This isn’t a workshop on “how to succeed without even trying.” It’s a workshop on how to carefully evaluate your farm, your family, and your potential, and then learning the right steps that can quickly put you on the path to becoming a thriving rural tourism destination.

Agritourism expert Jane Eckert has visited hundreds of farms in the U.S. and Canada, and has seen first-hand why certain owners succeed at growing their businesses and others do not.

If you’ve started selling products at your farm…if you’ve started inviting guests to visit the farm for outdoor entertainment or an overnight’s stay…or if you are just starting or wanting to grow your fall season, this full day workshop is for you!

For those with just a few years of experience, you may learn even more, as this workshop is packed full of helpful information for more seasoned agritourism businesses—you’ll hear dozens and dozens of tips and ideas that may not have occurred to you yet, but these are the very techniques and creative concepts that have made some farms the best of the best.


This workshop gives you a detailed perspective of the successful components of an agritourism destination, starting with how to evaluate your farm and even your family to gain you an objective means to measure your agritourism potential. Jane will share why certain approaches work, and she will teach you the proven, logical steps to take in order for your farm to become a successful destination for customers and tourists.

This workshop will provide you the information to:

·    Analyze your family’s commitment to growth
·    Consider some of the initial options for farm properties, such as:

o    Fall Seasons
o    Pick Your Own
o    Retail Markets
o    Bed and Breakfast experiences
o    Sportsmen activities (hunting, fishing, lodging)
o    Group events (chuck wagons, weddings, corporate outings)
o    Tours and education

·    Understand the basics needed to get started
·    Determine your next steps, and decision points for expansion
·    Evaluate the financial implications of growing your operation
·    Understand why the record keeping is so important to grow your business
·    Evaluate potential additional enterprises, such as adding a bakery, school tours, a garden center, a corn maze etc.
·    Decide if outdoor recreation is a good addition to your activity mix
·    Capitalize on the increasing demand for a family fall experience
·    Gain a good overview of what is being done by successful agritourism farms and ranches in the U.S. and Canada.

If you are in your first year of agritourism, you will learn a lot; if you are in your third year, you may learn even more, as Jane has dozens of tips and suggestions throughout this presentation that can and will make a difference in your road to success.