Farm Lands of Hokkaido

The tourist brochures always include the flower fields seen in the Picasa photographs. Unlike so many venues in Japan there was no admission fee or parking fee. They expected sales of items in their "omiyagi" or souvenir gift shops to cover the costs of maintaining the fields. We did try the famous Yubari melons which are much like a cantaloupe, but very tasty even when the melon was quite soft. We slurped up the juice too quickly to get any photographs.
Lavender is a flower that is grown commercially in Hokkaido and is used in a variety of products.
Hokkaido grows a variety of crops including things such as corn, potatoes, buckwheat, canola, but I was a little surprised that they grow rice here as in the rest of Japan. Another unexpected crop was sugar beets which are converted to a clear sugar syrup. I suspect this syrup is the so called gum syrup used to sweeten iced coffee and other beverages in Japan.
You are also more likely to see large animals such as cattle being raised here as compared to the rest of Japan.

Click on Farm Lands Of Hokkaido to see photographs on Picasa.