October 14, 2011 by

Training the Trainer: FAQs in Agritourism

ATAgAgents

Do you feel comfortable handling questions farmers pose about the many details of agritourism? Do you have a file cabinet of applicable hand outs and reliable resources to draw upon? If so, then you’re set. If not, take a moment to refresh your skills.
Ag Agents Jenny Carleo and Michelle Infante-Casella talk us through FAQs to address questions you are likely to have and point out information that you will need to have on hand to answer questions frequently asked by growers adding agritourism to their enterprise.  [Read more…]

Filed Under: Agritourism, Articles, Economics, Education, Farmers-Communities
October 13, 2011 by

Farmer Agritourism Resources:
Write Your Marketing Plan

With an agritourism operation you are marketing an experience.  Study the agritourism market in your area, determine where you want to fit into that market, identify the customers you want to attract, and develop a plan for promotion of your agritourism operation.

Rutgers Bulletin E337, Marketing 101 for Your Agritourism Business, summarizes the basic principles of good marketing: the need to clearly understand and define the products being offered on your farm, approaches for developing appropriate pricing, the formulation of product placement strategies, and promotion.
This checklist gets you started.

The Market in Your Region

  • What types of agritourism activities and goods are popular or increasing in popularity?
  • What changes and developments in the agritourism market are predicted?
  • What are the going prices for activities and goods that the market has “discovered” for agritourism? Your business plan gives you an idea of your break even point for a particular activity or product – can you make a profit at the “going price”?

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Agritourism, Articles, Economics, Education, Farmers-Communities
October 12, 2011 by

Farmer Agritourism Resources:
Right to Farm & Agricultural Management Practices

New Jersey’s Right to Farm Act aims to reduce the loss of agricultural resources by limiting the circumstances under which agricultural operations may be the subject of nuisance suits and ordinances. Legally speaking, “a nuisance is a substantial interference with the right to use and enjoy land, which may be intentional, negligent or ultrahazardous in origin, and must be a result of defendant’s activity.” While recognizing the fact that there is a need to provide proper balance among conflicting interests of all lawful activities in NJ, the general intent of the act was to aid commercial farm operations. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Agritourism, Articles, Economics, Education, Farmers-Communities
October 11, 2011 by

Ag Planner, Policy-Maker Resources:
A Lifeline for Working Farms & Their Communities

It’s well established that working farms serve the public good as they are: beneficial to human health & well-being; an important component of sustainable communities; integral to conservation of natural resources & habitat; and factors in economic development & prosperity. Agritourism is a tool useful in the preservation of working farms and farmers.
[Read more…]

Filed Under: Agritourism, Articles, Economics, Education, Farmers-Communities