Roadside Market Tour

2010 KY Farm Bureau Roadside Market Tour - Day 2

Day two of the Roadside Market tour was a great success!  We started the day at Eckert’s Orchard in Belleville.  Chris Eckert, President of Eckert’s Orchard, gave the group a presentation on the history of the family orchard and answered questions ranging from how the farm has been passed down over the generations to how this family business manages a workforce of more than 125 people annually.

After the tour of the facilities, Chris Eckert handed the presentation over to his aunt Jane Eckert.  Jane Eckert is known in agritourism circles as the guru of agritoruism marketing.  Jane gave an outstanding presentation on the importance of communicating with the customer, focusing on utilizing electronic media such as webpages, facebook, and much more.

We had a great lunch of fried chicken and veggies at the Eckert’s Orchard restaurant, and enjoyed walking around the new Eckert Country store.

Braeutigam Orchard, the second stop of the day, was only minutes down the road. This seventh generation orchard is still run complety by the family.  Three generations of Range family were on hand to welcome us to the farm and they gave us an amazing tour of their market, play area, and production operation.

While Eckert’s and Braeutigam are only a few miles apart, the two families have chosen opposite approaches to grow their family businesses.  Seeing the two operations back to back were a great experience for the group and a great example of how important it is to develop your family business to meet the needs of the family.

After the orchard tours we headed into St. Louis. Everyone enjoyed having the evening to take in the sights of the city and rest up for the last day of the tour.

To see photos from Day 2 of the tour visit http://www.flickr.com/photos/23815761@N08/collections/72157624599200278/

Posted on July 28, 2010 at 3:37 PM

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