Progress report for SNE24-014-WV
Project Information
At the end of this project, 25 agricultural (agritourism) service providers (ATSPs) will gain practical knowledge and skills needed to design, develop and deliver agritourism training programs for their producers that are starting, expanding or modifying their agritourism operations. Ten (10) of these ATSPs will implement one (1) training event each, reaching at least eight (8) producers each (80 total producers reached). Ten (10) of these agricultural service providers will use this information, and work together to design, develop and deliver four (4) "regional agritourism clusters/trails" throughout WV, involving at least ten (10) producers per cluster/trail (40 total farms).
Forty (40) producers managing about 400 acres will adopt at least four (4) recommended actions in agritourism whole-farm planning and risk management, and report improvements to their new, expanded or modified agritourism operations. Examples of improvements include increased revenue from admission fees or sale of value-added products; improved cash flow; increased visitors; or new partnerships formed because of joining clusters/trails.
Community Engagement
Agritourism in the U.S. is gaining traction as a sustainable model for enhancing farm viability and sustainability by creating significant economic, environmental, and socio-cultural benefits for farms and local communities. As consumer demand for farm-to-table connections grows and traditional production economics push producers to explore farm diversification and differentiation, agritourism represents a flexible farm diversification strategy for producers to increase farm revenue by adding value to their products. Further, agritourism on working farms can serve as an “ambassador” for agriculture, through farm-based education, thereby growing a “culture of agricultural literacy” and closing the farm-to-consumer disconnect.
West Virginia (WV) is uniquely positioned to capitalize on agritourism opportunities having the highest family farms/capita in the nation and a traditional tourism product rooted in agrarian heritage and nature-based recreation. Yet, many WV agritourism operators still lack the holistic business skill set, incorporating both production and hospitality-oriented mindsets, to benefit from this viable opportunity. Further, many counties have very few, if any, trained Agritourism Service Providers (ATSPs) with the appropriate skill set to adequately assist producers in this new venture. There remain many regions where producers are underserved because of a general lack of understanding of and support for agritourism as a crucial farm diversification strategy.
A 2020 US survey of 1,834 agritourism operators showed that agritourism operators need support to develop agritourism operations in ways that benefit farm viability, community vitality, environmental stewardship, and agricultural literacy. Seventy-six percent (76%) of survey respondents identified business-planning and risk-management as important to a successful operation. Similarly, a 2018 WVU Extension needs-assessment survey for agribusiness owners identified a continuous business-planning and risk-management education program as essential to helping agritourism stakeholders successfully navigate the everchanging landscape of agritourism consumer demand and being able to manage changing local regulations affecting agritourism. WV ag-statistics and dialog with grassroots partners and industry stakeholders also confirm a three-fold increase in agritourism operations from 2010-2020, but underscore that agritourism operators need expanded support in coordinating community agritourism efforts to help market "localness"/"regional identity", and manage financial and geographic risks.
This project will provide whole-farm planning and risk-management training and support to 25 agritourism service providers working with agritourism operations in WV, to empower them to help producers implement sustainable agritourism diversification strategies to complement viable agricultural operations, earn a livable wage, and address the opportunities and challenges of farming in the 21st century. To this end, this project will develop a “Holistic Agritourism Training Toolbox”, provide ATSPs professional development, and provide mentoring, community ‘clustering’ partnerships and networking opportunities to support these ATSPs who collectively serve 100+ agritourism operators. Our efforts will help WV agritourism operators improve the viability and sustainability of their operations, and the development of the local agritourism sector through comprehensively addressing the following crucial interlinked issues - strengthening rural agribusiness productivity and creativity, building agribusiness and tourism entrepreneurial partnerships, promoting sustainable agriculture and tourism, and encouraging agribusiness and rural community.
