West Central Reporter

State Representative Randy Frese recently highlighted the growth of agricultural tourism in Illinois, stating, "Agricultural tourism is booming, and Illinois farmers are in position to benefit," in a Facebook post made in September.

"Agricultural tourism is booming, and Illinois farmers are in position to benefit. Agritourism presents opportunities, challenges for Illinois farmers," said Randy E. Frese, according to Facebook.

According to Frese's post, he shared a link to an Advantage News report that discussed the 2022 Census of Agriculture results. The census indicated that agritourism and recreational services increased to approximately $1.26 billion from 2017 to 2022. Bryan Endres, Professor of Food and Agricultural Law at the University of Illinois, commented on this development: "A lot of research done by the USDA’s Economic Research Service has shown that the most successful agritourism operations need to have some proximity to large population centers, and we have that in Illinois."

Screenshot of State Representative Randy Frese's Sept. 27 Facebook post. | State Representative Randy Frese's Facebook page

Leisure Group Travel provides a list of agritourism opportunities for residents and visitors across various regions such as Bloomington-Normal, Champaign County, Decatur, Danville, Effingham, Greenville, among others. In Bloomington-Normal, attractions include Rader Family Farms, Epiphany Farms, and Ropp Cheese; while Champaign County offers orchards and pumpkin patches like Prairie Fruits Farm and Creamery and Hardy’s Reindeer Ranch.

The Advantage News article also noted that since 2002, Illinois has offered a tax credit for Agritourism Liability Insurance. This credit covers $1,000 of liability premiums paid by operators of agritourism businesses each tax year. Endres elaborated on this point: "It can be a really nice opportunity to revitalize rural economies (and) provide labor opportunities for local residents because you need to have people on the farm to take care of these visitors. That’s another thing that we’re looking at here at the University of Illinois. How do you do risk management? Managing risk on a production farm is one thing, but if you’re going to be inviting people in there, there’s the potential for injuries. What sort of insurance products do you have or how do you just minimize the risk?"

Frese was elected as a representative for the 99th district in 2015. Raised on his family's farm in rural Illinois, he has been married to his wife Ronda for over three decades and they have three daughters: Laura Jana and Sara. Frese is also a small business owner and served as Adams County Circuit Clerk for eight years.