Agritourism Generates Fresh Money for Many Farms

"My dream growing up was to become a farmer just like my dad and my granddad," says Jake Carter, whose family has worked the same red, Georgia clay for five generations.

By the early 2000s, that dream was surrounded by 177,000 non-farming neighbors. Southern Belle Farm, tucked in Henry County, just 30 miles south of Atlanta, was quickly becoming an island in one of the state's fastest-growing suburbs. Developers came calling.

"We sat down at the table and thought, 'What can we do with this land that we've been blessed with?'"

Instead of dreading the encroachment of Atlanta, the family decided to embrace it. "We opened the gates of the farm to agritourism," Carter says. "This wasn't the easiest option, but it is the most fulfilling and rewarding."

Agritourism is a small but valuable niche within U.S. agriculture, offering the opportunity for high-value income diversification and new avenues for family employment.

FRESH MONEY

USDA calls revenue from agritourism "fresh money." In its 2022 Census of Agriculture, USDA found that agritourism generated $1.26 billion in income that year (the category includes pick-your-own food, hayrides and petting zoos), an increase of 12% from 2017. About 1.5% of U.S. farms -- 28,617 out of 1.9 million farms -- reported agritourism income in 2022, earning on average $44,000 per operation.

On-farm employment created by agritourism businesses is not tracked nationally, but surveys often cite new on-farm employment, especially for younger family members, as an important reason for creating these ventures.

Agritourism businesses are most often managed by women. California, Colorado, Michigan, New York, North Carolina, Ohio and Texas boast the highest concentration of agritourism operations. Generally, agritourism businesses are clustered around the urban and suburban population centers that provide a solid customer base.

USDA's 2022 Census found that farms under 50 acres saw strong growth in both the number of agritourism operations and receipts compared to the 2017 Ag Census. Very small farms, fewer than 10 acres, reported receipts rising 137.2% between 2017 and 2022. Large farms, with more than 2,000 acres, reported agritourism income of $251.7 million -- $43 million more than in 2017 -- yet there were 550 fewer large-farm agritourism operations.

INVEST WISELY, REFINE FOCUS

Agritourism startups are not cheap. Costs range from $50,000 to $500,000-plus for restrooms, kitchens, designed activities (such as corn mazes or pumpkin patches), liability insurance, staffing, marketing and ongoing maintenance. Parking? Southern Belle Farm has 16 acres of it.

Carter says his family adopted a conservative approach. "We learned to quit chasing all these things we thought would work and focus on things we are good at," he says, adding the farm stopped hosting weddings after realizing visitors were primarily coming for hands-on farm experiences like you-pick strawberries.

Southern Belle Farm focuses on four business pillars: you-pick fruits and flowers, attractions like the wagon rides, food and beverages, and a retail market featuring local goods. "We had a sense that there was a yearning to get back to the farm, and we realized that everything we do needs to focus around that," Carter says.

Today, Southern Belle Farm taps into a market of 6 million people living in the greater Atlanta area. The farm not only draws 500,000 guests a year, including 40,000 schoolchildren, but keeps the Carter family's farming dream alive.

MAKE MEMORIES

When Lucas Dull left his family's Thorntown, Indiana, farm for Purdue University, he did not intend to return. He graduated with an agricultural engineering degree and met his future wife, Dana, there. She grew up on a corn, soybean and livestock farm two hours east of Dull and earned a bachelor's degree in math education.

Lucas had a short run with a nine-to-five job but soon realized a desk was not where he wanted to spend his professional life.

"Pretty early on dating Lucas, I knew he had the mindset of agritourism and a vision and mission of adding pumpkins to his family farm," Dana says.

He heard the call of his family's farm, at that time predominately a corn and soybean operation with a growing Christmas tree business -- Dull's Tree Farm -- operated by his father and mother, Tom and Kerry.

Lucas offered a proposal to return home.

"We were surprised," Tom says. "Lucas never gave us any indication he wanted to come back. And, our first thought was, 'How are we going to afford to bring him on?'"

Lucas had been mulling that over. "Well," he told his parents, "Let's grow pumpkins."

