The GOTCORN license tag on his pickup greatly understates what Brad Milton offers on his Harford County farm.
The store at Brad's Produce in Churchville is stocked with fresh vegetables, herbs and fruits, all manner of flowers and Brad's special fertilizer and potting soil. It also carries honey, jellies, pickles, relish and tomato sauce, all made with items grown in the surrounding fields and greenhouses.
The man just named Harford County's most innovative farmer does not come from generations of those who till the land for a living. Milton grew up in a Harford County neighborhood near Bel Air, but he planted vegetables in the backyard from the time he was 8.
And now, at 35, he is tending nearly 200 acres, cashing in on the agri-tourism trend with corn and straw mazes, hayrides, school tours and a tile labyrinth, and trading on the buy-local trend that makes homegrown products so appealing to shoppers.
"People want to come out to the country and walk across a farm," he said. "This farm has a great story to tell, and that's why agri-entertainment works."
Milton has built a loyal customer base by selling fresh, locally grown items and letting people get to know the farmer who grew it.
The preference for buying local has shot up nearly 77 percent in the past year, according to a survey by the Schaefer Center for Public Policy at the University of Baltimore. Nearly 80 percent of the respondents said they have shopped at farmers' markets and roadside stands.
"There is a real trend among consumers who want to deal directly with producers, and it is having an impact on Maryland agriculture," said Mark Powell, chief of marketing at the Maryland Department of Agriculture.
Ginger Myers, regional marketing specialist for the University of Maryland Cooperative Extension Service, who toured Milton's farm last year, called him an ag entrepreneur who understands his customer mix and the desire to buy direct.
"He is doing a great job taking the pulse of his customers and stocking to match what they want," she said. "When you are shopping for food, you buy with your eyes. Brad Milton understands that. He knows how to make a pleasing look, and he is right out on the road with it."
Milton said his success is based on word-of-mouth, customer relations and direct marketing - he mailed 10,000 postcards in April to let customers know the farm had reopened for the season.
