#let me rescue cows and goats and sheeps and pigs and horses and chickens and ducks and geese and turkeys and give them good lives Explore tagged Tumblr posts

[swagging-back-to]

i wish i didnt live in america because i am so ready for my homesteading lifestyllllllleeeeeeuhhhhh

[anneimaginesundertale]

☀️🎃 Farmtale Boys Official Intro 🎃☀️

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

☀️Sunny (Farmtale Sans)☀️

Sunny is about as laidback as you can get. He’s a lazybones. Not surprising, for a Sans, but there is something different. He doesn’t have that slight melancholy about him. He never went through resets or a genocide route. He was never trapped underground. His world was a peaceful one and the most he’s worried about (before the Incident that led him and his brother here) was what was going on with the machine.

Sunny is in charge of the crops on the farm. He plants everything from apples to zucchini and everything in between. He actually works really hard, though you’d never know it to look at him. He’s usually lazing on the porch, straw between his teeth, hat over his sockets, looking half asleep. He puns and goofs around like other Sanses and he loves to name critters after foods. If his brother lets him name a litter of kittens or some of the new chicks, they’re going to end up with names like Rutabaga or Nugget.

He’s good friends with Comet and with Sansy. They like to hang out and pun together, and talk about plants and food and such. Everything is just chill when Sunny’s around, except that it’s really warm because of his kind heart and his sunny smile.

Sunny speaks with a quiet country drawl. “Y’all come by any time ya want,” he says. “Door’s always open, and comp’ny’s always welcome.”

🎃Pumpkin (Farmtale Papyrus) 🎃

Pumpkin is very calm for a Papyrus, and patient as all get out. He puts up with a lot more from his brother than some of the other Paps do. He’s got the confidence of a Papyrus, and the friendly nature, but he’s not as loud and excitable as the others. He is very practical and goes about his work on the farm with diligence and strength.

The Great Pumpkin is in charge of the animals on the farm. He’s got a few horses and some cows, sheep and a couple of mischievous goats, chickens, ducks, pigs, a couple of herding doggos, and a whole colony of cats. The cats are his special sweethearts (even the ones who are sassy and standoffish). He loves them so much!

He tries very hard to give away or sell the kittens, but sometimes they’re just too cute! Most of the cats on the farm are kittens he’s raised. A couple of them are cats Pumpkin rescued after their owners drove them out to the farm to abandon them. (There’s a whole list at the end of this post. Thanks to @skulls-and-cypresses for helping me name all the kitties!) Pumpkin prefers to name the kitties (and his other animals) with good wholesome, sensible names. (Potato is not a name for a cat, Sunny! And don’t even talk to him about the pig that was almost named Bacon! Stars! Have some respect!)

Pumpkin really bonded with Captain, Sweets, and Rus. They all work together on projects sometimes and Pumpkin is eager to help his friends. He has a soft voice for a Papyrus. “We love having’ our friends over. Come by any time!”

🐱Farmtale Cats 🐱 

*Special thanks to @skulls-and-cypresses for the names and cat thoughts!

Bandit is the Mother of Bagel and Butter among many other kits.

Romeo and Juliet had Sweetpea, Popcorn, Rutabaga, Rhubarb, Turnip, and Wheat.

Joey and Ellie Mae are a pair that Pumpkin found and adopted.

Other kitties include Scamp, Parsnip, Swede, Squash, Salt and Pepper, and Parsley and Scallion.

[tethered-heartstrings]

next logical step is they get a little farm. just 2 cows, a couple hens, maybe a goat here or there. will does the messy work while hannibal gets to milk them and grab the eggs in the morning. hannibal gets to care for animals + he knows where his food comes from! win win. maybe they get sheep too, shear them and send off the wool to be made into blankets or sweaters.

they don't get pigs, for reasons

Let me just say cows are a LOT of work and eat a LOT. They are hardier than horses and tend to have less health problems, but they are still an enormous responsibility. And tbh, I don't really see them getting cows, but that is just me.

Chickens are more feasible, and maybe even some ducks as well. They can share a space pretty reasonably and I can see Hannibal wanting the different fat/protein of the eggs for different recipes.

Goats are a more feasible ruminant. Still work but less than cows, based on size and feed. If they get sheep, I imagine Hannibal would learn to utilize the wool himself in some way. He has no interest in keeping animals for profit, he doesn't need the money. He is super extra so I could see him buying all the equipment and making a room in their house just for processing wool and making Will and the dogs sweaters.

