Is Agritainment Right For Your Farm?

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Agritainment or agritourism, where you open your farm to the public for activities, can be a great way for farm or ranch owners to expand business opportunities for their ag operation and diversify revenue streams. Plus, it can be a good method to connect with people in your community and build relationships. However, it’s not right for every farm, and there are a lot of things you need to consider anytime you open your farm or ranch to the public. Is agritainment right for your farm? Here’s what to consider:

1. What type of agritainment are you considering for your farm?
2. What are you hoping to gain from a specific agritainment activity?
3. Do you have the resources to add agritainment to your operations?
4. Can you handle the risk associated with agritainment?
5. Do you have the right insurance coverage for agritainment?

1. What Type of Agritainment Are You Considering For Your Farm?

Agritourism, or agriculture tourism or agritainment, covers a lot of different activities. From education to recreation, retail, and more, any activities that bring the public onto your farm or ranch can fall under the agritainment umbrella. The activities you’re considering will each have their own set of specific considerations and implications for your farm, insurance coverage, etc.

29 Common Types of Agritainment Activities

Common types of agritainment activities can include, but are not limited to:

1. Direct farm marketing (farm markets or market goods)
2. Farm tours
3. School field trips
4. Nursery/greenhouse tours
5. Hayrides/Tractor rides
6. Scavenger hunts
7. Nature trails
8. Corn mazes
9. Sleigh rides
10. Horse-drawn carriage rides (on the property)
11. Horse-drawn carriage tours (outside the property)
12. Christmas tree farms
13. U-Pick or Pick-Your-Own operations
14. Petting zoos or animal feeding
15. Horseback riding
16. Horse training
17. Livestock shows or demonstrations
18. Wine tasting
19. Harvest festivals
20. Farm stays/B&Bs
21. Camping
22. Farm-to-table dinners
23. Cooking classes
24. Farm-themed workshops/classes
25. Barn dances
26. Barn weddings
27. Renting buildings for events
28. Animal/farm chore participation
29. Birdwatching/wildlife viewing

2. What Are You Hoping to Gain From a Specific Agritainment Activity?

When thinking about your farm or ranch and determining what agritainment activities you might consider pursuing, also consider what you hope to gain from a specific activity and how it could affect other areas of your operation. There can be several benefits of expanding into agritainment, and knowing what you hope to accomplish with a specific agritainment activity can help you determine what is right for your specific situation to achieve them.

9 Potential Benefits of Adding Agritainment to Your Farm or Ranch

Here are some of the potential benefits of expanding into agritainment for your farm or ranch:

1. Diversifying revenue streams
2. Utilizing existing resources better
3. Improving farm sustainability
4. Allows for year-round opportunities
5. Creating value-added opportunities
6. Boosting branding and marketing for your farm
7. Increasing public engagement
8. Building stronger community connections
9. Offering agricultural education opportunities

14 Questions to Ask When Evaluating the Goals of Potential Agritainment Activities

Take some time to define your goals and consider the consequences, unintended or otherwise. Ask yourself:

1. What goals are you trying to achieve by adding this revenue stream?
2. How does this activity align with your ag operation’s identity and core values?
3. How does it benefit your ag operation?
4. Is the activity seasonal or year-round?
5. How could this activity grow or scale over time?
6. What other areas of your ag operation would a specific agritainment activity affect?
7. How does it affect day-to-day farm operations for your core ag business?
8. Who is your target customer for the activity?
9. What is the local demand or competition for the activity?
10. Are there things you are currently lacking that could keep you from reaching your desired goals?
11. Are there resources you will need to acquire to successfully offer a specific agritainment activity?
12. Are there external or community resources that could benefit you?
13. Are there external or community factors that could hurt your new agribusiness venture?
14. What other challenges might be associated with adding a specific agritainment activity?

For example, farms that grow row crops could convert a fallow field into a seasonal maze. However, the public access and use of this land does have an effect on the land, which can affect how and when you prepare and use it for future growing seasons.

If you produce market goods that you already sell to the public or want to sell to the public, cooking classes, workshops, or demonstrations using those products can help you bring more people in, connect with them directly, provide them with something of value, and sell more of your farm products. At the same time, this does mean making sure you have the market goods available, as well as the space, tools, and time for hosting the classes/workshops.

3. Do You Have the Resources to Add Agritainment to Your Operations?

Running a business is difficult, and agricultural operations have distinct challenges and obstacles. With the addition of public access to your property, plus everything involved with the activity itself, agritainment adds even more unique challenges to managing an ag operation.

Agritourism will also require time and resources, and can pull you away from your core ag operation. If you do not have enough time, resources, staff, etc. to run your core ag business as well as the agritainment activities you want to add, you won’t be able to do what is required to run both of them successfully.

4. Can You Handle the Risk Associated With Agritourism?

Agritourism can increase opportunities for your farm or ranch, but it also multiplies risk. There is always a risk with anything new. In the case of agritourism, you have to consider the risks of the venture itself, along with all of the risks that come along with allowing visitors onto your farm or ranch property, while also protecting your primary ag business.

Training your employees, maintaining your property, posting visible signage and safety guidelines, and more can help lower risk and help farmers avoid frivolous liability claims. Having the right pieces in place to run your agritainment ventures, whether that’s equipment, employees, or other resources, makes a big difference in managing the risk associated with expanding your ag operation into agritainment.

5. Do You Have the Right Insurance Coverage For Agritainment?

Because agritourism adds new potential risks to a farm or ranch, there will be insurance considerations for your operation. Expanding your operations, especially when expanding into agritainment, is one of the reasons why you need additional liability coverage for your ag operation.

You may also find that your current farmowner’s policy doesn’t have the coverage you need for agribusiness ventures. Exploring an agribusiness policy vs a farmowner’s policy is an important conversation to have with your insurance agent when you are considering expanding into agritainment for your farm.

They will also be able to review your current coverage and identify any changes that need to be made or endorsements that should be added to cover your new agribusiness ventures. Having the right insurance is key to lowering your risk and protecting your agritainment investment, while also protecting your core ag business.

Get the Agritainment Insurance You Need With Ruhl Insurance, a Division of Horst Insurance

Is agritainment right for your farm? It can be in the right circumstances. After considering everything involved, if you’ve decided that adding agritainment to your farm is the right decision, you can start working through the business plan as well as the legal, liability, and insurance considerations to get started.

If you need to review your farm insurance policy or add insurance coverage for new agritainment operations, contact Ruhl Insurance, a Division of Horst Insurance, at 717-665-2283 or 800-537-6880. We can help you get the commercial agribusiness insurance coverage you need for your ag operation.

Disclaimer: Information and claims presented in this content are meant for informative, illustrative purposes and should not be considered legally binding.