Agritourism – vacation on a farm!
photo courtesy of Liberty Hill Farm
A friend emailed this morning with the query: “Do you know of a farm where we can go for a vacation? We really want to experience life on the farm, but we’re not ready to get our own yet!”
Agritourism is a way that farmers are adding to their on-farm income. There are farms where one can stay for a week, pitch in with chores, work with animals, and truly learn the work of farming. There are other farms where you can simply hear the rooster crowing from the comfort of your bed – no milking, hauling, plowing, weeding, picking, or feeding necessary!
A few resources for finding a farm vacation: Agritourism World – Worldwide database of farms. Search by location, farm type, activity and more.
New York Times article about the trend: Down on the Farm With Your Sleeves Rolled Up
National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service (ATTRA) provides valuable business guidance to farmers interested in creating an agritourism experience on their farm. ATTRA is one of Farm Aid’s national partners for our Farm Resource Network – a web-based database of local and national farm groups.
**update** I just learned that my favorite shepherdess (a REAL one) offers farm stays on her Juniper Moon Farm near Charlottesville, VA. Susan founded the first fiber CSA in the country and her blog is absolutely irresistible.
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Tags: agritourism, Farm Aid, FRN, vacation
November 20th, 2009 at 12:21 pm
There is also World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms. Note a registration fee applies.
http://www.wwoof.org/
November 20th, 2009 at 12:36 pm
Thanks Arthur! A great resource! Keep in mind: Many of the WWOOF farms require a minimum stay and often cannot accommodate children.
WWOOF is also great for aspiring farmers who may want to “get their feet wet” in farming before diving in.
November 20th, 2009 at 12:47 pm
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November 20th, 2009 at 2:20 pm
Thanks for the links, I had just heard about this recently and have been seriously considering doing it in the upcoming year 🙂
November 20th, 2009 at 8:48 pm
Also take a look at my blog, farmstays.blogspot.com, where I’ve got a bunch of links to various agritourism directories. There are way more farm stays in the USA than you might expect! I’m working on developing a website directory of USA farm stays as well.
December 4th, 2009 at 10:27 am
Another website to research farm stays in North America is http://www.ruralbounty.com Membership is growing so check back often.
February 5th, 2010 at 5:36 am
Thanks for the post, I stumbled upon
September 16th, 2011 at 7:23 pm
Two years later! Farm Stay U.S. (http://www.farmstayus.com) has been up and running now for almost 14 months. We list over 900 working farms, ranches, and vineyards that offer overnight accommodations. Michelle Nowak listed above in one of the comments actually writes most of our blogs. We launched with the assistance of 2 USDA grants. Our goal is to match guests with farms and farms with guests. While kids aren’t allowed on all the operations, the majority do encourage families to try out the farmer’s (or cowboy’s) life. After all, where will our next generation of farmers and cowboys come from if we don’t sew the seeds at an early age!