Development of Extension Programming to Support the Advancement of Agritourism in the Northeast

Development of Extension Programming to Support the Advancement of Agritourism in the Northeast

Summary

This project convenes a multistate team to develop and deliver train-the-trainer educational resources to agricultural educators and service providers in order to assist Northeast farmers in (1) mitigating financial risk through accurate enterprise budgeting, (2) minimizing risk and liability associated with farm visitations, and (3) improving marketing strategies. Guided by a Project Advisory Committee and a farmer needs assessment survey, the project team will develop several educational resources including an online, interactive financial calculator; a self-assessment tool for farmers to evaluate their marketing and risk management strategies; a series of educational video segments on Avoiding On-Farm Hazards; and, fact sheets on best practices in agritourism liability management and marketing, and enterprise budgeting. A multi-tiered delivery system comprising workshops, webinars and electronic resources will be employed to maximize the extent and impact of training delivery across the project area (New Jersey, Vermont, Pennsylvania, New York, and Delaware).

Objectives/Performance Targets

The goal of this project is to provide training and educational resources to Extension personnel and other agricultural educators in the Northeast needed to assist clientele with the development and marketing of safe, risk-managed agritourism operations. However, to evaluate the efficacy of this training, the ultimate anticipated impact on farm viability in the region needs to be benchmarked. Our performance target is: thirty (30) agricultural educators will utilize training from this project to develop and deliver outreach programs to Northeast farmers, leading 200 farmers to develop or revise marketing strategies to increase agritourism revenues or adopt new risk and liability management strategies to improve farm safety.

Accomplishments/Milestones

Completed Activities

 Phase 1 (Educational Resource Development) Accomplishments

The educational resource development phase of the project was completed during 2013. All resources are now available on a dedicated website (http://agritourism.rutgers.edu/training/). In summary, these resources include:

Five PowerPoint-based training modules were finalized. These will provide the core of educational training delivered to Extension and other agricultural educators. They were designed to be accessible to end-clientele (e.g., farmers engaged in, or considering the development of, agritourism enterprises). Specific modules are:

• Introduction to Agritourism
• Marketing Agritourism While Providing Quality Customer Service
• Financial Management: Budgeting & Pricing for Agritourism
• Managing the Safety Risks of Agritourism Farms
• Agritourism Liability

A series of “Managing Risk on Your Agritourism Farm” Training Videos were produced. Each is narrated and contains field footage appropriate to the topic.

• Agritourism Safety From a Farmer’s Perspective
• Hayride Safety
• General Farm Safety
• Agritourism and Legal Liability (* in final editing)

   

An online corn maze budget calculator (and associated fact sheet/work book) was developed.

A series of farm evaluation checklists were developed for use by Extension and agricultural educators, as well as farm operators. These are available as individual downloads at present time and are being compiled into a single Extension bulletin. Examples include:

• Agritourism Animal Safety
• Agritourism Emergency Response & Liability Assessment
• Agritourism Employee Assessment
• Agritourism Operation Food Safety
• Agritourism General Farm Safety Assessment
• Agritourism Marketing Assessment
• Agritourism Parking & Traffic Assessment

A sample “Farm Accident/Incident Report Form” was developed for farmers’ use. (Adoption of such a form is among the recommended practices for liability management).

Several Extension fact sheets are compiled on the website.

• Is an Agritourism Venture Right for Your Farm?
• Marketing 101 For Your Agritourism Business
• Developing a Mission Statement for Your Agritourism Business
• Community Supported Agriculture: A Farmer’s Overview
• Agritourism – Keeping Passengers Safe on Hay Rides
• The Economic Contributions of Agritourism in New Jersey
• Budgeting for a Corn Maze

 Phase 2 (Educational Outreach and Training) Accomplishments

Recruited 4 State Coordinators and provided each with training materials. 
Developed a project promotional flyer/website (http://agritourism.rutgers.edu/training/) .

Completed several educational outreach and training sessions. For example:

• September 27, 2013 – National Farm Viability Conference (Middlebury, VT). 20 attendees – farmers, extension staff, farm service professionals, marketing professionals, economic development professionals, and land preservation professionals. (Lisa Chase delivered training).
• October 22, 2013 – Farm-Based Education Forum: Agritourism, Education and Economics on Your Farm (Shelburne, VT). 13 attendees – farmers, land preservation professionals, marketing professionals, NOFA mentor, university agricultural professionals. (Lisa Chase delivered training).
• November 25, 2013 – Project presentation delivered to 25 University of Maine Agricultural Extension Educators and Specialists. (Richard Brzozowski delivered training).
• December 8, 2013 – Presentation delivered at an educational meeting for the Maine Alpaca Association. 16 producers attended. (Richard Brzozowski delivered training).

The project team initiated marketing and promotion efforts in earnest in the fall and early winter of 2013. Examples:

• Agricultural Extension personnel in Maine were surveyed to determine interest in learning more about agritourism development and available project resources.   A team of approximately ten educators and specialists was developed as a result.
• All agricultural extension employees in Maine received an electronic notice of the project website and were encouraged to become familiar with the site and its resources.   As follow-up, they were asked to pass the project’s link to farmers with whom they work.
• A special message announcing the Agritourism project web site was sent electronically to all farmers in Southern Maine (5 counties). It is estimated that this message reached over 1,500 farmers.
• The agritourism project site was announced to participants in a nation-wide webinar sponsored by the National AgrAbility Program on December 12, 2013. The webinar’s title was “Selecting & Evaluating Suitable Farm/Ranch Enterprises for Individuals with Limitations” was presented by Richard Brzozowski.
• The Rutgers Cooperative Extension Agritourism Working Group began promoting the availability of educational/training resources to Extension colleagues and farmer clientele.

Planned Activities (Next 6 months)

The project is now in the training and outreach delivery phase. Several training venues have been identified for the January-June 2014 time frame:

February 4-5, 2014 delivery of training at New Jersey State Agricultural Convention and Trade Show (Atlantic City, NJ).

February 19-20, 2014 – Regional Women in Agriculture Conference (women producers from Delaware, Maryland and New Jersey).

April 2014 – Rutgers Cooperative Extension in-service training (agricultural agents, specialists program associates). (New Brunswick, NJ).

May 2014 – University of Vermont Extension in-service training (Vergennes, VT).

Spring 2014 – Delivery of training materials to agricultural professionals and service providers in New Jersey (location TBD).

Spring 2014 – Delivery of training materials to Extension personnel and other agricultural educators/service providers in Maryland and Delaware.

T.B.D. – Delivery of training through webinars.

• NESARE Agritourism Project_promotional flyer

Impacts and Contributions/Outcomes

Evaluation protocols have been developed for (1) workshop/training session and (2) clientele impact.  No evaluation results are yet tabulated.

Collaborators: