Are You Crazy: Retail Farm Market Bus Tour

About the workshop

Join Penn State Extension for the return of the Are You Crazy: Retail Farm Market Bus Tour as we visit markets in Delaware. This tour is for retail farm market professionals and is held at the height of the season to enable participants to learn from their regional farm market peers during their best and most robust season. This event will include behind-the-scenes tours and information directly from farm market owners, including unique display and merchandising ideas and information on market expansion and farm transition.

Event details

Join us for two full, well-rounded days of interactive education and networking with some great folks!

When

Oct. 3-4, 2023
(8 a.m. – 5 p.m.)

Where

Farm and Home Center
1383 Arcadia Road
Lancaster, PA 17601

The September tour will visit seven unique farms in two days highlighting agritainment, farm market development, diversification of products, customer relations, and much more. Our rolling classroom environment enables market owners and managers to share lessons learned and season highlights and discuss pertinent topics as we travel between tour locations.

Our tour bus leaves from the Penn State Extension office in Lancaster County this year. The tour fee includes an overnight hotel stay, bus fare, lunch on both days of the tour, and breakfast on the second day. Dinner on the first day of the tour will be on your own.

Each year this tour brings unexpected learning opportunities and beneficial networking connections to its participants.

Who is this for?

• Owners/managers of retail farm markets
• Anyone planning or thinking about opening a retail farm market

What will you learn?

• Merchandising
• Display ideas
• Product ideas
• Peer-to-peer networking

Markets to be visited

• Filasky’s Produce
• Fifer’s Farm Store & Kitchen
• Parson’s Produce
• Evans Farms & The Frozen Farmer
• The Homestead Market
• Elmer’s Produce
• Willey Farms

Program sponsors

Funding for the Retail Farm Market Bus Tour was made possible by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service through grant 21FMPPA1052. Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the USDA. Additional funding is provided through Pennsylvania Vegetable Growers Association.