Bishop's Pumpkin Farm in Wheatland, California was established in 1973 by Wayne's parents, Bill and Sandy Bishop. Wayne returned to the farm with his wife Ann in 1995. Wayne and Ann have since taken over the business that attracts more than 100,000 guests each fall. They have made several improvements to the farm's school tour program, including adding The Hamburger Farm in 2001.

Kristin Borzynski, Borzynski's Farm Market Inc.

Like most NAFDMA members, I’ve grown up in the farming business; pushing cabbages off the top of the wagon when I was 3 or 4, packing cabbage at age 9, and running the line when I was 14. Unlike most members, my dad and uncle were first generation farmers, who chose farming because of the interest and the challenge it presented. In the past 40 years, we’ve grown from a small farm on 45 acres, to the largest independent cabbage grower in the U.S. with farms in four states. Currently we harvest year round over 30 crops over 10,000 acres between Wisconsin, Illinois, Georgia and Texas. Back in the early 90’s, we acquired a small existing market in a land purchase deal, and thus began “Borzynski’s Farm Market”.  It is now our 15th season, we’ve gone through several additions/ reconstructions, and like our farm, the market continues to grow. I am the only family member involved in the retail market, and with 30 employees, a bakery, deli, café, garden center, gift shop, full service floral shop, and seasonal events, it does get a bit overwhelming -  but like my father, I always enjoy a challenge.

Mark & Kelly Cagle, Cagle's Dairy

We are currently operating 2 farm locations in North Georgia. The Hickory Flat location offers Dairy tours and the MAiZE along with two jumping pillows and bonfires. The RiverBend location located in Gordon County, Georgia hosts the WORLD'S LARGEST CORN MAIZE, 56 acres, along with the WORLD'S LARGEST JUMPING PILLOW. Both farms are owned and operated by Mark and his wife, Kelly, along with 3 of their 4 children, Ben and wife to be Vicki, Levi and Hannah. 12 years ago Mark and Kelly sold their part of the dairy to Mark's brothers and parents and pursued a business developing subdivisions and building custom homes in th Atlanta area. Three and a half years ago Mark's parents wanted to retire and two of the other brothers wanted to try new careers...which only left Mark's oldest brother and his wife. Mark and Kelly decided to buy back in to the dairy business and help operate the family agri-tourism farm. A year later Mark's brother decided to start a consulting business, so Mark and Kelly "BOUGHT THE FARM." In the last year we have expanded to two operations and continue to have tours and MAiZES and operate an on farm consumer market.

Lori Colborne, LSL Marketing Consultants   

Lori Colborne, is a much sought after international keynote speaker, coach, and author of Innovative Marketing Made EASY! Lori strongly believes in the importance of leadership and marketing to your # 1 customer, your staff.

Lori’s dynamic and informative seminars send participants away feeling motivated and excited, taking with them a multitude of valuable, practical leadership & marketing concepts geared to have immediate impact. Lori’s seminars are as energizing and entertaining, as they are helpful, insightful, and practical. She also facilitates workshops and staff training for small business, corporations, business groups, and associations. 

Lori also works one-on-one with business owners, management and organizations to create effective, innovative, marketing plans & leadership strategies. As the president of LSL Marketing Consultants, Lori has coached hundreds of clients from a wide range of industries including manufacturing, financial, retail, hospitality and service. Her diverse experiences challenge her participants to think beyond the norm and become leaders. 

Lori Colborne is a passionate, captivating, fast-paced presenter and educator who brings to her clients, readers, and audiences more than twenty years of proven management & marketing successes.

 
Donna Coleman, Cherry-Crest Farm

Donna and her husband Jack Coleman are owners of Cherry-Crest Farm, in Paradise, Pennsylvania. Starting out in 1987 as Dairy and crop farmers, Donna and Jack diversified their farm to included two broiler chicken houses in which they raise 250,000 chickens per year for Tyson Foods.  They also brought Agritainment to their farm in 1996, starting with a corn maze and has grown each year to be a very popular educational family entertainment facility. They use about 15 cash registers on their farm, each programed for it's specific area of business. We offer cash register training to each employee that will be using them, and put to use the reports that are optained from each register. 

Dale IV, Brandt and Kaitlyn Davis, Stony Hill Gardens

Dale Davis IV, 23 Graduate of West Morris Mendham High School 2002 Graduate of Delaware Valley College 2006 with a Bachelor of Science in Horticulture Production with a minor in agronomy & Environmental science. Also an Eagle Scout, member of Alpha Gamma Rho (professional agricultural fraternity), When in college was a member of Hort Society.
   
Brandt Davis, 20  Graduate of West Morris Mendham High School 2006
Sophomore at Delaware Valley College Majoring in Agri-Business, member of Alpha Gamma Rho (professional agricultural fraternity), A wrestler at West Morris Mendham High School, Also an Eagle Scout.
   