I also think they could own pigs just fine. To be honest, it could be a big "fuck you" to Mason. Hannibal and Will would treat their animals with respect and dignity, and not abuse them. Mason was successful because of daddy's money and making people afraid of him. He used pigs and hired guns to do his dirty work. Hannibal and Will do that on their own. Plus, pigs are very intelligent and clean, but they are huge.

Tbh I don't see Hannibal being so hoity toity that he would make Will do the "dirty work". They are equals. If they adopt animals and build a family, the work gets divided fairly. Now if Will preferred that part of the care over the rest, Hannibal would give it to him. But I honestly see them splitting the work evenly.

And as much as Hannibal likes to control what he eats, there is a limitation. He can't grow and raise everything he consumes; that is way more work than a single person or even a couple can manage for the variety Hannibal wants. It is possible if you have very limited ingredients, but he would never keep a pantry so small.

I think the key is Will would want them to be rescues of some kind. Most shelters deal in domestic small animals with some exotics (usually rabbits or guinea pigs). I don't see Will being comfortable adopting anything from a breeder, or adopting anything that could feasibly be adopted by someone else (ie chicks at a fair or something). Not saying there are no rescue cows or chickens, but most of those animals that are "surrendered" like that are not pets but are food animals so they just get slaughtered.

Realistically I see Hannibal wanting to put more effort into growing fruits, vegetables, herbs, etc. rather than animals for their products.

[doelet444]

What are some of ur hobbies / Inspo 💕🎀🥛

painting, writing my comic book, playing video games... riding horses is something i’ve always loved to do, this past winter i went to a trauma recovery center with horses and i’m so beyond thankful for that experience.

i love to visit this sweet old man in town who’s rescued tons of animals, he lets me come on in and pet them but usually i’m too shy so i just drive over and say hi to them through the fence. he has swans, fluffy white geese, ducks, goats, sheep, pigs, a wallabie, chickens, alpacas, and cows! heaven on earth

i also just like to drive around and listen to music, not the most interesting hobby but it really helps ease my anxiety and keeps me in the moment :-)

[iwatchanimeoccasionally]

Ok, @topaxi said they’d like a post of all the animals I’d like to get so here it is.(under the read more because I am insane and there is so much)

This is a lot (and I know I’m not going to get everything on the first go so this is a work in progress) so let’s start with the smaller categories.

The first category is something I will never actually own because A) I am autistic so a lot of loud noises is something that I CANNOT handle and B) I don’t have the time to devote to them that I would need to keep them happy.

Birds: African Grey Parrot, Cockatoo, some kind of dove or pigeon, and a chicken. As you can probably tell, I haven’t put a ton of thought into these because I know I will never really own a birb.

Reptiles: Tortoise, preferable and African Spurred, but I’d take something smaller. I just think they’re neat. A bearded dragon because they’re hecka cool and cute. I really want some type of snake but my sister is deathly afraid of them so they’re a no-go if I want her in my life even a little bit. 

Amphibian: Axolotl. Have you seen them? THey’re awesome. I don’t want to maintain an aquarium, otherwise I’d have one by now. But maybe someday I’ll be patient enough to have an aquarium pet. 

Cats: An Oriental shorthair. I like long faces and they have a dumb meow. I mostly want a white one right now, but that might change and I might want another if I do get my white guy. I’d also take a maine coone, a savannah cat, an ocecat, or just rescue who is just right. I’m gonna be honest, I’m not much of a cat person but I believe they’re closer to the supernatural than other animals and I’m terrified of anything supernatural so when I move out on my own I’m gonna need a cat of my own to help me out with that stuff. Mostly because i like pets to be guardians and protect me just as much as I protect them and the most and least I expect for protection is warning when there is something there that shouldn’t be.

Rabbits: I will probably never get another rabbit, honestly. Larry is my entire world and I adore my other two rabbits, so I can’t see me being able to move on and get another rabbit if any of them pass. And they are a lot of work that I just am not sure I want to commit myself to again with the dogs that I want to get. However, I do still dream of having a sandy and fawn flemish giant (gotta catch ‘em all), a rex, a french lop, a holland lop, a dutch, and probably any other breed that I see.

Foxes: I just want a fox. I’m not picky. I just think they’re cool. Again, I never will because they’re too much work and require too much time and aren’t really good with any other pet, especially rabbits, but I can dream.

Farm animals: I want a cow, a goat, a couple sheep, a pig, and a horse. I’m not picky about what kind for any of them. Except maybe the horse. Let me do some research and get back to you. But, unless I win the lottery, they’re just not financially viable and, again, I don’t have the time to give them the care they need.

