For fourth-generation Maryland farmer Taylor Huffman, creating agritourism events to supplement ag income is a way of life. Her parents started diversifying their hay operation 25 years ago with a corn maze and, eventually, a u-pick pumpkin patch that featured a cannon for “pumpkin chunkin’.
When her father passed away in 2013, Taylor and her husband bought the property, continuing to farm as well as host seasonal events, which grew in popularity and complexity. At the height of the pandemic, their fall festival drew 30,000 visitors. Why, then, did the Huffmans decide to move 1,400 miles away to West, Texas, and start over?
“The main reason we came to Texas is the lack of regulation and the freedom to be creative and come up with businesses,” Taylor tells Davis Michaelsen on the latest episode of Grow Getters, a podcast that showcases how farmers are diversifying their operations. “We sold it all and moved here and left behind a lot of opportunity, but Covid made us realize we want to be in place of freedom and opportunity.”
The move required at least 10 long trips, some of which included two trucks pulling trailers. But hauling all of their equipment and belongings halfway across the country was a breeze compared to transporting the farm’s agritourism business model.
“Growing up in Maryland, there were orchards and u-pick strawberries and blueberries and on-farm creameries and just so many opportunities for the public to go out to the farm,” Taylor says. “And that is seriously lacking here in Central Texas. And so we decided that’s what we’re going to try to offer.”
They established Western Belle Family Farm just north of Waco and started growing specialty crops, including sunflowers, strawberries and, of course, pumpkins. If state regulations in their new home were more forgiving, the climate most certainly wasn’t. They dealt with searing heat and record-breaking drought. The first pumpkin crop died from lack of water. Fire ants took the next one.
“Let’s be honest growing pumpkins in central Texas is really hard,” Taylor says on the podcast. But a mix of prayer and perseverance paid off, and this year the Huffmans hosted an Easter festival, a strawberry u-pick event, a sunflower festival and, starting September 21, a pumpkin festival. After surviving a big move and even bigger agronomic challenges, the family feels that they’re right where they belong.
“I would have never thought something like this could work out, but we’ve had an incredible first two years,” Taylor says. “We’re really trying hard to create that actual u-pick experience and I think we might just do it.”
Watch the full Grow Getters interview
