New app will help draw tourists to county farms

  • Ralph Myers, who will be 96 in September, still runs the John Deer tractor on his farm. He served in Europe during World War II as an anti-tank gunner. He was cutting hay, and will come back to roll it later, at John C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown. Photo by Sam Jokich
    Ralph Myers, who will be 96 in September, still runs the John Deer tractor on his farm. He served in Europe during World War II as an anti-tank gunner. He was cutting hay, and will come back to roll it later, at John C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown. Photo by Sam Jokich

    Murphy – There’s an app to help promote agritourism in North Carolina, and soon local businesses will be on it.
    Sherry Raines, executive director of the Cherokee County Chamber of Commerce, went to a workshop in February where she learned about the app. Raines admitted there hasn’t been much promotion of agritourism locally, and she is excited to have the opportunity through facilitating participation in this app.
    “This will be a certain location that will connect the dots for our county,” Raines said. “It’s tremendous what it can do for our area.”
    The Visit NC Farms app allows users to select a category they are interested in, then will bring up a map or listing of every business that offers something in that category. Users may also select which region they’d like to get notifications for.
    Raines started contacting members last week about the opportunity. She expects to see the map filling in for our area in the next few weeks.
    The pilot of the app was launched in 2017 in Orange County. It has since expanded to other counties in clusters, and Raines is coordinating the expansion into Cherokee, Clay and Graham counties through the chamber. She said the chamber is more of a regional agency, with members also in surrounding counties.
    Raines has applied for grants and funding to provide the $300 a month in maintenance fees, making participation free for members. She is inviting all members who qualify to participate, plus inviting non-members to participate by first joining the chamber.
    “This will absolutely help them,” she said. “I’m excited about it.”
    Agritourism includes farms, farmers markets, wineries, and fishing and camping experiences, according to the N.C. Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services. Raines said there are about 30 chamber members that qualify as agri-tourism.