07/04/05 U.S. entrepreneurship on the farm

On this July Fourth, take a minute to consider the sacrifices and dedicated service that gives us the freedoms that make this nation great. Then consider the sacrifice, work ethic, and principles needed to take those freedoms and make them into realistic dreams, especially in the realm of entrepreneurship. From an agriculture standpoint, more producers are taking the concepts of being in business for themselves, and expanding them to create more opportunities for themselves. One example is Harvest House located in the Greenbluff area north of Spokane. It is there that the Beck family has lots of fruit available every year. T.BECK: The orchard is great and we grow fantastic fruit. But to do it on twenty-nine acres, I don't grow enough fruit alone to survive. And as son Todd Beck says, the family business has really diversified. There is the basic u-pick business within the orchards and berry bushes, but then add everything from food service to entertainment, wagon rides, live music, and special events during major harvest times like big festivals, straw mazes, and visitors making their own caramel apples. T.BECK: It's become a very viable alternative to strictly farming. As farms are getting passed down from generation to generation, there gets to be a need for that farm to make more dollars to support more generations at once, people are having to be creative on how they market and what they market and come up with alternative ways of using their farmland. And entertainment farming, educational farming, agri-tourism are all fantastic opportunities. Some say that fits sustainable agriculture and small farms and orchards. True, but many a wheat and corn field in the Northwest capitalize on fall time mazes to make an extra dollar; many a grower uses tours of their farms to educate and entertain. Father Gordon Beck says while economic survival is part of the lure of this entrepreneurship for producers, providing an experience, a memory, a chance to take part in several traditions in American legend, are some of the side benefits. G.BECK: We sell an experience for the person who lives in the city to come out to the farm and kind of get back to the basics in life. One of the things that always amazes me is there will be a father out there with his six year old kid, and the father is telling this six year old kid all how fruit's growing. The kid thinks his dad's God, and knows everything. That's what we're selling if you understand what I'm trying to say.