Kaitlyn Davis, 17 Junior at West Morris Mendham High School (WMMHS), played on the West Morris Mendham Volleyball team. A member of Steering Committee at WMMHS and also a member of service Club. Received Bronze and Silver Awards in Girl Scouts and is working toward her Gold Award. Went on ASP (Appalachian Service Project) in July of 2007.
 

Jane Eckert, Eckert AgriMarketing

It is no wonder that Jane Eckert, a farmer’s daughter and former corporate marketing executive, has become a recognized expert on agritourism, a growing travel trend in America. She created one of the most successful tourism farms in North America and now helps members of the travel industry tap into the agritourism market. Jane, now in her second year of consulting with the travel division of the State of Kansas, works with travel professionals, farmers and ranchers in order to develop agritourism in the state.

Jane was raised on her family’s apple orchard outside of St. Louis, Missouri, and eventually pursued an executive career in corporate marketing for more than 15 years, working for such giants as Atlantic Richfield Oil Company.   

Combining her marketing expertise and her passion for agriculture, she returned to her roots as Vice President of Marketing for Eckert’s Country Store and Farms. Through her innovative ideas and through working closely with CVBs and tourism authorities, she helped develop the farm into one of metropolitan St. Louis’ most popular entertainment and tourist destinations, attracting 500,000 guests annually.

Jane has been featured in USA Today and interviewed for hundreds of newspapers, magazines and radio shows throughout the country. In her speeches and workshops, she has helped thousands of tourism professionals to see the financial benefits of promoting the niche product of agritourism. 

In 2001, Jane created Eckert AgriMarketing, a full-service marketing and consulting firm that offers a variety of services to the tourism industry and agricultural operations to help them harvest the rewards of agritourism. Jane was given the outstanding leadership award by the North American Farmers’ Direct Marketing Association in 2005.

She has been an active member of Convention and Visitors Bureaus both in Missouri and Illinois. She is past president of the St. Louis Attractions Association, Belleville Tourism in Illinois and The North American Farmers’ Direct Marketing Association.

Elna Edgar

Elna Edgar originates from a local family farm where she developed her passion for farming by being heavily involved in the farming activities plus long time involvement in 4H clubs. After Olds Agricultural College, she married her longtime friend and neighbor, Doug. Elna & Doug own and operate "Edgar Farms," established 1907, located just west of Innisfail. They have a large traditional grain and cattle farm. They have the largest asparagus field in Alberta, 25 acres of peas and beans, natural home-raised beef, home made pies and many different pickles and relishes that they market directly to consumers at over 20 Farmers Markets through "Innisfail Growers Co-op" plus their farm store. They were the proud recipients of the Innisfail & District Chamber of Commerce "Farm Family of the Year" award for 2007.

Donnie Fulks, Belvedere Plantation

Donnie Fulks is president of Belvedere Plantation, Inc., a family farm overlooking the Rappahannock River outside of Fredericksburg, Virginia. Donnie is the third generation on the farm. He and his wife, Donna (an optician), have five sons and two granddaughters. At least one of the sons is interested in continuing in the farm business. Donnie’s parents, while recently “retired” from the farm, keep busy helping with various farm activities.

Belvedere is located in Spotsylvania County, one of the nation’s fastest growing regions and located on the I-95 corridor, an hour south of Washington, DC.

The focus of their business is offering leisure and educational agritainment experiences during their Fall Harvest Fest each October and strawberry season each May.

Direct Marketing at Belvedere began in 1972 with Pick-Your-Own Strawberries. The enjoyment of strawberries goes back to the early 1770’s when the plantation schoolmaster, John Harrower, recorded in his journal the day each May the first strawberries were ripe to eat. In more modern times, Donnie’s grandfather planted the first commercial planting in 1972. His parents transformed the strawberry venture into a PYO venture based on the narrow matted row system. After college, Donnie became responsible for direct marking activities at Belvedere. For over ten years production has been based on the plasticulture system. Strawberries are all marketed at the farm either Pick-Your-Own or Fresh Picked.

The mid 1980’s saw the beginnings of the Great Pumpkin Patch. In the mid 1990’s the Great Adventure Maize Maze was added to the summer and fall agritainment mix. A few years ago, both the pumpkin patch and the maze began to be marketed as the Harvest Fest during the fall season only. Fall time is by far the busiest time of the year at Belvedere Plantation, attracting nearly 50,000 visitors in 2007.

Rebecca and Bradley Gifford, Liberty Ridge Farm

Brother and Sister team Bradley (14) and Rebecca (10) Gifford live on Liberty Ridge Farm in upstate New York. Bradley enjoys skiing, swimming and tractor work. Rebecca loves animals and lives for horses. They both enjoy traveling and meeting new people. This is their second year attending the NAFDMA tour and conference.

Taylor Green, Wild Things Farm

Taylor Greene is 12 years old. Home schooling allows her to have an active role in all farm operations on a daily basis. She plays violin and piano, enjoys skiing, reading, horseback riding, and cooking, and has traveled extensively. This is her sixth NAFDMA conference.

