Centuries ago, thousands of buffalo roamed what is now Rio Cibolo Ranch and beyond. Comanche and Apache Indians hunted the buffalo. The Spanish word for buffalo is cibolo—hence the name of the ranch, which sits on the Rio Cibolo. Now the ranch hosts numerous groups in its central R.C.R. Corral. It also has a rodeo arena, the Lazy Lily, which is an Old West river house that seats up to 150 people, and a new facility, Zuehl’s Hall, which will be ready in autumn 2005. The ranch also offers river barge rides, hay wagon rides and many other activities. It is also known for its gardens, which include space for cooking schools and demonstrations. 

This will be a lunch stop on day three for nearly all the tours. But it is so much more than just a place to eat! Tour C will arrive ahead of all others; it will get an in-depth look at the entire facility. Then, it’s all hands on deck. Tour C will lend a hand in setting up for our big NAFDMA group. This is weddings, catering and corporate parties at its best, hands-on! All other tour groups will have the opportunity to ride the hay wagon or the river barge and do a self-guided tour of the facility. Plus you can participate in horseshoe pitchin’ or tin cup puttin’ or picture posin’ in Old Texas history costume. It’s all here for the takin’ and the idea makin’! And you’ll get some topnotch eats, too!

San Antonio Coffee Roasters/What’s Brewing
San Antonio
Tour F

The Farmers’ Market Tour will begin with the heady aroma of coffee beans and freshly roasted coffee at nearby What’s Brewing, the retail shop of San Antonio Coffee Roasters. San Antonio Coffee Roasters is a family owned and operated coffee roaster business that supplies its own downtown café and other area retail outlets and restaurants. During our behind-the-scenes tour, we’ll see how coffee beans are evaluated, roasted in small batches, evaluated again and packaged for sale.

Owner Roger Chbeir is certainly passionate about coffee, and that passion is likely to rub off on you, too. Roger imports coffee beans from around the world. We’ll see it roasting to perfection, and we’ll also sample some of his fine, freshly brewed coffee. Roger is a firm believer that a high-quality coffee can be a foundation for a successful business, whether it’s a coffee shop, farmers’ market or farm retail shop. The key to that quality is to find a local roaster. You might notice children’s toys here and there in the offices. Did we mention that this is a family business

San Antonio Shoe (SAS)
San Antonio
Tour R

We’re hearing more and more about experience retailing these days. And for many years, farmers in NAFDMA have said there are great marketing ideas to be learned outside of agriculture. A favorite quote is, “There is plenty you can learn about customer service and marketing from a shoe salesman.” Well, it all comes together right here!

San Antonio Shoe (SAS) Factory Store offers a terrific shopping atmosphere. It’s relaxed, warm, colorful and diversified. It offers new products and unconventional strategies, yet it hangs on tightly to its traditional heritage. It works hard every day to maintain market share in an industry that goes back centuries, but it must persist in a modern-day cutthroat business. It’s built on a product line that is the need of all, but the wanted priority of a few.

Sounds a bit like a great farm market! This stop won’t disappoint anyone on Tour R.

What can be learned when we look beyond our natural boundaries? The overall stop might not relate very closely to what you’re trying to accomplish on your overall master plan for your farm or ranch, but the individual ideas here are numerous and useful. Our host is Jon Erickson. He’ll tell us about this 115-acre facility and the many ways its ecotourism and nature tourism activities are being applied. Here, they accentuate learning for youth and have developed an amazing list of activities for guests of all ages. Odds are you’ll take home more than just one of theses little gems.

The Seguin Outdoor Learning Center has developed summer camps for children in three stages from 1^st grade through 12^th grade. It also features archery, astronomy, biking, bird watching, hiking, camping, canoeing, fishing, geocaching, hunter safety, ropes and challenge courses, nature studies and rock climbing. Nearly 20,000 school children participate in activities at the site each year. The facility includes a ROPES course, firing range, creek, ponds, trails, pavilions, and a learning center that holds some outstanding interactive nature exhibits aimed at young children. This is an ideas-generating stop for anyone who is thinking about developing nature tourism activities on the farm, or expanding activities for their group picnics and corporate parties. 