And now the big category, Dogs.

First is another collie. I’m not sure I’d stop at just one more because they’re great dogs, but I also can’t imagine owning more than two at once because I work in a grooming salon so I know exactly what they need in that regard and there’s only so much work that I want to bring home. But, specifically, I’d ideally get another sable merle, or just sable, from the same breeder I got Barkley from. Preferably same parents and everything so they’re siblings. I think that’d be cute. Oh, and I want a girl this time. 

Then, I want to rescue a greyhound. They look so dumb and are so funny and I love them. They’re super fragile, though, or at least that’s what I’m told, so I need a lot more financial stability before I can even consider that. Plus more room. I believe our house is big enough for another dog, but not a greyhound. 

Borzoi. Named Z. Because I have a friend who, for a while, really like that “the birds work for the bourgeoisie,” meme so I think it’s funny. Plus, I was watching Ocean’s 8 and the ex-boyfriend is shown walking two of them for a moment and I thought they were beautiful dogs that look like number 1 and number 2 on my list mixed together so I immediately thought that I need all 3 so I could have the whole trilogy.

A border collie. They’re probably my favorite breed but I have a mental block that I can’t get one without replacing Midnight so I want a blonde female to get as opposite from him as possible. (Her name was going to be what I’m going to name my next collie, but it’s more fitting for the collie now that I’ve decided to get another) There are generally more health problems for blonde border collies, though, and you’re almost guaranteed to have to buy them from breeders, which I don’t especially want to do. I mean, I’m fine with going through a breeder for collies but I’d rather rescue for other breeds. I don’t know why but that’s where I’m at right now.

Great Dane. I want a horse dog. I’ve always loved big dogs, in general if an animal has a large size I want it. And there’s this one named Pip who comes to my work and he’s so big and so much fun and I adore him so I want one now.

Irish Wolfhound. I think wire hair looks really cool and, again, I like big dogs, so I’ve wanted this breed for years. About 10 years, to be specific. One named Castiel comes to work for nails and I talked mom into letting me brush him out one time and damn, did he look good.

Smooth Saint Bernard. Purely because of a dog named Daisy who came to my work and she was the sweetest girl. She recently passed, about three months ago I believe, and I cried when I heard.

Standard Poodle. I don’t really want a curly coated dog because that doesn’t seem like fun daily maintenance, but I really love the way black standard poodles look. Especially with a clean face and clean feet. Plus there are so many fun, cute haircut options to play around with. 

Shih-tzu, Maltese, or Japanese Chin: I won’t actually own a small dog, until maybe when I’m old, but they’re all real cute.

Pit Bull. They’re so cute and sweet and I love them so much. 

Old English Sheepdog and/or Bearded Collie. They just look like such big dumbs and I love that in a dog.

Bull Terrier. I’m a sucker for long faces and they’re basically nothing but a long face.

Afghan Hound. They’re similar to Borzois to me, honestly. Just long face skinny bois with long hair. Which I like.

Smooth Collie. Specifically blue merle. I hate the way that color pattern looks on rough collies, but I think it looks fly as hell on smooths.

To be honest, I would love to own any herding breed other than a german shepherd. And I have a type, I love the long, sleek, skinny bois. (And american eskimo was never on this list, nor would it ever have made it, but I love Oso to death and he has made it so I have the most patience with eskies at work because they need to be handled a specific way and he has taught me the correct way)

[josephkitchen0]

Agritourism: A Money-Making Agriculture Business

By Heidi Kerr-Schlaefer, Colorado

Can inviting farm visitors fuel a successful money making agriculture business? It’s called agritourism and yes, it can!

The words, “fun on the farm,” were probably not coined by a farmer. After all, farming is hard work, but today, people around the country are looking to experience fun on a farm. Through agritourism activities, farmers are finding all sorts of ways to accommodate them, and in doing so, farmers are not only educating the public on their industry, but are running a money-making agriculture business.

Agritourism is a broad term covering a variety of activities that most Americans have participated in at some point, whether they have visited a farm stand or taken their child to a local pumpkin patch.

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Some states are proactively helping farmers add agritourism components to their farms, and one such state is Colorado.

While most people see Colorado as a ski and adventure destination, the state was built on agriculture and it is still a thriving industry. Tourism is Colorado’s second largest industry, and therefore, bringing agriculture and tourism together makes a lot of sense. Today, Colorado is the only state in the country that has dedicated funding for agritourism.

