New ideas may be the biggest crop produced by Douglas County farmers recently.

During the past year, the Lawrence Chamber of Commerce Agribusiness Network has made it a goal to get area farmers to think about new ways to compete in the volatile agribusiness industry.

In February, the group sponsored a summit at the Douglas County 4-H Fairgrounds that attracted about 40 area farmers who brainstormed about new business opportunities.

“I had several people leave that event saying that was the most enthusiasm they had seen in agriculture for quite awhile,” said Bill Wood, the agriculture agent for the Douglas County Extension Service and a member of the agribusiness network. “I think it picked up some spirits.”

Farmers are particularly hopeful about the idea of growing tourists. One of the topics at the February summit was how to increase the area’s agritourism, a type of tourism that attracts people interested in experiencing farm or ranch activities.

Judy Billings, director of the Lawrence Convention and Visitors Bureau, said there’s good reason for area farmers to be optimistic about attracting tourists.

Billings said the area already had a good base of agriculture-related businesses that attract visitors. The list includes orchards, wineries, pumpkin patches and corn mazes.

“We have a lot we can build on, I think,” Billings said.

Being next to the large metropolitan area of Kansas City also may help the agritourism movement bloom, she said.

“The faster our lives go, especially in the metro areas where a lot of kids don’t even know where our food comes from, this idea of taking a trip to the farm becomes more appealing,” Billings said.

She is leading a small group of people who in the next year hope to create an inventory of all the agriculture-related businesses in the county. Then Billings and others can contact the businesses to determine if they’re interested in boosting the area’s agritourism.

“We want to find out what we can do to help the farmers,” Billings said.

The February summit also encouraged area farmers to think about how they could create alliances with large agriculture companies that do business in the area. For example, Wood led a group that met with representatives from Cargill Inc., a multinational food and agricultural services company.

Wood said the idea was to approach several large companies and find out if they had any specific needs that weren’t being met by farmers. Wood said it was possible anywhere from two to 20 farmers in the area could band together to grow a specialized crop for a large company.

“It probably won’t be an easy road,” Wood said. “It will take some work and some effort, but usually anything good does take some work and some effort.”

Other ideas that came out of the summit included:

• Life sciences. Farmers said they were interested in learning more about how their land could be used to raise crops that could be used in pharmaceuticals and other life-science products.
• Local food. Participants talked about creating a program to encourage area residents to eat locally produced food. Participants suggested a marketing campaign and a new store that would sell only locally grown products.

The agribusiness network is in its second year of existence and has about 25 active members.

How to join

For more information on the Lawrence Chamber of Commerce Agribusiness Network, call 865-4411.