Project Director: Lisa Chase, University of Vermont
“We never imagined that adding agritourism to our farm could be so impactful. AgPlan’s online offering allowed us to easily visualize the possibilties and navigate the complexities of this new venture. We are thrilled to share our farm with visitors and showcase what makes Vermont so special!” – from Agritourism Business Planning webinar presentation.
Situation:
The project aimed to equip producers with the knowledge and tools to develop comprehensive business plans for agritourism enterprises. The goal was to help participants better understand the components of business planning, using AgPlan to tailor their plans and apply this knowledge to their own agritourism operations. The primary target audience included farmers, ranchers, and agricultural service providers. The project particularly focused on reaching underserved groups, such as Native American producers and those from economically disadvantaged regions, across Colorado, Indiana, Minnesota, Nevada, New York, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, Vermont, and Washington DC.
Outcomes:
This project, led by Lisa Chase and her team at University of Vermont Extension, helped 1,710 participants with educational offerings through both in-person meetings and webinars. The participants came from around the world and represented diverse professional backgrounds, including 80 Native American producers. They successfully reached other underserved groups as demonstrated by 41 attendees at the Texas Hispanic Farmers and Rancher Conference. An unexpected outcome was the adoption of 626 New Agritourism Plans. The scale of adoption of the Agritourism Business Planner suggests that participants were motivated to start planning independently, which is a promising indicator of the planner’s accessibility and usefulness.
Impacts:
Participant producers improved their understanding on the components of a comprehensive business plan for their agritourism enterprise. Participant producers practiced and developed writing business overviews for their operation. Participants completed their own business plan in the AgPlan site. Another positive impact was broad engagement across sectors. The diversity of participants, including farmers, tourism professionals, and Native producers, exceeded expectations. This suggests that the project’s outreach resonated beyond traditional agricultural circles, indicating untapped potential for cross-sector collaboration in agritourism.
