Farm Tours

There’s nothing quite like experiencing a farm for yourself. Farm tours allow your visitors to taste the reality of what a day on your farm is like. Individuals can get up close and personal with your alpacas or feel what it’s really like to be on a plow. Tourists can find out what running a horse ranch is all about or how cowboys used to rope cows. Those who have enough interest to come to your farm will surely love the opportunity to truly experience it. In giving a tour of your farm, it’s important to let your visitors ask questions. You can be they will have them. Be prepared to expound on their inquiries. Don’t just answer “yes” or “no”, give them the full details and be happy they are interested enough to ask.

Don’t assume that your guests know things about your farm. Youngsters, especially, may not have a clue that maple comes out of a tree. They may think it grows on the grocery store shelf. Many people only see city life thus, visiting a farm is like going to a foreign country. It’s intriguing. They are curious. Give them all the information they want and then some.

• Be sure to include add-ins to your farm tours. Once or twice a year, offer a festival or holiday-based event. If you have a crop-based farm tour, host a shindig at harvest time and a learning class during your sewing season.
• You can venture into a whole new area with your tours too. Why not invite an artist or group of artists to set up on your land? They may even enjoy painting a masterpiece of it and then selling their artwork to those touring your land.
• Go the distance when you incorporate touring into your agritourism farm. Make a picnic area. Set up food booths. Have crafts for sale. Offer incentives that your touring visitors find special and you’ll do well.
• Touring can be organized around a central them such as wine. You can have tours conducted by bus if you have a large are, like your orchard, and can even involve some walking as well such as in the cellar. You can have a tour of your ranch where visitors can see where the horses graze and where they are trained, where they ride and even host horseback riding for those who wish to venture off the bus for some real time adventure.

Don’t forget to take a tour yourself. Drive around the property and walk it too. Look at it from the perspective of a paying guest. Is it neat and clean? Is it interesting? If it needs improvements, do it. Your efforts will pay off in the long run.

Sign up with your local tourism association to get your farm as a stop on a larger tour. There will be things you will need, like restroom facilities and good parking but it will be well worth it in order to be a part of a bigger picture. Schools and special groups may also want to tour your farm in their own vehicles. Get the word out that your business is open for such possibilities.

Don’t forget that the reason you are able to embark in an agritourism endeavor is because your farm has something special to give. Focus on that and find new and better ways to make it work...for you and for your guests. Diversify so you expand the horizons of your land. By doing these things, you maximize the potential of your land and the chances of your agritourism success.