{"id":352564,"date":"2026-09-21T16:32:07","date_gmt":"2026-09-21T16:32:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/352564\/"},"modified":"2026-09-21T16:32:07","modified_gmt":"2026-09-21T16:32:07","slug":"from-llamas-to-lavender-agritourism-grows-in-new-york-state","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/352564\/","title":{"rendered":"From llamas to lavender, agritourism grows in New York state"},"content":{"rendered":"

For Andrea Parent-Tibbetts, owner of\u00a0Clover Brooke Farm<\/a> in Hyde Park, New York, the llamas and alpacas are the lure: the doe-eyes and fluff and the fact that they approach you face to face.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI can grab peoples\u2019 attention that way,\u201d Parent-Tibbetts said. \u201cAnd then I can tell them a little bit about the animal, why they\u2019re really purposeful, useful, so that people can understand what we do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Parent-Tibbetts said the llamas and alpacas grab peoples’ attention, and then she can educate guests about why the animals are useful and important.<\/p>\n

Over the past 10 years, the Parent-Tibbetts\u2019 fiber farm has grown from a few sheep and llamas on a \u201cferal\u201d plot of land to a full-fledged agritourism business, hosting 5,000 visitors a year and known for its alpaca and llama hikes and natural fibers. Crucial help has come from Cornell Cooperative Extension (CCE), which began boosting its support for New York state agritourism in 2020 to keep pace with growth in the industry. Agritourism activity in the state has more than tripled since 2007, with nearly 1,000 farms generating $55.5 million in revenue as of 2022, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture\u2019s (USDA) Census of Agriculture.<\/p>\n

CCE support has helped Parent-Tibbetts prioritize and stay aligned with her mission as her business has grown.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are so many aspects of your business, and you can go down a rabbit hole really easily. You need to stay at a macro level and at the same time juggle all the micro aspects,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019ll be honest, it\u2019s really the support that\u2019s come from Cornell Cooperative Extension, through many different programs, that has gotten me to where I am.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a flurry of activity to support agritourism in the last three years, CCE has hosted and recorded more than 40 webinars, with accompanying fact sheets, on topics ranging from taxes and liability to writing grants and designing experiences. A working group of more than 80 CCE educators across county offices has organized farm tours and events to connect farmers with each other and with local resources, including an inaugural agritourism conference in 2025 in Saratoga Springs, New York.<\/p>\n

\"Cornell<\/a><\/p>\n

Lindsey Pashow<\/a>, CCE agricultural business development marketing specialist and agritourism statewide specialist, said last year\u2019s conference hadn\u2019t even ended yet when people started asking about this year\u2019s event,\u00a0which will be held Nov. 4-5<\/a> at Cornell AgriTech in Geneva, New York.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor farmers, agritourism is a way to diversify their operation, to bring in additional revenue,\u201d Pashow said. \u201cIt also connects them with the community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Agritourism educates, too, even when that\u2019s not an explicit goal, Pashow said: \u201cThe farmers are developing an experience, they\u2019re bringing people to the farm, and those visitors are seeing something that\u2019s not produced in a factory, something living and growing.\u201d<\/p>\n

That education is crucial for sustaining farms, Parent-Tibbetts said. She\u2019s especially concerned about agriculture in Dutchess County where farmland has become prime real estate for development. Statewide, the upward agritourism trend contrasts the trajectory for farms generally; New York state lost 14% of its farms and 9% of farmland between 2017 and 2022, according to the USDA.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe best thing we can do is welcome people onto our farms, educate them, let them see our passion and why we do it,\u201d Parent-Tibbetts said. \u201cOtherwise, they\u2019ll say, \u2018Why is this important in my life?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Building, empowering new lives<\/p>\n

Parent-Tibbett\u2019s relationship with CCE \u2013 and llamas and alpacas \u2013 started long before her business venture. When her family moved to the Hudson Valley in the 1990s, her kids got involved with 4-H through CCE Dutchess County, and Parent-Tibbetts, who was then the director of finance for a private school, found a new passion.<\/p>\n