Lucas and Dana soon settled near the Dull family farm, which is about an hour north of Indianapolis. Their first pumpkin harvest was in 2014. Only five years later, the 20-day fall season, anchored by pumpkins, began to outperform the four-week Christmas tree season.

Income from the two enterprises together allowed Lucas and Dana to fully employ themselves and pursue a major transition. "The fall agritourism and Christmas tree business became large enough that we were able to get out of traditional row-crop farming in 2019 and fully focus our time and energy on the agritourism," Lucas says. The family's row-crop enterprise is leased to Tom's nephew. Dana and Lucas manage the agritourism operation.

Dull's Tree Farm has become a powerful agricultural and retail draw, bringing in 80,000 visitors annually who move among 45 activities. Its 2,400-square-foot Trading Post is a busy retail hub that sells ornaments, local fare and the farm's own fudge. Eight acres produce 40 varieties of pumpkins and squash. Vendors sell Christmas items and other wares. This year, the Dulls added a springtime Merry May Market.

The Dulls tend 65,000 Christmas trees and sell 6,000 annually. It was voted the 2018 Best Christmas Tree Farm in Indiana by Good Housekeeping. "Even if a visitor doesn't leave with a tree, we want them to experience the farm and create memories," Dana says.

The No. 1 focus for Dull's Tree Farm is sustainability. "We try to intentionally not grow too fast. We are selling an experience. If growth is too fast, the experience suffers," Lucas explains.

Food is an important income feature of the Dull farm, accounting for 20 to 25% of revenue. The "super slushy" -- an apple cider slushy with whipped topping and a farm-made apple cider donut on top -- is a top food item. The Dulls recently added Dutch stroke waffles, or stroopwafel, a popular Dutch cookie. The farm's donuts are popular, too. "We sell a donut per visitor on average," Lucas says.

"Our mission statement here is creating memorable experiences through excellent service," Dana adds.

PICTURE THIS

Rachel Long and her husband, Matt, were both raised on farms. They purchased property in 2013 near Scottdale, Pennsylvania, with plans to raise hay and cattle, and sell beef direct to consumers in quarters, halves and wholes. Full time, Rachel is a teacher, and Matt is a machinist.

Beef was only the beginning, they found. What became Autumn Ridge Farm now features seasonal festivals, rural and rustic photography sessions, animal encounters and youth camps.

"Our Highland cows are a big attraction," Rachel says. "We do a lot of events with the Highland cows -- what we call 'Highland Hangouts.' People just come and brush the cows and pet the cows, take photos with the cows, lay in the grass and snuggle the cows. They're pretty chill. People love them."

Photography has become a valuable venue for Autumn Ridge Farm.

"What began as a family photo session with our twins and some Holstein calves turned into a whole agritourism business," Rachel explains. The Longs shared those photos on social media and were soon fielding bushels of requests from people asking for time in those same beautiful settings. That heartfelt demand led the Longs to convert the top of their barn into a dedicated studio space that's refreshed according to the season; build themed sets like a greenhouse, gazebo, antique truck and cabin; and grow sunflower and wildflower fields that pair perfectly with the sunset in the background.

Rachel does not produce the photography. Instead, visitors bring their own camera or photographer to the farm's photo venues and pay Autumn Ridge Farm a sitting fee for use of their rural sets. Families pay $42 for their own sitting. Photographers pay $75 an hour to host their own photo sessions.

Rachel has no count of visitors to the farm, only that "thousands" have visited. The business plan for Autumn Ridge Farm is straightforward. One day, the Longs dream of pursuing the agritourism business full time.

"So many people are just so far removed from farm life in our area," Rachel says. "And, there aren't too many places that you pet animals, learn about animals, how to care for them. Hands-on is what we offer."

TULIPS FOR CORN

Donnell Century Farm, in Jackson, Tennessee, dates back to 1826. It is a commercial farm -- corn, soybeans and cotton until 2019 -- paired today with a farm "adventure" experience.