This project expands WVUES' legacy of growing ‘visitor-ready’ operations to generate income from agritourism, bolster agricultural sales, diversify product lines and markets, and allow customer feedback, which helps grow profitable agritourism operators and viable rural communities, and keep dollars circulating in our local economies. The expanded education and networking opportunities will help build strategic agritourism partnerships, harness community synergies and foster linked prosperity. The formation of the WV Agritourism Association will strengthen the stakeholder network in advocating for a supportive ecosystem for long-term sustainability and viability of the agritourism sector. Moreover, a skilled cadre of diverse agritourism service providers will provide long-term targeted local support for agritourism operators (producers, processors, landowners) and related businesses in their local communities as they confront the complex risks related to diversifying into agritourism.
Moreover, this project expands the spectrum of traditional agritourism topics by putting into practice the transformative educational framework of “the agritourism entrepreneurial ecosystem/value-chain”, a professional development methodology for ATSPs based on these core principles: quadruple-bottom-line objectives (environmental, economic, cultural, and socio-economic); participatory learning and peer-to-peer knowledge sharing; cross-cultural and cross-constituent dialog; value-chain development in sustainable agriculture and food systems; and network collaboration with a wider spectrum of agritourism "value-chain" stakeholders.
This project will specifically address DEIJ issues in agritourism from both the demand (public-facing or consumer) side and the supply (producer/agritourism operators and ATSPs) side by building and strengthening relationships with BIPOC communities. We will work to increase the capacity of ATSPs to recognize and meet the needs of BIPOC and other underserved communities/agritourism operators in developing viable and sustainable agritourism initiatives including BIPOC (USDA socially disadvantaged), women, beginning farmers, veterans, and limited resource farmers. Likewise, we will increase the capacity of ATSPs to recognize and help agritourism operators respond to the needs of BIPOC visitors participating in agritourism activities within WV.
Project Team
Doolarie Singh-Knights, WVUES - Project Leader (Role: Coordinate the overall project; lead workshop design and development; recruit appropriate presenters and collaborators; market the program to appropriate audiences; build and support online project activities; contribute to educational training programs; and lead project evaluation efforts).
Evan Wilson, WVUES - Project Team Member (Role: Assist with overall coordination of the 3-year project; assist with workshop design and development; assist with curriculum development for all modules, help recruit appropriate presenters and collaborators; market the program to appropriate audiences; help build and support online project activities; contribute to educational training programs; lead website efforts and social media projects and assist with project evaluation efforts).
Candace DeLong, WVUES - Project Team Member (Role: Assist with overall coordination of the 3-year project; assist with workshop design and development; assist with curriculum development for all modules, help recruit appropriate presenters and collaborators; market the program to appropriate audiences; help build and support online project activities; contribute to educational training programs; lead website efforts and social media projects and assist with project evaluation efforts).
Maggie Parsons, WV Department of Agriculture - Project Team Member (Role: Will help with state and federal agency collaboration; contribute to educational training programs; and market the program to appropriate audiences to help establish project´s credibility and improve attendance).
Liz Riffle, Riffle Farms, Agritourism Operator - Project Team Member (Role: Will contribute to educational training programs [partnerships and alliances, agritourism clusters best practices]; and market the program to appropriate audiences to help establish project´s credibility and improve attendance among ASPs).
Jennifer Gilkerson, Sunset Berry Farms, Agritourism Operator - Project Team Member. (Role: Will contribute to educational training programs [innovative marketing strategies, managing customer hospitality]; and market the program to appropriate audiences to help establish project´s credibility and improve attendance among ASPs).
Cara Rose, Pocohontas County Convention and Visitors Bureau - Project Team Member. (Role: Will assist with project planning and implementation; contribute to educational training programs [Innovative Marketing Strategies, Hospitality Training and Event Management, Building Regional Identify and Localness, Storytelling, Strategic Planning, Building Community Partnerships]; and market the program to appropriate audiences to help establish project´s credibility and improve attendance).