In addition to hikes, Clover Brooke Farm offers llama and alpaca yoga, soap and loofah making, crafts, farm tours and more.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really loved the basis of 4-H, with kids learning and doing and the families being involved as a community,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Parent-Tibbetts went on to serve in multiple volunteer leadership positions for CCE (including leader of the Llama and Alpaca Club and president of the 4-H advisory committee). In 2018, she participated in a CCE training for women farmers \u2013 based on a national curriculum and nonprofit called\u00a0Annie\u2019s Project<\/a> \u2013 which gave her confidence as she expanded her farm.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt really empowered me and made me feel like I could do anything I set my mind to. I know that sounds clich\u00e9, but I was a woman coming from a completely different career, in my 50s. It was intimidating,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Similarly, Steven Marion, a first-time farmer who bought a defunct farm in Broome County a year ago, said CCE helped him establish\u00a0Farm in Broome<\/a>. His agritourism business offers unique farm stays that allow visitors to disconnect from technology.<\/p>\n

\u201cCCE has been integral in getting things started, because I didn\u2019t live in the area, and I had never farmed in my life,\u201d said Marion, who started the farm to honor a dream he and his late husband shared. \u201cThey really helped me navigate where agritourism stands in the local environment and where I can fit in. Now so many people in the community are encouraged that something is being built here again, to see the life coming back into it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cConnector of people\u201d<\/p>\n

Agritourism is meeting a demand from the public as well, said Melaine Rottkamp, executive director of\u00a0Destination Dutchess<\/a>, a nonprofit that promotes tourism in the county. Rottkamp recounted a farm tour where a 70-year-old man, a visitor from New York City, lay on the ground and rolled down a grassy hill for the joy of it.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople want to connect with the land, they want to connect with their food, they want a way to relax and have fun, and since COVID-19, they\u2019re more focused on wellness,\u201d she said. \u201cWe have properties that are finding ways to provide those kinds of experiences, which then help the farmers do the work they want to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rottkamp said in addition to traditional hayrides and pick-your-own fruits, farmers have been adding u-pick sunflower and lavender fields and even \u201cluxury\u201d farm stays. Marion said his farm offers people a way to reconnect with themselves and to heal.<\/p>\n

Steven Marion bought farmland in Broome County last year and is inviting guests for stays that help them disconnect from technology.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of us have lost our connection to experience, to where our food comes from or the sounds the trees make or how to skip a rock,\u201d he said. \u201cI want to use farming and this space as a place where people can reconnect and learn something new, where they can just exhale. It\u2019s been healing for me as far as the process of trauma and loss, and I hear from a lot of people who are inspired by it and want to be a part of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Inviting people onto the farm is not always easy, though.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are a lot of trials and tribulations,\u201d Pashow said, \u201cfrom working with your municipality to the liability of having people on your farm, and the fact that people are going to be on your property and in your space, maybe doing things you don\u2019t want them to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

The network of business owners created by CCE helps. \u201cWe need that network to survive,\u201d Marion said. \u201cYou need to be able to call on someone to help you do something or answer a question, and that community of understanding \u2013 it\u2019s so important.\u201d<\/p>\n

CCE has become an essential part of the ecosystem surrounding agritourism, Rottkamp said, describing extension as \u201can incredible connector of people.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd we really need them to do that because we can\u2019t do it all on our own,\u201d she said. \u201cCCE is looking out for the whole industry and guiding these new people coming in, to show them the opportunities and great careers to be had, to continue to build programming that stays up with the trends and shows people: You\u2019re not going it alone.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For Andrea Parent-Tibbetts, owner of\u00a0Clover Brooke Farm in Hyde Park, New York, the llamas and alpacas are the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":352565,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[9,11,10,49,51,50],"class_list":["post-352564","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news","tag-new-york-state","tag-new-york-state-headlines","tag-new-york-state-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/352564","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=352564"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/352564\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/352565"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=352564"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=352564"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=352564"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}