Once the Colorado Tourism Organization created the Colorado Heritage and Agritourism Program (CHAP), they realized that there needed to be another association that could handle things like legislation and fundraising. On January 31, 2014, the nonprofit Colorado Agritourism Association (CAA) was born.

“The Colorado Heritage and Agritourism Program does all the marketing and promotion and the CAA does product development; business planning, website development, legislation, insurance and issues related to sign code and zoning,” says Kelli Hepler, director of the Colorado Agritourism Association. “We are paving the way for folks to step into agritourism here in Colorado.”

Perhaps the most important item the newly formed CAA was able to check off their to-do list was the passage of Colorado House Bill 1280, signed by Governor Hickenlooper on June 6, 2014. The bill provided much-needed legal protection for farmers participating in agritourism by limiting the liability of farmers and ranchers in activities related to this money-making agriculture business.

Even prior to the passage of HB 1280, Colorado’s agritourism industry was growing. According to the 2012 US Census, the newest numbers available, out of 36,000 Colorado farms, 2.4 percent claimed an average of $33,000 per farm in added income from agritourism.

The Living Farm

Tom and Lynn Gillespie of The Living Farm are proof that agritourism isn’t new to Colorado. The farm, located in Paonia, has been in the family for four generations.

The Gillespie family built their first greenhouse in 1987, and in 1990 they started growing hydroponic tomatoes. By the early 90s, people wanted to see what the Gillespies were up to and Lynn started running tours. Today, the farm is a well-oiled agritourism machine and includes five greenhouses, chickens, pigs, turkeys and a large flock of sheep.

The family also owns The Living Farm Café in downtown Paonia, population 1,400. Operated by Lynn and Tom’s son, Chef Mike Gillespie, the café serves farm-to-table meals with almost 100 percent of the food served having been raised one-mile away on The Living Farm. The café also serves as an inn, renting the five rooms above the restaurant to hungry tourists.

The Living Farm also sells their goods at local grocery stores and through their CSA (Community Supported Agriculture).

In the beginning, Lynn Gillespie’s farm tours were free, but she quickly realized that she couldn’t get any work done with people popping in at all hours of the day.

“We’ve formalized the tours,” she says. “We’ve set up a program where people can drop in and tour at specific times or they can get online and request a group or VIP tour. Folks can go to www.thelivingfarm.org/farm-tours and see how we set them up.”

Gillespie also started charging for her tours; individuals are $6, groups start at $25 and a VIP package that includes an overnight stay at the inn and breakfast at the café is $160.

“If someone goes to the movies they pay $8 to $10 for a ticket,” says Gillespie. “Farmers need to know that they do not need to tour everybody for free.”

The Living Farm does offer one free program. Lamb Loving takes place Wednesday to Saturday throughout the spring lambing season. In the evening, from 7 to 8 p.m., guests may visit the barn and cuddle with lambs.

“When I set a lamb in a person’s lap, I don’t care what age the person is, their face beams like it is Christmas morning,” says Gillespie. “If I can give that kind of joy to someone for just 30 minutes, it’s totally worth it and I think that’s what this is all about.”

At the beginning of the year, Gillespie sits down and decides how much interaction The Living Farm will have with the public and she sticks to her rules. The farm comes first, of course, and she stresses that anyone interested in going this route with their farm or ranch must realize this money-making agriculture business is different than farming.

“You’ve got to greet visitors with a smile,” she says. “This is not making produce. It’s a service and your tour has to be well thought out. Your place needs to look nice and you have to be nice.”

Scenes from The Horse & Hen Ranch near Hayden, Colorado

The Horse & Hen

Ryan and Rachel Wattles joke that their foray into agritourism was an accident, although Ryan admits that for him it presented the opportunity to quit his day job and stay on the ranch full time.

Their family ranch is located in Hayden, Colorado, population 1,800. Just 20 miles west of Steamboat Springs, the ranch was bought by Ryan’s great-grandfather in 1935. Seventy-five years later, Ryan and Rachel, with their 6-week-old daughter in tow, moved from Fort Collins, Colorado, to Hayden to work the ranch.

In the beginning, the Wattles raised goats and hay, but have since sold the goat herd and are turning their attention towards cattle. The property includes three residences; two historic homes and a brand new country-style house. As soon as the big house was built the Wattles began hosting a steady stream of friends and relatives who wanted to have a farm experience.

“Everyone who visited had a ball and loved it here,” says Rachel. “That’s sort of what put the idea of starting a bed and breakfast in our heads.”