Michelle Moure-Reeves, Hardy County Convention and Visitors Bureau - Project Team Member. (Role: Will assist with project planning and implementation; contribute to educational training programs [Innovative Marketing Strategies, Hospitality Training and Event Management, Building Regional Identify and Localness, Storytelling, Strategic Planning, Building Community Partnerships]; and market the program to appropriate audiences to help establish project´s credibility and improve attendance).
Educational Approach
This project addresses the need to build diversity and multi-functionality into extension risk management programs to create a more proactive educational model that meets both financial (profit) goals and social (environmental stewardship, community-building and sustainable/regenerative agriculture) missions, while also embracing the principles of whole-farm planning and risk-management for producers interested in agritourism as a farm diversification strategy. Because no one educator has complete knowledge of the myriad of issues facing agritourism operators, this project will provide capacity-building training for a diverse team of agritourism service providers across the agritourism entrepreneurial ecosystem/value-chain to explore and build new ‘farm-to-fork’ business models for whole-farm sustainability for agritourism operators.
This project engages participants in multiple learning environments to enhance learning, interactions, and program effectiveness - including in-person workshops, conference, and meetings; web-based trainings utilizing a Moodle classroom; self-study course materials; farm tours; on-farm risk-assessments; and a stakeholder-driven network.
The tools and curriculum for the training courses covering Growing ‘Visitor-Ready’ Agritourism/Artisan Experiences covering whole-farm risks, and Growing Regional Agritourism/Artisan Clusters include:
- Online (and some printed) curriculum (presentations, videos, case studies)
- Supplemental resources including worksheets, record-keeping and financial analysis templates
- Checklists and standard operating practices based on industry standards
- Access to AgPlan (Agritourism) software - a free software available to ATSPs and AT Operators (because the PI is part of a complementary grant-funded project to encourage the 'business-side of agritourism through business planning".
- A set of additional PowerPoint slides for educators to deliver subsequent trainings
This training covers identified priority areas: Principles of Entrepreneurship, Emerging Opportunities/Consumer Demand, Assessing Agritourism Potential, Regenerative Agriculture, Business-Side of Agritourism, Legal and Environmental Liability, Farm and Food Safety, Crisis Management, Innovative Marketing Strategies, Hospitality Training and Event Management, Building Regional Identity and Localness, Storytelling, Strategic Planning, Building Community Partnerships, Agritourism Budget Calculator, and Agritourism Risk Management Priority Planning.
Participants will also participate in a 2-day Agritourism Conference and ‘classroom on wheels’ bus tour as an immersive ‘best-practice’ education experience to supplement the ‘Growing Agritourism’ training program (as above). During the tour, participants will engage in a ‘Reading the Farm’ activity, and conduct ‘First Impressions/SWOT analysis’ assessments of direct marketing and agritourism operations and use a field journal to record their observations. These observations will be the subject of facilitated discussions in-between tour stops (as part of the 'classroom on wheels'). Tour stops will showcase operations with distinctive sustainable/regenerative/climate-resilient practices as an ambassador for agriculture.
This multi-agency collaboration focused on ‘hands-on’ business planning and risk management training, and the resultant curriculum, publications and partnerships, will enhance the self-sufficiency of agritourism operators and create a new generation of farmers leading sustainable agribusinesses.
Delivering a holistic program that can raise the knowledge and skill level of diverse beginning farmers will result in better service to WV, leading to strengthened WV´s agribusinesses, improved local foods systems, increased rural development, and better long-term partnerships.
The program is replicable in any region that shares the economics and challenges of farming and tourism that defines WV. The program is replicable in its entirety as a ‘one-stop-shop’ for agritourism and cluster development resources, or the program may be broken down into smaller parts for easier adaptability. And while we acknowledge this program is multi-faceted, the most ‘heart-burn’ issue for helping producers in many regions to transition to viable enterprises is the dire need for a comprehensive ‘one-stop-shop’ for training, resources and industry contacts that this project provides.