7A Ranch/South Texas Maze Company
Hondo
Tours A, C and S 

Corn, beef, and campfire coffee are the signatures of the Graff family. Ken and Laurie Graff have been NAFDMA members since 2002. With the support of Ken’s mom, Hazel, and their children, Colin and Justina, they have been diversifying their small ranch in a variety of ways to keep the land and earn a living.  Ken is a fifth generation Texas cattle rancher. He has a commitment to naturally raised beef and continues to raise grass fed beef on 7A Ranch. In 2001 Ken and Laurie opened the doors to their corn maze for the first time ever. It was just in time for a tornado! But they persisted and this is their fifth year in the maze business. They have also been operating a small groups and parties business out at the ranch in their pavilion. That’s where the campfire coffee comes in.

Our tour will drive out to 7A Ranch directly past the maze site, and beef pastures and out to the pavilion for a little visit with the Graffs. They’ll talk about the history of their family and ranch and show how group events can be done in a small and simple way. We’ll hear about the beef business and how it’s changed over the years, why diversification is a necessity (Ken’s even taken to growing a few vegetables lately), and gain an understanding of sustainable ranching and why it’s important to the Graff family.

Ken, Laurie, Colin, Justina and Hazel have been instrumental in scouting and providing tour stop ideas for all the NAFDMA tours this year. The entire board of directors and the management company of NAFDMA wish to extend our warmest wishes for their support in organizing for the Texas convention over the past two years. Give ’em a Texas-sized “Thanks y’all” when you visit them on tour!
 

Texas Agricultural Education and Heritage Center
Sequin
Tours B, R and S

Wilfred and Betty Bartoskewitz are pioneers when it comes to teaching school children about farming and ranching in Texas. They are the founders of the Texas Agricultural Education and Heritage Center. They donated 35 acres of land for the center in the fall of 2003. The first unit of the center, designed as a big red barn, was built by Wilfred and Betty and donated to the center in December 2003, and Wilfred is president of the non-profit corporation’s board of directors today. They are fifth generation farmers working about 4,000 acres just north of Seguin and hope to preserve a place for future generations to gain an understanding of the region’s agriculture and heritage through the center.

For our tour, we’ll have the opportunity to hear the story of the center directly from Mr. Bartoskewitz and gain insights on the pros and cons of non-profit status. Everyone will also see the barnyard together with learning gardens and livestock barn, and look at outstanding educational displays in the heralded The Red Barn. Some will view the farmhouse, which is also rented out as a bed and breakfast.

Torre di Pietra
Fredericksburg
Tour F 

This new family owned and operated winery just east of Fredericksburg is a great example of Texas’ growing wine industry. Ken Maxwell is enthusiastic about his business and is proud of his family’s efforts. Tour F may linger here for an extended discussion time and wine tasting.

We have lots to discuss. Sampling at farmers’ markets is an excellent marketing tool. However, it is not done widely and we will be able to learn more about the value of sampling, the health and safety considerations, and hear more from personal experiences of tour participants. Also, we can explore how businesses such as this one can partner with farmers’ markets to cross promote their businesses (such as both advertising and promoting a festival or event that is held at the winery but features farmers and farmers’ markets). In addition, we will be able to learn more about the Texas wine industry, sample Texas wine, and have the opportunity to relax and network toward the end of this first tour day.

VLC
Hondo
Tour A

VLC Whitetail Ranch is among the most notable quality deer breeders in Texas and perhaps the country. It runs a scientifically advanced program and will give our animal and adventure tour goers an in-depth look at what drives the hunting and deer breeding industry in Texas. This facility is owned by Slim Crapps, a founding member of the Texas Deer Association, and it’s managed by Sheldon Grothaus, an expert deer management specialist and hunting guide.

