Mississippi Agritourism and the Great Outdoors During COVID-19
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MISSISSIPPI DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE & COMMERCE • ANDY GIPSON, COMMISSIONER VOLUME 92 NUMBER 18 SEPTEMBER 15, 2020 JACKSON, MS Mississippi Agritourism and the Great Outdoors During COVID-19 By Donna West, Division Director of people purchasing produce and was closed to the public for three Market Development – MDAC because our locations are open air months and is now operating at half tents, we felt this was an extra ad- capacity per Governor Tate Reeves Sheltering in place, quarantin- vantage for us as well.” mandates. ing, social distancing, six feet apart, Many of the fall agritourism op- “In opening, we have encouraged teleworking, thinning the halls, erations and Christmas tree farms social distancing and mask wear- virtual learning, drive-by birthday are geared toward families; however, ing, along with daily sanitizing of parties, drive-thru shopping, new in September and October, these high traffic areas,” said Hayes Pat- normal and Zoom meetings. These venues and operators rely heavily on rick, Museum Director. Where many are words, expressions and jargons school field trips. The sound of chil- educational events have been onsite, that describe life as we are living it dren of all ages laughing and playing some are being offered as virtual ex- these strange and scary days. And, en masse will be sorely missed this periences, such as the Science Fest who knew face masks would become season. “We will not have any school in September. Added Patrick, “Com- the most important fashion acces- field trips this fall and that is a tre- ing up, we have the Pumpkin Adven- sory of 2020, and the aroma of hand mendous amount of our business,” ture, Harvest Fest and Homestead sanitizers would turn out to be the said Jo Lynn Mitchell, co-owner of for the Holidays. We will have these new universal fragrance of women rations, retail and hospitality es- Miss., also offers spring and fall fun Mitchell Farms in Collins, Miss. events just as in the past but will and men alike? tablishments, schools and sports events. As the coronavirus initially The Mitchells have put safety pro- make any adjustments required by Of course, these examples of said events…right? Well, no. appeared across the nation in the tocols in place and will have face mandates.” expressions apply only to corpo- Agritourism operators across early spring, Michael and Cathy May masks for both children and adults On March 24, 2020, Mississippi Mississippi have had to take this had to reassess the upcoming Bunny available and have installed eighteen Governor Tate Reeves signed Mis- cornucopia of COVID-19 terminolo- Patch and Easter egg hunt, eventual- hand sanitizing stations throughout sissippi Executive Order 1463 which gies and convert them into everyday ly cancelling it completely. Because the property. “We plan to open, if considers agriculture, farms and practices on their farms. Lazy Acres Farm encompasses over possible, with a small staff on the farmers markets as an “essential “Many agritourism facilities have 40 acres of fun and plenty of space weekends, and since we are an out- business or operation.” Since most the benefit of being outdoors, which for social distancing, the May fam- door venue, I believe families will agritourism venues are on working allows for safer participation and ily plan on opening their pumpkin enjoy getting out and playing in the farms and designed for the great increased social distancing. Fortu- patch to the public this fall and are sunshine safely and responsibly,” re- outdoors, your Mississippi agritour- nately, anyone in agriculture knows preparing for the Christmas season. marked Mitchell. ism industry continues to welcome the necessity of washing hands and Eubanks Produce Farms, family The Mississippi Agriculture and each and everyone to responsibly making healthy decisions in the owned and operated, offers Charlie’s Forestry Museum, located in Jack- and safely discover and explore the raising of produce or livestock. So U-Pik operations at both their Luce- son, Miss., is open year-round. hospitality state’s many agritourism many agritourism experiences are dale and Wiggins, MS locations in Encompassing 39 acres, its many sites. an extension of those lessons many the spring and summer. Because u- settings, 22 exhibits and seven an- For more information about ag- of us learned on the farm,” said Ag- picks are able to provide built-in so- nual events recount Mississippi’s ritourism in Mississippi and for a riculture and Commerce Commis- cial distancing, Charlie’s U-Pik had agriculture throughout the years. listing of registered operations, visit sioner Andy Gipson. He continued, increased traffic at both locations. Due to COVID-19, the Ag Museum www.msagritourism.org. “Certainly, the loss of school field “We also had a good response to the trips is a huge