Evaluation metrics to be evaluated include:
- Number of ASPs reporting improvements to their existing farmer training programs or in their advice and support to their clientele based on new knowledge and skills acquired because of this project, to increase their clients’ success.
- Number of ASPs reporting designing and implementing new local/regional AT training programs, using the Project’s “Toolbox" to empower agritourism operators to implement sustainable agritourism diversification strategies on their farms.
- Number of ASPs reporting new partnerships or forming clusters/trails with stakeholders in the agritourism entrepreneurial ecosystem/value chain to better serve their agritourism operators.
- Number of ASPs reporting changes being made by their agritourism operators to improve existing agritourism operations.
- Number of ASPs reporting new interest and new agritourism enterprise start-ups in their communities.
Milestones
Milestone 1 (Engagement - Oct. 2024): 50 ASPs receive notification about the 3-year project, including learning objectives and performance target, trainings to be offered, expectations for participants, and incentives for participation (travel support and stipend for educational programs and materials). 25 ASPs enroll and attend introductory webinar to learn more details about the project, including how participants can include this project in their annual plan of work, and more details on curriculum and timelines. DEIJ: Singh-Knights will contact BIPOC, Hispanic and other minority groups to attend, based on recommendations from Project Team. Attendance and demographic representation will be tracked by Singh-Knights.
Milestone 2 (Development - Oct. 2024 - Sept. 2025): The Project Team develops a “Holistic Agritourism Training Toolbox” to better prepare ATSPs to guide and support AT operators to develop sustainable agritourism practices. The "Toolbox" will contain "key-leverage" topics to
Project Team updates project learning platform (Moodle) and DropBox repository of curriculum materials to support agents training, and initiate planning and development of curriculum related to the agritourism entrepreneurial ecosystem, whole-farm planning and risk management. DEIJ: Curriculum materials will be developed using best practices for adult learning and DEIJ representation. Project activities will be tracked by Singh-Knights.
Milestone 3 (Learning - Jan. - Jun. 2025): 25 ASPs participate in "Growing Agritourism" training course, conducted by project team and other educators. Participants will complete general curriculum in entrepreneurship, whole-farm planning and risk management, building community partnerships and strategic planning. This curriculum will comprise the following topics: Principles of Entrepreneurship, Emerging Opportunities/Consumer Demand, Assessing Agritourism Potential, Regenerative Agriculture, Business-Side of Agritourism, Legal and Environmental Liability, Farm and Food Safety, Crisis Management, Innovative Marketing Strategies, Hospitality Training and Event Management, Building Regional Identify and Localness, Storytelling, Strategic Planning, Building Community Partnerships, Agritourism Budget Calculator, and Agritourism Risk Management Priority Planning. Total Contact Hours = 18 Hours (6 Asynchronous, 12 Synchronous). DEIJ: Curriculum materials will be developed using best practices for adult learning and DEIJ representation. Participants attendance and demographic representation, and training evaluations will be tracked by Singh-Knights.
Milestone 4 (Engagement - July 2025): 25 ASPs and 8 Project Team Members participate in a 3-day Agritourism Conference and ‘classroom on wheels’ bus tour as an immersive ‘best-practice’ education experience to supplement the ‘Growing Agritourism’ training program (as above). During the tour, participants will engage in a ‘Reading the Farm’ activity, and conduct ‘First Impressions/SWOT analysis’ assessments of individual and collective (clusters/trails) agritourism initiatives and use a field journal to record their observations. These observations will be the subject of facilitated discussions in-between tour stops (as part of the 'classroom on wheels'). DEIJ: Curriculum materials will be developed using best practices for adult learning and DEIJ representation. Participants attendance and demographic representation, and events evaluations will be tracked by Singh-Knights.
Milestone 5 (Engagement - Jul. 2025 - Jul. 2026): 108 Project Team Members assist 25 trained ASPs to make improvements to their existing producer training programs or in their advice and support to their clientele based on new knowledge and skills acquired because of this project, to increase their clients’ success. Follow-up survey with ASP will be conducted by Singh-Knights.