   
Joy Grose, Tanners Orchard, Ltd.

Joy has been employed at Tanners Orchard intermittently for approx 15 years. This year was her 5th year of managing the bakery. She has a B.S. in Food and Nutrition with approx 15 years of food service management experience. She worked for Canteen and Caterpillar Tractor Co in a management position for 8 years learning how to manage an efficient, safe, and clean food service operation.

T. Scott Gross, T. Scott Gross & Co. Inc.

T. Scott Gross is a master at removing mystery. His unusual ability to make complex ideas simple comes from years of hands-on experience as an entrepreneur who has also lived the corporate life. He will tell-it-like-it-is and your audience will love it!

Scott is best known for his high energy platform skills. His energetic, engaging style is more than entertainment — it’s always a hit. His gentle humor keeps audiences laughing while they learn handfuls of practical ideas. Whether speaking to a corporation or national association, Scott is a storyteller extraordinaire, comfortable with audiences of any size.

He is most at home with professionals who have high customer contact. Scott knows you can’t always have the lowest prices in your market — but you can have the best service! Scott will show you how to take your service to a greater level… and your profits with it!

As a life-long learner, it’s only natural that Scott has written 11 fun-to-read books, including the original management classic Positively Outrageous Service now in its 2nd edition. He considers Positively Outrageous Service to be the first in what he calls a trilogy, encompassing Why Service Stinks…and Exactly What to Do About It and When Customers Talk…Turn What They Tell You into Sales. His personal favorite, Borrowed Dreams, reads more like a novel but is packed with management secrets while he was in search of how to manage high performance teams.

Not one to sit on the couch, Scott lives life to the fullest. He is an active EMT and an instrument-rated pilot. His latest venture is serving as a Councilman in the city of Kerrville, Texas.

Monica Harbes, Harbes Family Farm

Monica was born on a hardscrabble dairy farm in Battlelake, Minnesota. Orphaned at three years old, she found herself growing up in suburban Charlotte, North Carolina. Fate brought her back to the farm upon marrying a Long Island, NY potato farmer, Ed Harbes, in 1978. Theirs was a true Mom and Pop business as Monica juggled her time between motherhood and farming. Her 29 years of hands-on experience raising her own eight children and working retail agriculture gave her invaluable experience in developing an excellent school group program that is both fun and profitable. The current trends in agriculture indicate that the agricultural experience is often easier to market profitably than agricultural products. Monica will share her experience of how she started, manages and continues to develop, a successful school tour program.
 

Dick Kraus, The Fuzzy Pig

Dick Kraus has spent his entire life on the family farm in Whitewater that he has creatively transformed into the Fuzzy Pig. After many years of being a crop and dairy farmer, landscaper and building decks and retaining walls, he decided it was time to do something for himself. He still crop farms, but he sold the cows and quit landscaping and started to create the Fuzzy Pig country mall. Since it opened four years, the Fuzzy Pig continues to grow and expand. After completely remodeling the family dairy barn, Dick changed the house into a 50's malt shop, tea room and restaurant. He has since constructed another large shed (100 by 100) to complement the barn, and it will house a beauty salon, floral shop, Halloween store, quilt store, art gallery and numerous other small stores. Dick never lacks for creativity and imagination.

Kristin Krokowski, University of Wisconsin

University of Wisconsin Commercial horticulture educator for Waukesha County. Involved in several direct marketing educational programs in Wisconsin including SavorWisconsin.com. She is currently involved in surveying farmers, market managers, and market customers of the over 30 farmers' markets in Southeast Wisconsin. She also participates at farmers' markets as a vendor with her husband, Brian. They grow fruits, vegetables and herbs.

Margaret Krome, Michael Fields Agricultural Institute

Margaret Krome is Policy Program Director for the Michael Fields Agricultural Institute in East Troy, Wis. She coordinates the annual national grassroots campaign to fund federal programs supported by the National Campaign for Sustainable Agriculture and works to develop state programs and policies supporting environmentally sound, profitable, and socially responsible agriculture. In addition to policy work, Ms. Krome conducts workshops nationwide on grant writing and using federal programs to support sustainable agriculture and directs a national project to make grantwriting assistance available to underserved farmers and ranchers. She sits on the board of the National Center for Appropriate Technology, and the Board of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection for the state of Wisconsin. She writes a bi-weekly editorial column for the evening paper in Madison, where she lives with her husband and two children. 
 

Wade Kuipers, Kuipers' Family Farm

Wade and Kim Kuipers are in their 6th season of owning and operating Kuipers Family Farm in Chicago's western suburbs. Prior to purchasing the orchard part of their farm and jumping into the agritainment business full-time, the Kuipers owned a concrete construction company since 1986. All those years in the construction industry have paid-off when tackeling many of the projects around the farm that had to be done. From decorative concrete work, display design and construction, to one-of-a-kind farm implements, Wade's done a bit of it all. 

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