Agritourism -guests looking to do the dirty work.

Agritourism has been loosely defined as any activity or agriculturally based operation that brings a visitor to a farm or ranch. People are realizing that they have been disconnected from their food sources and  the opportunity to spend some time in a rural setting and watch and learn how their food is grown has growing appeal. When I was in charge of planning an annual Tourism Institute in the Finger Lakes, I hired Jane Eckert, of Eckert Agrimarketing, to conduct a workshop on Agritourism and packaging. It was very well received and we had several farm families join us who were not in the tourism industry – until that day. Jane held great credibility with the farmers as she is a sixth generation farmer and her family still has a working farm. She had grown her family’s business by starting out with a farm stand and built it up from there. 

The great thing about Agritourism is that it doesn’t involve a lot of capital outlay and years of development. It can only be produced and consumed in rural areas which are the areas in New York state that need the most help with Economic Development. It doesn’t have to be fancy or elegant; in fact there are a whole group of visitors out there looking to get their hands dirty.

A recent article in the NY Times Magazine titled Greener Pastures highlights this growth. I had not heard of the organization Worldwide Opportunities on Organic Farms before (www.wwoofusa.org) and found the website very informative.  Farms have listings describing their operations and what kind of help they need in exchange for room and board. My two adult sons spent one summer helping a local farmer with his hay operation and they would laugh if they knew that there are people out there looking for a chance to work 14 hour days in the July heat  stacking 50 pound bales of hay to the top of a barn! Nonetheless, people are looking for vacations that connect them back to the land and their food.

Another website, Sleepinthehay.com is a resource of listings for farm stays around the country. There are plenty of online resources to help farm businesses new to the tourism industry, including these grant opportunities from the USDA. This is a great opportunity for small tourism based businesses and family farms to partner, create some new packages and tours, and provide the chance for visitors to reconnect with their roots.