would have to start using their winter food storage in August.
"It stresses everything, from farmer to animal to the ground," he explained, as he sprayed water in one of the pig enclosures, a normal daily task so the animals, which do not sweat, can cool off.
He’d face the food challenge when it comes. For this day, he had tours to lead and pigs to cool off.
"This is entertaining, you know?" Steve gave a belly laugh as pigs happily flopped down and rolled in the new mud.
"How do you now laugh at this? They love it."