Completed Project Report


Agritourism Intensive: Managing the risks of agritourism as an income diversification strategy in California

  • Award Amount: $49,761
  • Regional Center: Western Extension Risk Management Education Center
  • Grant Program: 2012 Competitive Grant Program
  • Project Director: Shermain Hardesty
  • Email: shermain@primal.ucdavis.edu
  • Organization: UC Davis, Dept of Agricultural and Resource Economics

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Project Overview

This project used a peer-reviewed agritourism manual, incorporated learning from previous workshops, and partnered with producer organizations and the National Agricultural Law Center to deliver strategies for understanding, evaluating and managing the risks of agritourism enterprises on small-scale farms and ranches. We offered a series of three workshops in three different California regions. At the first workshops, 97 small-scale producers increased their understanding of potential agritourism enterprises, regulations and risk management and assessed the risks, costs and benefits of current or planned agritourism businesses. At the second workshops, 77 participants began drafting business plans, discussed their assessments of their own farms and ranches for agritourism potential with each other, and learned about the hospitality business. At the third workshops, 68 participants learned about effective marketing and began drafting their marketing strategies. Three months after the last workshop, many were actively planning new enterprises, at least 3 had completed business plans, at least 13 had begun implementing business plans, at least 15 had implemented new marketing strategies, at least 7 had made changes to reduce legal risk, and at least 11 had established ongoing consultation relationships with experienced agritourism operators or fellow class participants.

Number of Participants: 97

Outcomes

Project Steps

PROMOTIONAL MATERIALS

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EDUCATIONAL MATERIALS

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REPORTS & EVALUATIONS

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DELIVERY AREA

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