As fall approaches once again, New Jersey farms are committed to another season of pumpkin pickings and hayrides. They call it "agritourism" and it helps the agricultural business in the state survive.

State Secretary of Agriculture says agritourism includes a lot more, such as wine tasting and even events at the shore.

"It is enticing, and people are absolutely expressing their enjoyment and amazement of what takes place."

Besides providing millions of New Jerseyans with amusement and recreation every autumn, these agriculture-related farm events are a big economic boost for farms. According to Fisher, income from our annual agritourism counts into the tens of millions of dollars across all regions of the state.

"It helps fill in a lot of gaps, because most of the time they (farmers) are just taking the price, what the market conditions bear."

Agritourism has evolved over the years. Fisher says they even have a pair of websites that not only direct visitors to nearby events, but also help them plan tours or daytrips to farms and wineries. He says for the farms.

Those websites are jerseyfresh.nj.gov and njfarms.org. Fisher says you can take a look at those two websites and determine what activity that you want to attend, what kind of farm you might want to go to and what is the closest to your home.

Joe Cutter is the afternoon news anchor on New Jersey 101.5. Contact him at Joe.Cutter@townsquaremedia.com

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