Yesterday, I attended the all-day Agritourism workshop that was part of the West Virginia Small Farm Conference, put on by the state extension service. The rest of the conference starts today and goes through the weekend–and wouldn’t it be nice to attend all that?! But alas, I can’t afford the time away from the farm and home or the cost of the whole conference, so I went there and back in one day for the separate Agritourism session.
Agritourism is “a commercial enterprise at a working farm, ranch, or agricultural plant conducted for the enjoyment of visitors that generates supplemental income for the owner.” It encompasses many things, from fee hunting and/or fishing to pick-your-own orchards, camping, corn mazes, and just about anything you can do on a farm. Specifically in relation to my goals, it includes on-farm cooking classes and farm stays, along with other events I’m interested in providing here.
One of my main goals in attending the session was to get ideas and resources for promoting my farm because, after all, if people don’t know about what I’m offering, how will they show up? I was very pleased that one of the presentations was by WV Tourism Commissioner Betty Carver, who explained what they do in their office and how someone like little ol’ me can, for example, get a brochure in every Welcome Center in the state.
She also talked about working with your local Convention and Visitors Bureaus, and we were given really exciting (really!) mailing lists of travel organizations looking for tourism opportunities for their customers, and also a CD with another mailing list of people to contact with information about our agritourism. Another speaker, Charles Bockway, from the Cultural Heritage Tourism project also talked about getting involved in tourism itineraries. Everybody was also given a neat book called Fresh Grown Promotions filled with ideas and strategies for promoting your agritourism events.
So–yay! That was a total score and worth the trip just to get that one thing I was looking for–ideas and resources to “sell” my agritourism. And if you’re reading this and interested in this same kind of thing, start by contacting your local/state tourism offices and your local/state extension agency. (People have started emailing me asking me for advice about getting started in agritourism. Yikes! I’m barely starting myself. This is the best advice I can give you because it’s different wherever you are and for whatever you’re doing–start by finding the local/state resources in your area. Who knows, there might be an agritourism workshop coming up near you! I wouldn’t have known about this one if I hadn’t gone to my county extension agent, sat down with her to explain what I was trying to do, and she whipped out a brochure for this workshop and said, “You should go to this.”)
Note: The Fresh Grown Promotions book isn’t easy to find, but I found the author’s website here where you can also find other materials about building an agritourism business on your farm. I also found the book used (for less) on Amazon here
My other goal for the day was to get ideas about things I could do on my farm that I haven’t thought of yet and to hear other people’s experiences. This was also a score. One of the speakers was Hugh McPherson, who created an entire Maze Fun Park at his Pennsylvania farm, and even franchises his “Maize Quest” corn maze business for other farms. Talk about turning a farm into an empire! He was an awesome speaker, too, by the way. Very entertaining. He gave several talks about making goals for your farm, managing people, and advertising strategies. Other speakers included: this really super cute young couple (Josh and Rachelle Hedrick) from Smokehole, where they offer fee fishing and log cabin rentals at Seneca Rocks, WV; Donna Alt from Brookdale Farm in Fort Ashby, WV, where they do a corn maze, pumpkin patch, playground, birthday parties, and all kinds of other things (I can’t find a website for them and it wasn’t on her business card either, so they need to fix that!); Mike Perry from Heritage Farm Museum and Village; Dean Hardman from the Farmstead at Jackson’s Mill, which is actually operated by the WVU extension service not an individual, but–they offer a lot of activities that anyone could also offer on their farm like gardening, candlemaking, soapmaking, etc, and he gave an interesting talk about how he has worked to get schools and children involved; and Melissa Stewart, who works with the state extension service, and gave a really fun presentation about the Junior Master Gardeners program.
She had everyone participate in some hands-on kids activities from the Junior Master Gardening program, which was fun.
By the way, this is Merino Mama (on the left) that some of you may know from the Chickens in the Road forum. She was making a “suck-a-bug” small insect collector.
I got to meet her at the Agritourism workshop. She owns Tawney Farm, conveniently located in the Gauley River Gorge, where they offer primitive camping and a live music venue on their farm.
