This November, Worcester County Tourism and Economic Development will take the story of Maryland’s Coast Agriculture Appreciation Week to the Maryland Agritourism Conference in Cambridge, where WCED is coordinating a panel focused on Ag Week and the partnerships that helped bring the initiative together.
The 2026 celebration included more than 40 events and experiences across Worcester County, connecting residents and visitors with local farms, orchards, horse ranches, beekeeping, hands-on activities and local seafood.
Ag Week is part of a larger effort to connect two industries that are important to Worcester County: agriculture and tourism.
People are looking for more from the places they visit. Beyond where they stay or what they see, travelers increasingly want experiences that help them understand the communities they’re visiting, meet the people behind local businesses and discover what makes a destination different.
In Worcester County, agriculture is an important part of that story.
Our county may be best known to visitors for its beaches and coastal communities, but travel west from Ocean City and the landscape quickly changes. Farms, fields, small towns and working agricultural businesses have been part of Worcester County for generations. Our waterways and coastal location add another layer through commercial fishing, seafood and a growing connection to aquaculture.
Together, they tell a much bigger story about Maryland’s Coast and the people who live and work here.
Connecting Two Important Worcester County, MD Industries
Tourism and agriculture may look like very different industries, but there is an opportunity for each to strengthen the other.
Agritourism gives farmers and producers new ways to welcome visitors, share what they do, and create additional sources of revenue. For visitors, those experiences offer something increasingly valuable: a genuine connection to the destination.
A trip to Worcester County can be more than a day at the beach. It can include walking through a local farmers market, touring a farm, learning how food is produced, attending the Blessing of the Combines, tasting something grown or harvested locally, or meeting the people whose businesses help shape our community.
Those experiences also keep visitor spending closer to home. A visitor who discovers a farm or local producer may also stop at a nearby restaurant, shop in one of our downtowns, or find another reason to return.
And it works in the other direction, too. The millions of visitors who already come to Maryland’s Coast represent an opportunity to introduce a much larger audience to Worcester County agriculture.
Giving Visitors a Fuller Experience of Maryland’s Coast
That connection is one reason Worcester County Tourism and Economic Development continues to look at ways agriculture can become a larger part of the visitor experience.
Maryland’s Coast Agriculture Appreciation Week is one example, giving residents and visitors opportunities to explore farms, orchards, horse ranches, beekeeping, hands-on activities and local seafood.
It’s an opportunity to showcase an industry that is already here while creating new reasons for people to explore parts of Worcester County they may not otherwise experience.
For our farmers and producers, it can mean new customers and greater awareness. For our tourism industry, it means more authentic experiences to offer visitors. And for Worcester County, it means telling a more complete story about why people choose to live, work, and visit here.
About the Maryland Agritourism Conference
Hosted by the University of Maryland Eastern Shore’s School of Agricultural and Natural Sciences and UMES Extension, the conference brings together agritourism operators, tourism professionals, and others interested in creating sustainable opportunities around agriculture. This year’s conference focuses on strategies that can help improve the profitability of family farms.
For Worcester County, it’s an opportunity to share what we’re learning as we continue finding ways for two industries that are so important to our community, agriculture and tourism, to build upon one another.
Maryland Agritourism Conference
November 15–17, 2026
Hyatt Regency Chesapeake Bay
Cambridge, Maryland
Learn more and register for the Maryland Agritourism Conference
