His has been the first voice in alerting state officials to the benefits of farmers and ranchers supplementing their incomes by developing side businesses on their operations. Yet so far, little is being done in Utah to promote an industry that has taken hold along the East Coast and the Midwest.
When Herbst began his design company, The MAiZe, in 1996, he drew most of his knowledge from his roots, having grown up on his family's ranch in Salmon, Idaho. It wasn't long after he fashioned his first labyrinth in American Fork - drawing 18,000 people in three weeks - that farmers began contacting him for advice and help.
But it was in Tennessee, he recalls, that he began thinking seriously about agritourism, an emerging industry that has evolved as profits in agriculture have shrunk or disappeared. A young farmer had hired Herbst to design a corn maze to attract paying visitors, against the wishes of his die-hard father, who shunned the idea of trying something so fundamentally different from traditional farming.
"Then one of the visitors thanked the old guy," said Herbst. "In his whole life, no one had ever thanked him for being a farmer."
Intangibles aside, Herbst's message is that agricultural side business can help prop up farmers' financial footings. In his travels nationwide, Herbst has learned that farmers are more successful in developing attractions at their farms and ranches with the backing of state and local governments. But it takes new ways of thinking because planning and zoning regulations often are set with housing and commercial developments in mind - not agritourism.
"We've always had farmland, that's been a given," said Herbst. "Overall, there's little or nothing in place to maintain farm ground as a business enterprise because that's never been a concern."
Utah lawmakers could help by defining what agritourism is so that cities and counties could accommodate farmers and ranchers who want to set up attractions. Uniform regulations are critical because standards will be different "depending on which person you talk to at each City Hall," said Herbst.
"A farmer spending money to improve his operations for field trips and tours will probably be required to install paved parking," said Herbst. "He's out in a rural area, his farm isn't an amusement park but he'll likely fall under the same category as Lagoon."
Another obstacle is permits, which might be withheld for any reason each year when farmers turn in new applications. That uncertainty makes it financially risky to invest in long-term improvements, such as permanent restrooms in place of rickety porta-potties. Other issues that farmers cannot address alone are zoning ordinances, licensing, sales tax collection, legal liability and insurance policies.
State Senate President John Valentine said he would be reluctant to tinker with state laws that would infringe on local planning and zoning ordinances, and he's not sure what role, if any, the state should play in fostering agritourism.
Yet legislatures in other states - from Vermont to Kansas - have shown no such reluctance. It's critical that public and private agencies cooperate in helping farmers and ranchers become economically strong, said Virginia Schwarzenbach of the North American Farmers Direct Marketing Association, a trade group that has promoted agritourism in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom since 1996.
"For a start, farmers need a one-stop center just to gather information," said Schwarzenbach. "Which agency becomes the catalyst depends on the type of support system that's in place."
Herbst has made numerous presentations to the Utah Farm Bureau in hopes that leaders will lobby state lawmakers to pass uniform standards to regulate agritourism, or at least promote it. The national organization has already approved the standards concept.
Farm Bureau CEO Randy Parker says his organization is developing a policy to advance agritourism, which is scheduled for a full membership vote at the group's annual convention in November.
"We certainly value expanding the economic base for farmers and ranchers," said Parker. "Right now we're defining how we can be more of an advocate for this new industry."
The idea of agritourism brings images of mass-produced travel that attracts large numbers of travelers, which in turn, often discourages farmers and ranchers from considering the option, according to a how-to workbook developed by the Virginia Cooperative Extension. But agritourism can be viewed much like ecotourism in that attractions usually are small scale, low impact, seasonal and, in many cases, focused on education, which requires only a small crew to be successful.
For his part, Herbst has opened his own corn maze at Thanksgiving Point in the design of the Utah quarter, scheduled for circulation early next year. If past attendance figures hold true, more than 50,000 visitors will wander through this year's maze.
Herbst's next step is to contact Utah lawmakers to help fellow farmers and ranchers stay in business by developing their own attractions. It may require hundreds more hours of education. Only one of the state's 29 senators and three of the 75 representatives list their primary occupation as farmer or rancher.
"I don't know the first thing about lobbying," Herbst conceded. But a decade ago, he didn't know much about corn mazes, either.
dawn@sltrib.com