The Wattles decided to explore agritourism in Colorado and toured the areas where it was happening. After this tour, they assessed their ranch and their personal skills and decided that adding a bed and breakfast made sense as a money-making agriculture business.

Making the dream a reality, however, wasn’t an easy road. Rachel discovered that there were a tremendous amount of county government hoops to jump through, and finding insurance to cover the “farm stay” portion of the business was tough. In the end, they couldn’t afford an insurance package that would cover horseback riding, so they cut out that part of the original business plan.

While guests can’t ride any of the Horse & Hen’s horses, there are lots of other farm and ranch activities that they may participate in including milking Norma the cow, collecting eggs and helping in the garden. The area around Hayden is rich in birding and hunting so the Wattles are working to tap into that lodging market as well.

While the bed and breakfast is booked solid during summer weekends, the Wattles want ranching to remain their focus. For instance, every animal on their ranch serves a purpose. The chickens give eggs, the cow gives milk, the pigs are raised for meat and the Great Pyrenees dog watches closely over their few remaining goats.

“We don’t want this to be a horse and pony show,” says Rachel. “This is a real working ranch.”

Today, Rachel works one-day a week as an art teacher at the local school and Ryan spends his time working on the ranch where he occasionally uses a team of draft horses; an ode to the way his grandfather and great-grandfather worked the ranch in the past.

Ryan’s favorite part of running the bed and breakfast is watching guests’ children connect with ranch life.

“To me, it’s really important that kids have the opportunity to see this type of lifestyle because only two percent of Americans are in agriculture today,” says Ryan.

The Wattles now have two girls and believe the toughest thing about adding an agritourism component to their farm was determining their personal boundaries and meeting the expectations of their guests. Their home, for instance, is off limits to guests. Rachel has also turned off her online booking option because she likes to connect with people via phone or email when they book a room.

“A lot of people think that they are going to be staying in our family home or that they will be having dinner with us, which is not the case,” she says. “Having email or phone contact with them lets me explain what we are really all about here. It lets me set expectations in advance.”

The Mountain Goat Lodge

Nestled in the hills outside of the artsy community of Salida, Colorado, population 5,400, is a bed and breakfast with a goat twist. This unique lodging establishment is home to goats, chickens, ducks, dogs, a llama and a cat.

Gina Marcell ran a goat rescue outside of Seattle, Washington, for a number of years, but longed to be in the sunshine. She wanted a place where she could raise goats and run a money-making agriculture business, and in 2010 she found a bed and breakfast for sale in Salida. She moved her small farm to Colorado and opened the Mountain Goat Lodge.

The Mountain Goat Lodge in Salida, Colorado.

“When I wrote my business plan, I wrote that goats were going to be an integral part of the business. To me, it’s all about the goats, and the bed and breakfast is just sort of a front for having them,” says Marcell. “I also stated in my business plan that I wanted to educate people and enlighten them on how wonderful goats are.”

Marcell is doing just that. Her bed and breakfast is busy year round with workshops on goat care, cheese making and raising backyard chickens. She recently played host to a yoga retreat, introducing her establishment to an entirely new demographic, as well as workshops on subjects like soap-making and canning.

In addition to the workshops and livestock, Marcell grows a flourishing garden despite her farm being located at more than 7,000 feet above sea level. She utilizes a large, round greenhouse that also serves as a cold weather getaway for her guests.

Thanks to the greenhouse and the chickens, Marcell’s breakfasts are farm fresh throughout the year.

Marcell has found the internet to be an invaluable resource for agritourism information and help.

“There are forums, Facebook pages, and associations,” says Marcell. “You can get a lot of help from people who are already doing this. When something weird comes up, you can go online for help.”

They recently just opened cute “glamping” cabins for the more modern tourist.

Connect, Connect, Connect

The Living Farm, Horse & Hen, and Mountain Goat Lodge all have one thing in common: their owners have made connections with their visitors and their communities.

The Wattles’ bed and breakfast stays full thanks to the personal connections they have made with their guests.

“Word-of-mouth has been huge for us,” says Rachel. “That’s pretty much all the marketing we’ve done besides the website and Facebook.”

As The Living Farm has proven, the farm-to-table, or farm-to-fork, movement is another way for farmers to get connected.

“With the farm-to-fork movement and the interest in local food, people are shopping at farmers markets and this has helped consumers get to know the farmer personally,” says Penny Leaf, agritourism coordinator in the University of California Small Farm Program.

