A century-old family farm in Ross, Ohio has turned one of its sunflower fields into a tribute to Dolly Parton, cutting her name, a guitar, a heart, and the titles of her best-known songs directly into the blooms. Burwinkel Farms opened the design to the public this fall, giving visitors a chance to walk the rows and take in the tribute up close.
Burwinkel Farms sits at 4359 Hamilton Cleves Road and has operated as a family produce business since 1918, now run by its third generation and known across the Cincinnati tri-state area, according to Travel Butler County. As reported by WKRC, the farm opened the sunflower field design to the public this month, with the layout featuring Parton's name alongside a guitar, a heart, and titles from her catalog of songs.
Burwinkel Farms' field displays feature intricate cutting.
Why Dolly Resonates So Deeply in Butler County
The tribute lands with extra weight locally because of Dolly Parton's Imagination Library, a free book program that reaches 14,584 children in Butler County through partnerships with the MidPointe Library System and Lane Libraries, the Oxford Free Press reports. The program's roots run especially deep in the region, since it expanded statewide across Ohio after first launching in Middletown in 2008.
That local footprint is part of a much larger reach. Dolly Parton's Imagination Library went statewide across Ohio in November 2020, while Governor Mike DeWine and First Lady Fran DeWine launched a newborn-registration initiative in 2025. Ohio reached full 88-county coverage for the program in late 2020.
A Farm With a Habit of Giving Back
The sunflower field isn't the only place Burwinkel Farms channels its acreage toward a cause. The farm's annual Sips in Sunflowers event, set for September 25 and 26, donates 100 percent of ticket proceeds to the Cincinnati-area EB Hope Foundation, which supports families fighting Epidermolysis Bullosa, per a Facebook post from the farm. The weekend event features local food and beer vendors alongside field hayrides.
The farm's Facebook account notes that $13,771 was raised during the previous season alone. It's unclear whether Burwinkel Farms plans to direct any donations toward the Imagination Library or local literacy partners alongside its existing EB Hope Foundation efforts this fall.
Part of a Bigger Boom in Ohio Agritourism
Burwinkel Farms' fall offerings arrive amid a broader surge in Ohio farm tourism. USDA data reported in October 2025 shows gross revenue from agritourism in Ohio grew 14-fold between 2002 and 2022, with participating farms earning an average of $35,797 in agritourism income in 2022, according to Midstory. Ohio posted the second-fastest agritourism income growth rate in the Midwest between 2017 and 2022.
As more farms open their fields to crowds, regulatory guidance has followed. The Ohio Farm Bureau published an updated Agritourism Guide this month to help agricultural owners manage liability, local zoning, ADA compliance, and fire codes as public farm visits expand, according to the Ohio Farm Bureau.
More Than a Photo Op Through October
The Dolly Parton field is just one piece of Burwinkel Farms' fall lineup. Fall offerings in Ross Township include two corn mazes, a Halloween scavenger hunt, u-pick pumpkin patches, and more than 20 varieties of locally grown apples, according to Travel Butler County.
Memorial and tribute sunflower fields have become something of a regional tradition in Ohio. Hoodline previously reported on an 18-acre field in Avon known as Maria's Field of Hope, which reopens annually in late August to honor a child lost to brain cancer. Sunflower fields across the state typically bloom from mid-August through September.
