Facility manager Jenny Landis prepares a room for guests in one of the farm's cabins.

According to Penn State rural sociologist Stanford Lembeck, population has been shifting to rural areas for nearly three decades. In 1970, 36 percent of Pennsylvanians lived in cities. That figure had dropped to 27 percent by 1990 and is still declining. Meanwhile, the population of smaller rural communities, where agriculture is likely to take place, jumped from 29 percent in 1970 to 39 percent in 1990. These small communities are attracting city folks who would like to trade high taxes, crowded malls, and frenzied lifestyles for the more leisurely pace of country living, even if it means a 60- to 90-minute commute to work. The state's three fastest-growing counties, Pike, Monroe, and Wayne, are within driving distance of New York City, while Adams, York, and Lancaster counties are only an hour's drive from Baltimore. Rural Pennsylvania also attracts people from Washington, D.C., and New Jersey.

Young guests at the Mountain Dale Farm, right, a vacation retreat near McClure in Snyder County, find all sorts of fun, including a variety of animals.

"If farmers want to be farming 25 years from now, they can't just ignore their neighbors," says Jim Shirk, agricultural services manager for the Lancaster Chamber of Commerce and Industry. "They'll have to get out in the community and teach people about the realities of modern agriculture versus some of the myths and misconceptions." Shirk's office has been particularly active in helping farmers establish special events, such as the Cherry Hill Orchard apple festival, which drew 3,500 visitors in 1996. "Farms will continue to get bigger, and rural areas will continue to be under pressure for development," Shirk explains. "The best way to deal with these conflicts is not to fight in the first place."

Many farmers who go the extra mile to find ways to get along in a changing community are finding that their public relations efforts also can boost profits. A fall picnic for neighbors can evolve into a full-fledged tourist event held at harvest time, a pick-your-own orchard operation, or even a year-round bed and breakfast business. A few farmers blessed with ideal sites have even jumped into a new enterprise known as entertainment farming (see sidebar "That's Entertainment"). "Farmers need to increase profits, and a harvest event or a pick-your-own pumpkin patch generates jobs, brings in income, and lets people see what the farm is like," says Tim Fritz, extension agent in Montgomery County. "It's a win-win situation."

Jack Coleman, owner of a 70-cow dairy farm in Lancaster County, has operated a bed and breakfast for the past eight years. Last year, he planted a huge form of crop art called The Amazing Maize Maze, which visitors can enter for a modest fee. They wend their way through 2 miles of pathways and hopefully emerge in about 30 minutes. "We have the perfect location for the maze," Coleman says. Cherry Crest Farm is bisected by the Strasburg Railroad, a short-line tourist rail attraction with a steam engine and passenger cars. "There's a picnic area right off the track, and then it's about 600 feet to the maze," Coleman explains. "This year, we're going to start a pick-your-own operation with pumpkins, mums, and popcorn in September and October."

Bed and breakfast operations are becoming a popular way to supplement farm income, and some B&B's attract enough guests to be a primary source of income. In 1987, Tom and Biz Fogie opened the Olde Fogie Farm in Lancaster County. Billed as a picture book Olde MacDonald family farm, the business attracted 200 guests that first year and more than 1,000 in 1996. The couple started out growing and marketing organic fruits and vegetables, but now grow only forage crops to feed their livestock. "The key attraction for our guests is the farm animals, so we have a big variety," says Biz Fogie. "We have goats, horses, calves, sheep, a goose, and all kinds of poultry. Our guests gather eggs in the evenings. We make sure they know they're staying on a farm and not in the Hilton. The kids love it here."

Among the attractions for guests at Lancaster County's Cherry Crest Farm is the Amazing Maize Maze, an immense form of crop art that has attracted visitors from across the country. A touring train from the Strasburg Railroad rolls by the maze daily during the tourist season, making this corn crop a cash cow.

Snyder County entrepreneur Ken Hassinger has given new meaning to the farm vacation concept. He calls his year-round Mountain Dale Farm business a vacation retreat. The 175-acre operation can accommodate large groups or solitary-minded couples seeking peace and quiet. Guest rooms are available in the farmhouse, a log house, and eight cabins. There is even a meeting hall for conferences and workshops. "It takes a much crazier individual to be a farm vacation host than a bed and breakfast owner because it's much harder work. You've got to be a hotelier and a farmer," laughs Hassinger, who grows forage crops and maintains a stand of 25,000 Christmas trees. Attractions for visitors include farm animals (sheep, goats, cattle, horses, rabbits, and poultry), hayrides, hiking, canoeing, ice skating, and campfire storytelling. "I always say people have no idea what it takes to create the serenity around here," Hassinger says.

Vacation retreats like those run by the Fogie and Hassinger families offer visitors a carefully staged experience of life in the country and an idealized picture of the traditional family farm. This peaceful, pleasant lifestyle, however, may not be what awaits urbanites fleeing the city for a home in an agricultural area. Newcomers upset by an invasion of houseflies or a picnic ruined by manure odors often don't know where to turn for assistance. To help farmers and homeowners work together to resolve conflicts, Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences has started a comprehensive program of service and research. Agricultural economist Charles Abdalla leads an extension program designed to build bridges between new and traditional residents by finding the common ground. "Homeowners who need help with their problems get frustrated because there is no neat home in a local or state agency for resolving many of these issues," Abdalla explains. "These conflicts are multidimensional, and solving just part of a problem is likely to be unsuccessful in the long run."

Abdalla and agricultural economist Tim Kelsey have proposed a collaborative conflict resolution approach for extension agents, faculty, and others to use in helping communities defuse potentially volatile issues. The model is based on the idea that everyone involved in a disagreement can develop mutually acceptable solutions if they are willing to set aside strongly held positions and meet in a fair and open forum to convey their true interests and exchange ideas. All parties must build the trust needed to work together and communicate honestly without accusatory rhetoric. "If you take a complaint to court, you have little control over the outcome, and both sides incur extensive legal fees," Kelsey explains. "The mediation approach is a more creative process in which each party has the possibility of winning."