Any number of others do something along that line. In the Halls community in Knox County, Dennis Fox does hayrides. Groups come in the evening and he takes them on a hayride, tractor-pulled, through his orchard to a pond and campfire. There he has a food service setup and serves a meal. There are expenses to be considered, Jenkins added.
Liability insurance can be very costly, especially where children are concerned.
There are other ways to combine entertainment farming with value-added products, he said. Some producers are establishing their own bakeries, food processing operations, restaurants and even convenience stores. They are making and selling fried apple pies, apple cider, apple butter, donuts, or just about any other product you can think of that could be made with the commodity they grow. Marketing in Tennessee UT has factored into this trend in several ways, Jenkins explained. In the '60s and '70s, UT encouraged Tennessee growers to attend marketing conferences in other states that were further along with such programs.