Milestone 6 (Engagement - Jul. 2025 - Jul. 2026): 8 Project Team Members assist trained ASPs to design and implement new local/regional AT training programs, using the Project’s “Toolbox" to empower agritourism operators to implement sustainable agritourism diversification strategies on their farms. Follow-up survey with ASP will be conducted by Singh-Knights.
Milestone 7 (Engagement - Jul. 2025 - Aug. 2027): 8 Project Team Members and 10 trained ASPs assist with the development and implementation of at least 4 ‘regional agribusiness cluster’ events in WV – assist with initial strategic planning, establishing key leaders and working policies, and implementing the event. Each cluster event will involve at least 10 individual agritourism/related business (40 total businesses). Follow-up survey with ASP will be conducted by Singh-Knights. Cluster event evaluations will be conducted by trained ASPs and guide by Singh-Knights.
Milestone 8 (Engagement - Oct 2025 - Sept 2027): 8 Project team Members 20 trained ASPs join the WV Agritourism Association and attend their bi-monthly meetings, to provide support and build long-term capacity and sustainability of the WV agritourism sector. Participants attendance and demographic representation, and training evaluations will be tracked by Singh-Knights.
Milestone 8 (Engagement - Sept. 2025, 2026, 2027): Participants respond to annual evaluations and verification surveys about overall project effectiveness and farmers impacts. In Year 3, 8 Project Team Members, 25 ASPs and 10 selected additional agritourism stakeholders, enroll and attend a focus group workshop to discuss the progress and evaluate the success of the project to date, help develop future plans, and update compilation of directory of trained ASPs that will be available for general contact. Participants attendance and demographic representation, and training evaluations will be tracked by Singh-Knights.
Performance Target Outcomes
SARE Outreach
Face of SARE
The following list of outreach activities and events is proposed to be conducted ANNUALLY for October 1, 2024 – September 30, 2027, to help disseminate information about Northeast SARE grant programs and other NESARE resources.
- We will share SARE printed resources, provide printed and personal communication on grant opportunities, and 'woman' the NESARE WVU/WVSU display to provide additional information as needed.
- Make information about SARE grant programs and other sustainable agricultural resources available to the agricultural community.
- WVU-NESARE web-site updates with SARE programs and resources WVUES, WVSU and Partner Organizations Events.
- NESARE display and information sharing at the following events:
- Annual WV Women in Agriculture Conference, Oct. 24-26; Annual WVUES Dinner Meetings – Jan – March 25-27; Annual WVUES Small Farms Conference - Feb. 25-27; Annual WV State Fair – August 25-27.
- DEIJ Initiatives - The PI will work to build and strengthen relationships with BIPOC communities by leveraging partnerships with the NIFA Land Access Grant (USDA Increasing Land, Capital, Market Access Projects) recently awarded to 6 NE states including WV. Additionally, the PI will provide a computer to BIPOC community members to be able to implement project activities within the scope of this project, or to apply for NESARE grants. The computer will be housed at the closest Extension Office to the BIPOC community/member and the 'client' can check the computer out for use for a specific (TBD) time.
Other SARE Support provided by State Coordinator (Singh-Knights):
- Activities Ensuring project participants know about the grant programs available to help them improve/expand their enterprises.
- Distributing SARE thumb drive of resources for beginning farmer and service provider participants.
- Grant-writing workshops (based on interest)
- WVU-NESARE web-site updates with SARE programs and resources WVU-NESARE e-mail updates
- Continuous updating of WVU-NESARE website
- Respond to inquiries about SARE grant programs and resources in a timely manner Promote SARE-sponsored events
- Promote outcomes, educational resources and project profiles or stories from SARE-funded projects.
- Help strengthen sustainable agriculture networks in the state or region.