The lady on the left in the photo with Merino Mama is wearing one of the garden “sombreros” that is a Junior Master Gardener project for kids to teach them about making wearable art that comes from a plant. (The newspaper, from a tree, and then in real life in a real garden they could decorate them with flowers, leaves, etc.) People looked like this when they were making them:
Anyway, I was very interested in the information about children’s gardening programs as I would like to make a “teaching garden” here. Recently, I inhaled Mel Bartholomew’s All New Square Foot Gardening
She had another very simple project that works perfectly with square foot gardening and is a way to teach kids in a very visual way about plant spacing by letting them space and glue seeds on paper towels (which can then go into the garden).
There were about 25 attendees at this workshop, all of them doing all sorts of different things, from fee hunting to pick-your-own farms and petting zoos to even an orchard and small distillery. There are so many ways to start a business with your farm! For everyone I listened to and spoke to, the one thing that was the same within all the different ways they utilize their farms was the desire to stay on the farm. It’s difficult to make a living in traditional farming. Pretty much, you have to be a major operation. The world is all about mass farming now. But smaller family farms can do things those mass farms can’t do–bring people into the atmosphere of a family farm, teach them old-fashioned skills, give them personal attention and one-on-one experiences in a vanishing lifestyle–and at the same time, save that lifestyle from vanishment. Agritourism truly is the salvation of the family farm today for those who are determined to hang onto their land, think outside the box of traditional farming, and open the doors to bring people in to learn, share, and experience.
I came home feeling really excited about the possibilities on my farm, filled with new ideas and resources to make it successful. I walked in the door and Morgan said, “There’s some puppy poop in the kitchen.”
Man. Is it too late to go back to Morgantown for the rest of the conference?
Barbee says:
Suzanne, thank you for such a complete report on such an important subject. I was concerned for you and others returning home in what was treacherous weather here and heading your way. Terrible tornadoes. Hopefully it played itself out before it hit your place and your travels. A bit of puppy poop would be nothing to a lost barn or such. Your report is exciting!
On March 1, 2012 at 10:35 am
Suzanne McMinn says:
The weather was very bad on the way home! Very hard rain, could barely see on the interstate sometimes, and we saw several accidents.
On March 1, 2012 at 10:38 am
wildcat says:
The agritourism conference sounds like it was amazing! I am excited and inspired just from your description. And I live in a subdivision. LOL I’m glad you got to attend.
I know the Perrys from Heritage Farm. They are the sweetest people.
On March 1, 2012 at 10:48 am
Ramona Slocum says:
What a wonderful experience you had. It amazes me that you keep finding out about more and more ways to utilize your farm. We are so happy you can share it with us.
MN Mona
On March 1, 2012 at 10:52 am
quinn says:
Thanks for that report! It is wonderful (and rare) that a workshop delivers as much as this one did! And now you’ve got lots of ideas and directions and resources…cool!
On March 1, 2012 at 11:10 am
twiggityNDgoats says:
Sounds like it was well worth the trip and that the possibilities are pretty diverse. Things are finally coming together all at the right time. Your hard work and persistence is paying off!
On March 1, 2012 at 11:28 am
UlrikeDG says:
You can make mazes out of plants other than corn. I live in Iowa, where Corn is King, but I know of at least one Prairie Maze nearby.
On March 1, 2012 at 12:22 pm
bonita says:
So glad your one-day conference was well worth your time and money. You did pass around your ‘business’ cards, yes? Maybe in a year or two, when you have a few part-time employees, you’ll be able to attend the entire conference…Heck, maybe you’ll be one of the speakers…I can SO see that. Also very glad the weather did not throw you off track. (don’t forget the dog herding opportunities or even tracking trials for the city folk near you)
On March 1, 2012 at 12:35 pm
Leck Kill Farm says:
People go nuts for thos corn maze things. (As a country girl, I cannot understand the appeal….)