It is changing. The commercial-crop portion of the farm is leased to another farmer. "None of the commodities are working well when I put a pencil to it," says Andrew Donnell, explaining the reason for the move. Donnell is a seventh-generation farmer and the youngest son of Rose Ann McCallum Donnell. The two manage the farm and adventure.

Letting go of the crops business frees Donnell to focus on the agritourism side -- Donnell Century Farm Adventure -- with its 30 attractions and his Farm Market's butcher shop, which sells beef cuts directly to consumers.

"We're now the last person to touch the beef," he says. "And, typically speaking, the last person who touches it is the one who makes the most amount of money."

The challenge in consumer beef sales is, "you need to move a lot of volume, and that's one of our reasons for slowing down on the crop road. We want to do a better job structurally with [agritourism businesses]."

Networking among others in the agribusiness community is important to Donnell for generating business ideas on which he puts his own spin. "We saw the tulips really seemed to start working well for friends across the country. I thought the tulips would line up well with Easter."

Donnell planted 100,000 tulips, the cup-shaped blooms and slender stems, to build a different clientele. "Older customers, moms and daughters. We want to provide a place like your grandparent's farm where you feel welcome. Take pictures. Make some fantastic memories."

Fall is the most important time of the year. Visitors enjoy the challenges of a corn maze, harvest the pumpkin patch, glide down zip lines and more.

"Food sales are about a third of gross. Much of that is beef," Donnell says. "Our butcher shop does shine." Donnell Century Farm offers its own smoked beef barbecue, plus other offerings such as freshly fried nachos topped with queso blanco, donuts, kettle corn, farm-made fudge and apple cider.

"This has all grown, and I've changed with it," Donnell says. Opportunity will continue to drive the change. "Is it what I want Donnell Century Farm Adventure to be, what I'm comfortable with, what I have the aptitude for? Ultimately, we reach back to our original plan of connecting people with their roots."

Agritourism is not the same as traditional crop and livestock farming, yet it answers to many of the same hard demands. It may bring "fresh money" into the business, but it offers no lighter load of labor and no relief from stress. It is farming still, but by another means.

On a sweltering August day in Georgia, Jake Carter, of Southern Belle Farm, stretched plastic mulch over raised strawberry beds -- the kind of work that makes a man wonder, once more, what it's all worth.

"I reflect back to my forefathers that raised crops there out of that dirt. It was cotton and row crops, and then went to dairy. When I think about tough days like we had yesterday, certainly it can be draining; but it pales in comparison to those crop years, to the drought years, the things that they went through to sustain and continue that farm. We're blessed that we are still part of that time."

Sidebar:

STRATEGIES FOR SUCCESS:

Suzi Spahr, executive director of the NAFDMA International Agritourism Association in Indianapolis, offers a few guidelines for agritourism businesses.

-- Know your audience. What are the interests of your customer base? If you have developed your farm as an educational farm, you're more likely to attract families or school groups. If you have an amazing sunflower field experience, you're more likely to have couples.

-- Know your land. If you can't grow apples, putting in a you-pick apple orchard may not be the best choice.

-- Be a promoter. Your website should be easy to navigate and able to accept payment for tickets and merchandise. Ask hotels and local restaurants to display brochures. Promote yourself through local tourism boards, chambers of commerce and media.

-- Know the law. Zoning and health codes apply to you, too. State laws protect owners against inherent risk but do not exempt negligence.

-- Insure your risk. The typical farm policy does not cover agritourism. Checking in with your insurance agent is key.

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FOR MORE INFORMATION

Here are five agritourism resources:

-- USDA's Agritourism Directory: https://www.ams.usda.gov/…

-- NAFDMA International Agritourism Association is an association of entrepreneurial farm families that invite the public onto their farms. Peer-to-peer networking: https://www.nafdma.com/…

-- Agritourism Resource Manual: https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/…

-- The MAiZE. This design and service business has 6,000 mazes under its belt since its founding in 1996 -- 300 mazes this year: https://themaize.com/…

-- National Agricultural Library. This agritourism page offers legal overviews, videos and funding info: https://www.nal.usda.gov/…

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