This Month's Featured Destination:

This Family Farm is Thinking "Community"

From the Goodland Cowboy cut out in their maze, to the Field of Hope sunflower field that stands next to the maze, Bryce and Jessica Cole seem very pleased to be able to give back to the community where they grew up.

“We’re pretty proud to be in Goodland,” Bryce said. “I like to think we’ve really given back something too. It’s only our second year in business, so last year we tried to keep it to the basics, and then build it as we go. This is good family fun.”

“In a rural area like ours—it’s about two hours drive to the next corn maze—this is really a great place for groups to go somewhere together,” Jessica said. “We had about 2,000 visitors to the corn maze last year, and a lot of them were groups—church groups, school groups, and so forth. We also provide educational field trips, though gas prices became an issue for some of the schools bringing in children by bus.”

Cole Family Farms is right at the edge of town in Goodland, Kansas, just a few miles off I-70, so the new maze has a great location for serving Northwest Kansas with some clean family fun. Admission is $8 for those over age 13, $6 for ages 6-12, and free to children age 5 and younger. They also have a season pass for $40 for those age 13 and older, and $30 for those under that age. Jessica indicated that they have a lot of kids go through the maze several times, and coming back again every weekend.

The average time to find your way through the 10-acre maze is about an hour to an hour and a half. The farm also has a pumpkin patch, a hay castle for climbing, and a corn box for the younger kids. This year Bryce is adding some bridges overlooking the corn maze, and has a corn cob cannon that he expects the teens will enjoy. They sell kettle corn, bottled water, soda and decorative cornstalks, but basically concentrate on the corn maze at present.

The farm has been in Jessica’s family for three generations. Her grandfather, William A. Davis, once grew sugar beets on this land. She and Bryce have been adding to the farm for the last 12 years since they were married, and grow corn, soybeans, a little wheat and sunflowers on the farm, in addition to the corn maze and pumpkin patch.

It was just two years ago that Jessica and Bryce decided to build a corn maze, and shortly after, they attended a regional Kansas Agritourism Conference in Colby (2005). Bryce said he felt they really picked up some helpful ideas at the conference on marketing and some of the basics of an agritourism operation. “I think it helped us avoid some pitfalls,” he said. “Thanks to the conference, we also met several other operators, and continue to network with them.”

The following year, it was Bryce giving the advice, as Cole Family Farms was one of the stops for the Northwest Kansas Experience: Agritourism Plus, a locally sponsored agritourism conference.

The two-day workshop and tour was planned by a group of community partners including RC&Ds, extension, cvb's, economic development, conservation districts, chambers of commerce, NRCS, community foundations, and others. Their goal was to develop a 9 county northwest Kansas consortium of all involved in rural tourism—agritourism, cultural tourism, bed and breakfasts, and pure rural enjoyment businesses.

“As a new operation, I talked about why and how we set up our farm for tourists, and talked about some of the pitfalls they might want to avoid,” Bryce said. “I presented five reasons that Jessica and I decided to do a corn maze.”

See the five reasons, and read the rest of this story. Click here.

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Meet Agriculture Marketing Specialist-Sarah Larison

Sarah Larison is the new Marketing Specialist in the Agriculture Marketing Division of the Kansas Department of Commerce. Sarah joined the staff in August, and will be wearing many hats, working in cooperation with the Travel and Tourism Department, and the Kansas Agritourism Council.

"My primary responsibilities will be working to further agritourism in Kansas," she said. "I will also be the agency liaison with the Kansas Agritourism Council and the Kansas Farm Wine industry--including executing the Annual Grape Stomp and Wine Judging at the State Fair. In addition to these duties, I will also serve as the liaison to the Kansas Farmers' Markets and will be the "From the Land of Kansas" trademark program manager."

Sarah now lives in Holton with her husband, Jason, who is an ag education instructor and FFA advisor at Holton High School. She was born and raised in Manhattan, and earned a degree in Animal Sciences and Industry from K-State University. She came to the department from a position with the Kansas Legal Services in the Work Opportunities for Rural Kansans program. Prior to that, she worked for the American Cancer Society in the fund-raising department, and for the Kansas Farmers Union.

Sarah enjoys gardening and running, and just ran in the Virginia Beach Half Marathon over Labor Day weekend. She also volunteers her time with the Holton FFA Alumni, and is the run coach for Team In Training, which benefits the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

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2006 Kansas Tourism Conference

The 2006 Kansas Tourism Conference will be held October 8-10 in Dodge City, with keynote speakers Mark Hood and Bill Geist. There are many opportunities to submit your marketing materials for competition-entry deadline is September 15.

For more information about reservations, exhibit booths, and sponsorship opportunities, visit the Travel Industry Association of Kansas website. Click here: www.tiak.org