impact; but, agri- drive-thru mixed boxes we offered culture weathers many storms, and Mid-April through Mid-May before so I hope when this viral challenge the u-pick crops were ready,” said is overcome, that our agritourism Janice Eubanks. businesses will likewise recover and The Eubanks also increased their continue their fun, educational, and sanitation stations, implemented healthy services.” temperature checks daily for em- Just as many traditional busi- ployees, asked employees not to nesses have had to temporarily shut come to work if they were ill or had down, cancel or postpone events, so family members who were ill, re- have Agritourism venues across the quired masks for cashiers and cus- state. tomer assistance positions. Added For instance, Lazy Acres Farm, Janice Eubanks, “We adjusted the For more information on Genuine MS Agritourism Operations, visit a Christmas Tree farm in Chunky, checkout area to allow separation https://genuinems.com/associate/agritourism/ Page 2 MISSISSIPPI MARKET BULLETIN September 15, 2020 Commissioner’s Policy Corner Broadcast Mississippi’s Best Public Education! By Andy Gipson every available method of deploying grade, and every basic educational Commissioner high speed broadband in the rural subject. I’ve already personally areas of Mississippi. I fully support confirmed this is possible with the As the father of four school age more and faster broadband out here leadership of both MPB and MDE. children in rural Mississippi, I in the country, and I appreciate Students and parents could tune would like to propose a common- the Legislature and the Mississippi in with a set daily routine of instruc- sense enhancement to COVID era Public Service Commission’s initia- tion. This program would reach education. My proposal won’t cost tives in this regard. every household in Mississippi - no Andy Gipson hundreds of millions of dollars; it But what we need is a compre- matter how rural or urban. For Commissioner won’t take decades to implement; hensive statewide educational digi- those distance learning through and it will provide an immediate tal broadcast plan as we transition the local schools, assignments and Andy Gipson Mississippi Department of workable solution for our teachers, to rural broadband statewide. Out homework would be turned in and students and parents. Put simply, Commissioner Agriculture & Commerce here in rural Mississippi, we can’t graded by a child’s local teachers, my proposal is to Broadcast Missis- wait for years or decades for our so students would continue getting reach every home and every child in 121 North Jefferson Street sippi’s Best Education. We can do children to get high speed inter- direct input from the teachers and Mississippi with a digital TV anten- Jackson, MS 39201 it starting tomorrow at virtually no net. Our children will be grown local school districts who know the na, cable TV or radio, at practically cost to taxpayers. How? Broadcast by then. Our kids need access to student’s personal needs. Those on no cost to taxpayers. And it can be Phone: 601-359-1100 our best teachers over the public quality education at home, state- quarantine or choosing to home- archived and utilized via the inter- www.mdac.ms.gov digital television infrastructure wide, right now. We’ve seen en- school their children would have a net, as well. We already have the already accessible by every Missis- tire school classes and grades sent daily routine of consistent instruc- infrastructure, and I am certain our Ag Museum sippi home. home for quarantine and we know tion, as well as providing new op- best teachers across the state would 601-432-4500 We enjoy living on our farm in this is likely to continue. Parents, portunities to reinforce studies for Agricultural Theft Bureau rural Mississippi, but like most teachers and students are facing the children attending in person. gladly step up to participate. 1-800-678-2660 rural Mississippians, we don’t tremendous stress and uncertainty The pedagogy and curriculum Just as important, this concept have access to high speed broad- as students are sent home for weeks can be crafted by the experts. But has the potential to present a com- Aquaculture band internet. We did the best we at a time, during this COVID pan- my vision is that every weekday, plete paradigm shift for Mississip- 601-359-1102 could during the spring COVID demic. Many parents have decided each grade has several short les- pi’s future. Even in normal times, semester, but internet-based dis- to homeschool for the first time. sons with corresponding assign- this broadcast would be the perfect Board of Animal Health tance learning is not realistic for These are just some of the reasons ments, followed by the next grade opportunity to reinforce learning 601-359-1170 most folks like us in rural Missis- I am proposing to Broadcast Mis- level, and the next. This certainly for every Mississippi child attend- Bureau of Plant Industry sippi.