May 12—TRAVERSE CITY — Farmers are bolstering their online sales activities and investments with value-added products to improve the bottom line, Jack King and his wife, Courtney, said at a recent agritourism summit in Traverse City.

The Kings, who are second-generation fruit growers at King Orchards in Antrim County, spoke about navigating the changes and challenges of the agritourism sector.

They were among a group of featured speakers at Michigan's inaugural Agritourism Summit at Northwestern Michigan College's Hagerty Center. The two-day summit included events that highlighted the industry and showcased some of the Grand Traverse region's top agriculture-related tourism destinations..

Gary Smith and Josh Hall, co-owners of Leelanau Cheese, emphasized the importance of working with other agritourism operations to help everyone succeed.

Smith and Hall purchased the award-winning business from founders John and Anne Hoyt, who opened the destination cheese shop south of Suttons Bay almost 30 years ago.

"We benefit greatly from our adjacent industries," Hall said, specifying the importance of the region's wine industry to the cheese shop's success. "We all benefit from this shared thing ... it really is about community connections."

But the economic health of the agritourism sector also depends on the sustainability of Michigan's agricultural sector, which is facing numerous challenges, according to Nikki Rothwell who's the coordinator of the Northwest Michigan Horticultural Research Center in Bingham Township.

Some of those hurdles include increasing land prices, development pressures from residential interests, labor shortages, climate change and the aging of Michigan's farm operators, which now averages 57.5 years old.

"These are the kinds of things that are influencing our growers," Rothwell said. Effective diversification strategies, better succession planning and technology upgrades can help stem those trends, she said.

The summit was sponsored by Michigan State University Extension Service and several local businesses and tourism-related organizations.

Activities included a sold-out pre-summit Farm Tour on Tuesday that featured some of the Grand Traverse area's most-popular agritourism destinations, including Jacob's Farm and its renowned corn maze along M-72, Leelanau County's 9 Bean Rows Farm, Leelanau Cheese and Tandem Ciders.

Other discussions included an overview of Michigan's Right to Farm Act, panels on addressing local land-use and zoning issues and navigating state and federal farming regulations, and financial resources available to assist farmers and agritourism operations.

The keynote address was delivered by Suzi Spahr, executive director of the North American Farmers' Direct Marketing Association.