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The first California statewide agritourism summit will be held November 4 in Stockton, hosted by the University of California Cooperative Extension and the UC small farm program.

This conference will be a chance for farm trails groups and everyone else involved in California agritourism to share tools and strategies for supporting California farmers and ranchers in developing successful agritourism operations to meet the growing demand for local food and authentic agricultural experiences.

While California agritourism has so far been primarily organized at the county and regional level, other states have organized statewide agritourism associations. At the November summit, experts will help participants explore the relationships and benefits involved in both statewide and local/regional agritourism programs. This gathering will help newer local agritourism associations build stronger connections with more experienced groups and with supportive agricultural, tourism and community development professionals throughout the state.

“We look forward to talking with other California agritourism organizers,” said Tim Neuharth, pear grower and founding member of the new Sacramento River-Delta Grown Agritourism Association. “People from Apple Hill, Sonoma County Farm Trails and Sacramento County Farm Bureau have been very kind in helping us set up our organization. We have big plans for our fledgling group of Sacramento River Delta growers.”

Speakers include Karen Ross, secretary of the California Department of Food and Agriculture; Martha Glass, executive director of North Carolina’s highly successful Agritourism Networking Association; and representatives from the Apple Hill Growers Association.

The workshop will include regional breakout sessions for networking, discussion and planning. Participants will also take away a toolkit of practical ideas, resources, social media tools and starter projects to organize agritourism associations in their own regions.

This conference is for agritourism operators and associations; agricultural, tourism and community development professionals; county staff and officials; and others involved in California agritourism.

Registration is open now at http://ucanr.org/agtoursummit.2011.