There is a particular kind of satisfaction that comes from collecting something meaningful. Not stamps in a book for their own sake, but the kind of collecting that involves actual experiences — places visited, people met, things tasted and held and remembered. The Arkansas Farm Trail Passport Program is built entirely on that idea, and after a standout first year in 2025, it is back for 2026 with nearly double the farms and some genuinely impressive prizes waiting for those who complete the journey.
Linam Farm has been a part of this program since the beginning, and this year we are more prepared to welcome passport holders than ever before. With our new farm store open and products available year-round rather than only during u-pick season, anyone visiting Linam Farm as part of their Farm Trail route can stop in, make a purchase, get their stamp, and walk away with something delicious — whether blackberries happen to be in season that day or not.
Here is everything you need to know about the program, how it works, and why we think it is one of the best things happening in Arkansas agriculture right now.
What Is the Arkansas Farm Trail Passport Program?
The Arkansas Farm Trail Passport Program is an initiative run through the Arkansas Farm Bureau that invites Arkansans to visit participating farms across the state throughout the growing season. Each farm is listed in a printed passport pamphlet, and when you make a qualifying purchase at a participating farm, you receive a stamp in your passport. Collect stamps from all the farms on your route and you are eligible for the program’s prize package.
The program runs from March 28 through November 30, 2026, which means you have the better part of an entire year to work through the list at your own pace. Some people approach it as a focused mission, planning weekend farm trips with the passport as their guide. Others pick it up more casually, stopping at farms they happen to be near and watching the stamps accumulate over the course of the season. Either approach works — the program is designed to fit into real life, not require a major expedition.
Last year was the first year the program ran, and it exceeded expectations significantly. The organizers anticipated a modest response and were genuinely surprised by the enthusiasm. Of all the people who set out to collect every stamp, five participants completed the full circuit. The program had only stocked prizes for three winners, and they ended up sending prize packages to all five — because turning away someone who had visited every single farm felt wrong, and honestly, it speaks well of the people who put this together that they made that call.
This year, the program has expanded from roughly 14 participating farms to 29. That growth is a direct reflection of how well the inaugural year went and how much interest there is — from both farms and the public — in this kind of direct, experiential connection between Arkansans and the people who grow their food.
The Prizes Are Worth Talking About
The 2026 prize package for the first six participants to complete the passport is genuinely impressive. Every winner receives a sticker, a koozie, a t-shirt, and a cup — but the centerpiece of the prize package this year is something else entirely: a custom-made fire pit crafted by members of Arkansas FFA.
The Future Farmers of America is an organization that most people know by name but may not fully appreciate. FFA chapters in Arkansas high schools and colleges give young people hands-on experience in agriculture, natural resources, and related fields. These are students learning real trades — welding, animal science, horticulture, agricultural business — in programs that are frequently the most practical and career-relevant education available to them. When you hear that the fire pit prize was fabricated by Arkansas FFA members, that is not a generic craft project. That is skilled metalwork made by young people who are learning a trade and taking it seriously.
A custom fire pit from a program like that has real value, real craftsmanship behind it, and a story worth telling when you have people over. It is a prize that connects you to Arkansas agriculture in a way that goes beyond the receipt you got at the gate.
Beyond the prizes, though, there is a deeper value to completing the passport: you will have spent a season visiting 29 Arkansas farms, meeting the families who run them, understanding how they operate, and tasting what they produce. That knowledge changes your relationship to food in ways that are hard to put into words until you have had the experience yourself.
Why Farm Bureau and Why This Matters
The Arkansas Farm Trail Passport Program is organized under the umbrella of the Arkansas Farm Bureau, and it is worth taking a moment to explain what Farm Bureau actually is and why that connection is significant.
The Arkansas Farm Bureau is not primarily an insurance company, although many people know it through its insurance products. The insurance operation exists to generate the revenue that funds the Bureau’s actual mission: advocating for Arkansas farmers at the state and federal legislative level. Farm Bureau lobbyists work in Little Rock and in Washington on behalf of Arkansas agricultural producers, pushing for policies that support family farms, protect farmland, and ensure that the people who grow our food can continue to do so profitably and sustainably.
In an era when family farms are under continuous economic pressure — from large-scale industrial competitors, from fluctuating commodity prices, from climate unpredictability — having a well-funded advocacy organization in their corner matters enormously. When you join the Arkansas Farm Bureau, you are contributing to that advocacy. When you participate in programs like the Farm Trail, you are helping demonstrate to policymakers that Arkansas residents care about local agriculture and the farms in their communities.
If you are not a Farm Bureau member and you care about local food and farming, it is worth looking into. The membership does not require you to be a farmer. It requires you to care about the agricultural community in Arkansas, and participation in this passport program suggests you probably already do.
How Linam Farm Fits Into the Trail
Linam Farm is at 7111 N Hwy 71 in Alma, Arkansas, and we are listed in the Farm Trail pamphlet along with our contact information. To get your stamp at our farm, you need to make a qualifying purchase — and now that we have the farm store open year-round with a full product lineup, that is easier than ever to do on your schedule.
In previous years, visitors had to time their Linam Farm stop around u-pick season, since we did not have other products consistently available outside of when the berries were ripe. That limitation is gone. Any time we are open, you can stop in and pick up a jar of blackberry jam, a bottle of blackberry barbecue sauce, a jar of raw honey, a carton of farm-fresh eggs, or blackberry baked goods from our kitchen. Any qualifying purchase earns your stamp, regardless of whether it is June at peak blackberry season or October when the fields have gone quiet.
If you are planning your Farm Trail route and you want to combine your Linam Farm stop with a u-pick experience, check our social media before you come out to confirm what is in season and whether fields are open. Picking conditions are always weather-dependent, and we post updates regularly so you do not make the drive on a day when we have had to close the rows.
Planning Your Farm Trail Season
The Farm Trail pamphlet lists all 29 participating farms with locations and contact information. As you plan your route, a few practical thoughts:
The farms on the trail represent a wide range of what Arkansas agriculture produces — berries, vegetables, livestock, specialty crops, value-added products. Part of the experience is discovering the variety of what is grown and raised in this state, much of which never makes it to a grocery store shelf. You will taste things at these farms that you cannot buy anywhere else.
Many farms appreciate knowing you are coming, especially if you want to make sure a specific product is available. A quick phone call or message before a longer drive is always a good idea.
The season runs nearly eight months, so there is no need to rush. Spread the visits across the summer and fall and let each one be its own experience rather than treating the stamp collection as a race.
If you do complete the passport and you were among the first six to do so, reach out to the program organizers through Farm Bureau to claim your prize. The deadline aligns with the November 30 end of the program season.
The Bigger Picture
Programs like the Arkansas Farm Trail Passport matter beyond the fun of collecting stamps and winning prizes. They build the kind of direct relationship between consumers and producers that makes local food systems more resilient. When Arkansans know the faces behind their food, know the farms by name, have stood in the fields where their berries grew, they make different purchasing choices. They seek out local products at the farmers market. They call the farm instead of the grocery store. They tell their friends.
That ripple effect is significant for farms like ours. We are not competing with national brands on price or shelf space. We are competing on relationship, quality, and the irreplaceable experience of knowing exactly where your food came from and who grew it. Every person who completes the Farm Trail has had a version of that experience across 29 different farms, and they carry it with them in the way they think about food for a long time afterward.
We are glad to be part of it. We hope to see you this season.
Linam Farm is located at 7111 N Hwy 71 in Alma, Arkansas. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram for seasonal updates, store hours, and u-pick availability. Pick up your Farm Trail passport at participating farms or through the Arkansas Farm Bureau.