Hepler, director of CAA, adds that consumers seem to care about farming much more than they used to and she points out that meeting a farmer often results in a willingness by the consumer to pay a higher price for that farmer’s product.

Lynn Gillespie thinks it goes even deeper.

“I think it’s important for farmers in agritourism to remember that people are coming to your farm to get connected and it’s important to connect them,” she says. “Whether you connect them through a cute little sheep or chicken, you need to fulfill that need — that hole in them that needs to be filled.”

The Rest of The Story

Colorado is not the only state where agritourism is flourishing. Colorado crafted HB 1280 on a successful Maine agritourism bill and agritourism success stories can be found in California, Vermont, New Jersey, Virginia, Tennessee and Kentucky.

A recently released study of Tennessee’s agritourism industry by researchers with the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture estimates that the economic impact of agritourism in the state more than doubled between 2006 and 2012.

While states like Maine and Colorado have passed bills that allow farmers and ranchers to run their agritourism operations with some liability protection, not all states have passed such legislation. In California, a state that’s been involved in agritourism for more than 50 years, no such legislation exists.

“Every county has their own rules and California has 58 counties,” says Leff. “So in each county there is a very slow movement to revise their general plans and ordinances so as to loosen some of the regulations. But permitting is probably the biggest challenge and liability is also a challenge.”

Leff went on to say that most of the agritourism in California is organized on a local level with county associations, farm trail groups and groups of farmers who are doing collaborative promotions of their farms and region.

Cooperation seems to be a key factor to successfully implementing agritourism as a money-making agriculture business.

There are several national organizations that can help a business with agritourism. The North American Farmers Direct Marketing Association (NAFDMA) is a “membership-based trade association dedicated to providing endless peer-to-peer learning opportunities, connections, and resources, for farmers who are passionate about the business of agritourism and farm direct marketing” (www.farmerinspired.com).

The National Agritourism Promoters Association (NAPA) works to create sustainable prosperity for agritourism venues through commitment to research, current information and personal mentoring.

The Gillespies, Wattles, and Marcell, stress the importance of taking small steps towards the agritourism implementation. A farmer may want to start with just one farm tour a month, in the beginning, to see how it goes.

“Hospitality is a big part of agritourism and it’s not for everybody,” says Hepler.

Leff urges farmers to check with their neighbors and county government before wading into agritourism waters. She warns that upset neighbors are sometimes the biggest barrier to a successful agritourism business.

For those who do take the plunge and do it properly, agritourism has many rewards, and the industry continues to grow.

“There is a big demand,” says Leff. “The tourism industry is very anxious for more places they can write about and more places they can send people. Right now, agritourism is really exciting.”

Heidi Kerr-Schlaefer is a freelance writer from Loveland, Colorado, and specializes in travel and tourism.

Things to Know Before Starting Your Agritourism Business

Is It Legal?

It’s important to check with your county government before starting any agritourism business no matter how small. There may be county rules regulating what you can and can’t do on your land. Beware of the rules before spending any time or money on agritourism.

Will It Bother Your Neighbors?

Neighbors can be the biggest challenge to a farm that wants to start agritourism on their property. Will your neighbors mind the increased traffic? Will your neighbors mind the signage? It’s wise to chat about your agritourism ideas with your neighbors before moving ahead with any plans.

What Is Your Liability?

When you invite someone onto your land, you are subject to legal liability if they get hurt. While some states have passed legislation limiting liability for farmers involved in agritourism, many have not. However, there are ways to limit your liability even without legislation in place. Go online to see the “Top 10 Ways to Limit Your Liability When Visitors Comes to Your Farm” by Anita K. Poole, Kerr Center for Sustainable Agriculture.

Do You Understand Hospitality?

Hospitality is the friendly reception and treatment of guests and strangers. Hospitality is vital to a successful agritourism business, and while agritourism occurs on a farm or ranch it is very different from farming and ranching. Take an assessment of your personal skills and those of your employees before embarking down the agritourism path.

Author’s Note: “Biosecurity” involves preventative measures designed to reduce the risk of transmission of infectious diseases in crops and livestock. According to the individuals interviewed for this article, biosecurity is a non-issue when it comes to agritourism. In these cases, farmers are not worried about the public bringing infectious livestock diseases onto their farms because it is unlikely these visitors have been around livestock. Biosecurity is more of a concern for large, industrial-sized farms and ranches, and these types of businesses do not usually participate in agritourism activities.

Originally published in Countryside September/October 2015 and regularly vetted for accuracy.

Agritourism: A Money-Making Agriculture Business was originally posted by All About Chickens