There are a number of places around where I live that seem to run some successful agri-tourist type of ventures. Do you have an email address I could send links to? (I don’t like to post my geographic location publicly)
On March 1, 2012 at 1:41 pm
Leck Kill Farm says:
Nevermind, I found your email on the contact page! sending links your way
On March 1, 2012 at 1:45 pm
roosterrun says:
Suzanne, I don’t know why I didn’t think of this before. Silly me. You should check out Sweet Apple Farm in Vincent, Ohio. I think the website is sweetapplefarm.com. It is only open to the public a few months but to schools, preschools etc in the off season. It is a teaching farm, from different animals to crops, they have a few goats that can be fed(you get the feed out of a bubble gum looking machine for 25cents). They have a barn with plywood cows with 5 gallon buckets made to look like udders so you can try your hand at milking. I didn’t know about it when my kids were small but we took them at 18 and 20 and we had a great family day. Good picnic area, they have pits with fires in them in the fall and sell 2 graham crackers a marshmallow and a piece of chocolate in a zip loc bag so you can make your own smores. They had herb and medicinal gardens. You might be able to find out more on line. It is just a few minutes from Parkersburg. Have fun if you decide to check them out. I recommed it to anyone with little people. They have pumpkin painting and you can make your own scarecrow too. Absolutely awesome and I could see you doing this.
On March 1, 2012 at 4:21 pm
Murphala says:
This is going to be quite an undertaking, but sounds so fun! Glad the conference was beneficial.
I don’t know why but I thought that the farm with the live music venue sounded like a good idea. You could have an annual concert and call it “Chickenstock”. 😆
On March 1, 2012 at 6:43 pm
Suzanne McMinn says:
Murphala–Chickenstock! I LOVE THAT.
On March 1, 2012 at 6:52 pm
Peggy in KY says:
I love Chickenstock also! Suzanne I am so glad your day was productive for you and the others attending. It looked like being a kid again making hats etc. was fun. I have never seen the small bug collector, that was interesting. I know your problem now will be to find things for each season to bring in a continuous income.
On March 1, 2012 at 10:06 pm
liz2 says:
Enjoyed learning about your day. Useful information, ideas, contacts & inspiration for you. So worth the cost & long drive.
On March 1, 2012 at 11:40 pm
whaledancer says:
Suck a BUG???!!!
On March 1, 2012 at 11:48 pm
CarrieJ says:
I don’t want to learn about Agritourism, but I can’t wait until YOU do! We are already planning our trip out there to stay the weekend and do some activities on your farm. My husbands family lives in Ford City PA so we are going to kill a bunch of birds with one flight accross country. Yipeee!!!!
On March 2, 2012 at 8:26 pm
JerseyMom says:
Woohoo!! Sounds like you had an awesome time filled with great ideas to use as springboards for your own. Love the Chickenstock idea!! Here in south Jersey we have lots of farms and the corn maze in king in the fall. Some places provide pumpkin picking too…and bonfires with s’mores in ziplocs to boot. Soooo many things to think about and explore!! Yay!
Sorry about the puppy poop…btdt…too many times!
On March 2, 2012 at 10:45 pm
mackenzie93 says:
Reading about the corn maze reminded me that a local (and large) farm stand sets up a big playground for the kids made out of hay bales each year. They don’t charge for it (it’s more of a draw for the produce), but it’s always busy. There are little tunnels and places for children to wiggle through. Very cool.
On March 3, 2012 at 12:12 pm
jamitysmom says:
Hi Suzanne! Sounds like the day was well spent learning more things to do with your farm. I’m sending a link to a wonderful farm here in Massachusetts that has really done so much more than “farming”. I hope you get a chance to check out their website, it’s full of information. Smolak Farms in Andover, MA has pumpkins, hayrides, fruits and vegetables, they have duck races (?), a summer farm food fest, American Girl parties, Nature & Craft programs, Gingerbread House Workshops, and on Wednesday nights during the summer there is “Whim, the Restaurant at Smolak Farms” which features some of Boston’s most acclaimed chefs. This farm has a great marketing department! They were written up in “Edible Boston” magazine too! Check it out! 😆
Jan
On March 4, 2012 at 8:28 pm
jamitysmom says:
Oops! Forgot the link 😉 Here it is: https://www.smolakfarms.com/
Jan
On March 4, 2012 at 8:35 pm
wvfarm2u says:
HI! There is also the WVFarm2u part of the Collaborative for 21st Century Appalachia. Perhaps you spoke with Allen Arnold at the meeting also. Anyway, I am Beth Rankin and I write a blog to get the word out to consumers. I am not a farmer but I am a consumer excited that there is more available that I first thought when I moved to West Virginia 5 years ago. If you would like me to visit your farm to feature you on the blog, let me know. Check out the blog and subscribe and we are also on facebook.
On March 25, 2012 at 4:37 pm