Sadie Snell, a recently-graduated research student from Trent University, believes the Highlands is ripe for an agri-tourism boom, with figureheads from Harvest Haliburton saying the non-profit is working to bring key industry stakeholders together.
Authoring the 42-page report Harvest Haliburton: Unveiling Haliburton’s Bounty Through Agri-Tourism, Snell identified ways County farmers and those with agricultural interests can improve their businesses, while also outlining existing roadblocks hindering the local economy.
The project was inspired by Apple Tree Identification Project (ATIP) Haliburton founder Luba Cargill, who last year suggested U-Links partner with a student researcher to investigate ways to bolster agri-tourism. Snell connected with U-Links last summer, taking on the project in September. She spent the first couple of months cultivating contacts, interviewing 14 people to come up with a list of priorities.
“Prominent findings include a community interest in organized farm tours and other coordinated events, a need for community-building and improved communication and collaboration between agri-tourism industry actors, and a need to address the obstacles faced by the agricultural sector in order to develop a strong foundation for agritourism,” Snell said.
Participants said they’d like to see an agricultural-themed event that runs like Hike Haliburton or The Studio Tour, where multiple locations band together and the public is free to come-and-go.
Need for overarching organization to bring producers together
“Something like that has the potential to connect several small producers and provides people a glimpse into different aspects of Haliburton’s agriculture, geography, and history,” Snell noted, saying the last time something like that was organized locally was by SIRCH Community Services in 2012.
There was an interest in staging more workshops with stakeholders eager to demonstrate skills such as cheese-making and sheep shearing, teaching people about plant biology and how to conduct soil analysis, and broaden the public’s understanding of beekeeping, maple syrup production, and forestry.
In terms of problems to overcome, Snell said most of the people she spoke to felt isolated from others in the sector. Concerns were also raised about a perceived lack of municipal support for agricultural events and issues, and “tedious” provincial regulations.
Stepping up
Through it all, Snell said one thing was clear – there is a need for an overarching organization that can bring all producers together.
Enter Harvest Haliburton. The organization, founded in 2012, has been revived recently following a yearslong pause initiated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Co-chair, Barrie Martin, told The Highlander that he could see the group stepping up to the plate.
Martin was one of the 14 people Snell interviewed for her report.
“I’m glad someone decided to look into this because it’s not obvious there’s an agri-tourism potential here. The type of things that can happen is maybe a little bit different than you’d find elsewhere in southern Ontario, which makes us unique,” Martin said, noting the Highlands’ topography being on the Canadian shield, and focus on maple syrup production and wild edibles.
He said Harvest Haliburton is investigating how to develop a local sustainable food system. Collaborating with entities like Abbey Gardens, the Haliburton County Farmers Market, and Haliburton County Farmers Association on programming is key, Martin added.
The non-profit is planning a food-themed forum in October. Martin said about 80 stakeholders attended one in 2019.
“We thought it’d be a good idea to bring organizations and operators together to hear where they’re at, what problems or challenges they’re facing,” Martin said. “It’s not going to be quite an action plan thing, that might be something we do later.”
Martin liked Snell’s report, saying it’s helping to spark conversation among stakeholders.
“If it can get people to explore new ideas, that would be great. There’s lots of energy in the community, it’s just a matter of finding those people and supporting them as much as possible,” he said.