At VLC, you’ll gain insights that will drive many of your discussions throughout the rest of the trip. You’ll see a first class operation, and you’ll learn about whitetail breeding, hunting preserves, and some very interesting facts about where this kind of ranching ends and Texas state wildlife management laws begin.

For even more details go to www.vlcwhitetailranch.com

This stop is true to its name. You might even call it a diamond in the rough. It’s located on a major highway, on 3.3 acres of land, and is full of natural beauty. Water Garden Gems raises and sells goldfish, koi, sturgeon and other fish as well as every water plant you could imagine. It was founded 25 years ago by Burt Nichols, and it is now one of the most advanced water garden businesses in its region.

The product line alone is worth stopping to see, but the business development is loaded with great customer service characteristics and marketing features. Water Garden Gems has a well-developed learning center and offers monthly pond building classes. The grounds offer 10 mature pond exhibits and holding tanks at every turn to show the development of each of their products.

Like our farms, Water Garden Gems is proud of its accomplishments producing a quality product and displaying it in a superior setting, but it can’t stop there. Retailing is what allows the business to survive. So they also now have a highly advanced Web site. Check it out before you come to Texas for an excellent example of online retailing for a family owned business.

Whole Foods Market is the world's largest retailer of natural and organic foods, with more than 176 stores throughout North America and the United Kingdom. It was founded in Austin, Texas. And Austin is still home to its corporate headquarters and landmark store.

We will stop at this famous supermarket as the last stop of the tour. If you’ve never been to a Whole Foods Market near you, this is a must see. Also, it’s a great place to pick up a few little snacks for your conference stay at the Hyatt Regency Austin located just 5 minutes away.

The entire story of Whole Foods Market is available to you at the company Web site.

Wild Boar Farms
Stonewall
Tours P, S

Daniel Bacon is a plant physiologist and a leader in sustainable agriculture practices in Texas. Daniel has operated a successful vegetable CSA in Crawford and still has plenty of great stories about that success. Today, he enjoys the finer points of peach production, and he’s the driving force behind a pretty successful farm market. It’s Wild Boar Farms, located in the heart of Hill Country fruit land.

Wild Boar Farms is primarily a peach orchard, and it also produces a variety of other fruits and vegetables for retail market. The market thrives year round and goes on overdrive in peach season. It is a small stand that keeps growing each year and now even has a bakery. The whole business just keeps expanding as Daniel has added a 25-acre peach orchard on rented land and even added a satellite stand half way to Austin in Dripping Springs. Our tour will focus on the stand and the small bakery. Passengers may also choose to walk into the orchards and get a few sustainable growing tips on peaches from Daniel.

Daniel doesn’t have a Web site, but you can learn about Texas Hill Country peach production by visiting the Hill Country Fruit Council.

Wildseed Farms
Fredericksburg
Tours A, B, C, F, P, R, S

One of the highlights of this entire tour region is the famous wild flowers. A drive through the Texas Hill Country in April and May is a truly unique experience. NAFDMA will get everyone who takes a pre-conference tour as close to that experience as Mother Nature allows in January with a visit to Wildseed Farms. 

Set like a multi-colored jewel on 250 acres outside of Fredericksburg, Wildseed Farms attracts visitors from all over the world. The family moved to this location in 1991. They chose Fredericksburg because it was a great location with a great tourism base. They built their first building in 1997. Today it’s already a hallmark for on farm-retail, mail order, and Texas-style splendor. The buildings alone are worth the trip. But the retail displays and diverse product line add the full dimension of this incredible retail nursery stop.

Agritourism visitors pay $5 to access The Meadows, which includes access to The Butterfly Haus. Visitors can wander through butterfly gardeners and observe butterflies in the 3,000-square-foot enclosure, and there’s also a hummingbird observation station. Visitors can also wander through 80 acres of flower fields and the farm’s display gardens.

While visiting Wildseed Farms, look at the parking lot layout, the building architecture, the small touches that say Texas. A deli and beer garden help feed and quench the thirsts of visitors.
 

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