Drought Impact on Kentucky Agritourism Still Unknown

It could be next year before Kentucky agriculture officials will know how much drought affected state agritourism. Visits and tours of working farms peak in August, September and October, but drought has caused some farmers to scale back their events, like corn mazes and apple picking. State Agritourism Director Ben Shaffar says some Kentucky farmers realize as much as a 200 percent revenue boost from agritourism activities. But until the season ends, Shaffar can’t say what the numbers will look like this year.  

“So we’ll be looking at winter this year to garner some information on just how bad this hit us this year," Shaffar said.

Shaffar expects the data will be out by the spring. He says the state could use the drought information to better understand how farmers respond to extreme conditions, and help build a case for federal revenue recovery funding.