Agritourism is defined as a commercial enterprise on a working farm conducted for the enjoyment, education, or active involvement of the visitor and generating supplemental income for the farm. In the last few years, Vermont farm families have opened up their operations by providing bed-and-breakfasts, conducting farm tours, offering hay and sleigh rides, selling farm products, and even providing a working farm experience.
Visitors flock to the Green Mountain State by the thousands, money in hand, drawn by the open lush green landscape, dotted with black and white holsteins, red barns and stone walls. Dairy farms are not simply a Hollywood backdrop for tourists to look at. Some tourists even want to "get down and dirty" on the farm.
The New England Agricultural Statistics Service (NEASS) estimated the value of agritourism (AT) was $19.5 million, or about 4 percent of total gross farm income generated in Vermont in 2002. That's no small change. Income from "AT"-related activities increased 86 percent from 200O-2005. This type of activity will continue to increase as more farmers see the added financial advantage of agritourism and sales of farm products.
One-third of all farms in Vermont (2,200 farms) received income from agritourism in 2002, averaging nearly $8,900 per farm. Smaller farms tend to be involved in agritourism more than larger farms. Thirty-eight percent of farms with fewer than 50 acres received income from "AT" in 2002, compared to about 34 percent of the farms with 50-149 acres and 29 percent of farms with 150 or more acres.
While a greater percentage of smaller farms were involved in agritourism, larger farms had a higher average income from "AT." Farms with fewer than 50 acres received an average of $5,750 while farms with 500 or more acres received an average of $15,300.
The most common source of agritourism is on-farm sales of commodities produced on the farm. Sales were led by maple syrup and other maple products, followed by fruits and vegetables, Christmas trees, cut flowers, nursery products, and cheese. Other categories of agritourism income are accommodations, outdoor recreation, entertainment and education.
Farms that are involved in farm-based tourism use it as a supplement to their income. Marginal farming enterprises are likely to survive with successful agritourism models. They don't transform the economic situation of these operations, but again, it helps them to survive. If the farm has a good location, it has a better chance of being successful and may have the potential to prosper independent of the farming operation. The more successful the farm based tourism enterprise becomes, it is less likely resources will be allocated for maintaining or expanding the farm operations. Farm-based tourism may provide the incentive for farmers to diversify their operation to meet the tourists' demand for specialty foods and value-added products.
Agritourism Models on Small Farms
Farm tourism in Vermont can include such things as wine tasting and a summer concert series at Harrison Leibowitz' Snow Farm Winery in South Hero, sleigh rides at the Brattleboro farm of Helen Robb and her family at their Brattleboro farm, or simply buying maple syrup at the sugar operation of Karen Fortin's in Highgate.
Jacques Couture, a dairy farmer from Westfield, runs a family bed- and- breakfast operation. He says his guests are not looking for a sanitized Disney World kind of experience. "They come because we're a working dairy farm -- they expect to get their feet dirty."
Beth and Bob Kennett of Liberty Hill Farm in Rochester provided a farm experience for a group of girl scouts on a weekend visit from Massachusetts. The Kennett family milks 75 Holsteins and is one of many farm families that have turned to agritourism as a way to increase income.
Destination Farms and the Swenson Family
A new niche market emerging on the landscape is the "destination farm." While it still produces food, it also accommodates a variety of visitors: tourists, school and scouting groups, seniors, and even members of the community.
"Come experience the beauty of Vermont in the winter," invites the website of the Swenson Farm in Fairlee. "Wander at your own pace over miles of trails through beautiful woods and open fields -- all part of an active dairy farm. Be sure to visit the cows and calves!"
Melanie and Bob Swenson have found an innovative way to diversify their love of farming by offering activities such as snowshoeing. The family built trails on 210 acres of their land and Sawyer Mountain and called it the Sawyer Mountain Snowshoe Trails at Swenson Farm. One trail passes right by the heifer barn and calf hutches, so that people can visit with the animals.
Visitors also learn about animals like the deer that live in the back areas. The Swensons describe the various habitats and hand out identification cards for animal tracks. They also organized their large collection of antique tools into a museum. Neighboring inns recommend the Swenson Farm to their guests.
Some farms combine the destination experience with a bed-and-breakfast. For more information and statistics on agritourism, go to: www.nass.usda.gov/nh.
* The largest agritourism sites in the state are Shelburne Farms in Shelburne, Billings Farm in Woodstock and Hildene in Manchester.
Vermont Tourism Stats
In 2005, tourists made an estimated 13.4 million trips to Vermont for leisure, business, or personal travel. Their expenditures for goods and services totaled $1.57 billion. Tourist dollars help to repair roads, provide health care, protect the environment and more. Tourism in Vermont employs 36,250 people.
The 2002 agritourism receipts of $19.5 million included local sales of Christmas trees, nursery products, fruits, and vegetables. It is projected that agritourism dollars have increased yearly since 2002.
It is estimated that in 2005, 1.2 million visitors participated in agritourism. Of that total, the primary purpose of 67,000 visitor-trips was agritourism. Total visitor spending associated with these person-trips was $164 million. Total visitor spending includes expenditures for lodging, meals, and transportation, as well as specific agritourism-related expenditures.
Source: Vermont Department of Tourism & Marketing
* The Agriculture Resource Management Survey (ARMS)
In 2004, ARMS found that 52,000 farms received income from agritourism, representing 2.5 percent of all farms - earning about $955 million in income. Recent surveys suggest that the market for agritourism could expand. Two-thirds of the visitors lived in metropolitan areas and the average distance traveled was 80 miles.
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