Yosemite, Disneyland and California’s sun-soaked beaches get more notoriety, but don’t discount farms and ranches as tourist draws. Several successful Central Coast agritourism entrepreneurs, speaking today to farmers at the 2007 California Farm Conference in Monterey, said farms offer unique opportunities to generate revenue and agricultural advocates.

Dick and Kim Rogers of Hollyhock Farms in Templeton, learned through trial and error how to get into the agritourism market. They started out with a roadside stand and then sold produce at five farmers’ markets. A few years ago, after the passage of a farm stay law in California in 1999, they went into the farm bed and breakfast business.

“The law basically authorizes people who derive the bulk of their income from agriculture to host up to 15 people per night and feed them any meal without the need for commercial kitchen,” Dick Rogers said.

The law allowed the Rogers to invite guests to stay in a cottage on the farm. Last year, they booked 138 nights of lodging days at $150 a night.

“So that adds to the bottomline. A lot about agritourism is about sweetening your bottomline,” Rogers said. “Raising and selling crops – cantaloupe, watermelons and tomatoes – that pays the bills, but there’s a lot more there if you take advantage of it. We’re slowly taking advantage of everything that our farm has to offer.”

Rogers advised farmers in the audience that agritourism is not without hard work, strategic planning and other requirements.

“You’d better have a good attitude and like having people around,” he said. “You also need to know that there is a lot of work involved. I have been working harder now than I ever have been,” said Rogers, a former Los Angeles County sheriff.

Hollyhock Farms offers u-pick flowers, a flower shop, organic chickens and eggs, and farm tours.

Nita Gizdich, owner of Gizdich Ranch in Watsonville, added her tips, recommendations and insights gained from more than 20 years in agritourism. Her ranch sells berries, apples, juices and an assortment of pies and other farm products from the ranch’s bake shop.

One of her biggest tips?

“Listen to your customers,” said Gizdich, who began marketing olalliberries on roadside signs before some of her customers knew what they were. Gizdich, who often travels to farm conferences across the country, became intrigued with an idea to add apple cider donuts to her menu several years ago, but that endeavor flopped.

“I planted more donuts out in my orchard than I sold out that window because California was not into apple cider donuts,” she said. “No matter how we advertised, it didn’t work. Our pie shop was only two years old and we were still learning.”

Gizdich has lead hundreds of farm tours for school children over the years and now entertains the children of parents who first came to the ranch as kids for tours. Even buses of residents of assisted care living facilities come our regularly to taste farm-fresh produce and sample some of her baked goodies.

“It is a wonderful, wonderful way to bring people back on the ranch,” she said.

One of the drawbacks of hosting farm tours and other events is liability and the cost of insurance. Gizdich said she takes out a special insurance policy for special annual festivals, which draw large numbers of visitors to the ranch. Due to insurance restrictions, she has discontinued hayrides.

Ellie Rilla, the Marin County UC Cooperative Extension director, moderated the agritourism panel, said the experiences of Gizdich and Rogers demonstrate many of the essential elements of successful agritourism.

“Know your market, know who you are and who you aren’t. Be willing to work hard, use your imagination,” Rilla said. “Do what fits your situation and your lifestyle.”

Elaine Work, of Work Ranch in Monterey County, advised farmers to look at their property for assets that can be used for agritourism. Elaine and George Work are third generation farmers who operate a ranch that has existed since the 1880s.

“If you have horses, horse camps. If you have lots of game species on your property, probably a third of our income come from hunting,” she said. “If you are on a flyway, people may want to come and watch birds, so look at those opportunities.”

Work and other farmers support the Central Coast Agritourism Council, which has published a map of area agritourism attractions, which include farms, ranches, wineries and other places to connect consumers with agriculture.

Among the 70 farmers in the audience was Steve and Vickie Murray, of Murray Family Farms near the Kern County town of Arvin. After farming for 18 years selling crops through traditional marketing channels, the Murrays started selling at farmers’ markets and then decided to start a roadside stand. They may entertain farm stays after Monday’s workshop.

“One of the things we never considered was farm stays. That looks like an interesting opportunity,” Steve Murray said. “More than anything else is looking at why we’re doing what we’re doing. A lot of times you think you are doing to make money and survive, but the reason we are doing it is much more noble reason than that. To connect with people who are very distant from where the food is grown that they consume.”

The agritourism session was among the 18 workshops offered Monday at the conference, which drew more than 350 farmers, farmers’ market managers and others to Monterey. The conference wraps up Tuesday afternoon.

Information about the Central Coast Agritourism Council is available at www.www.agadventures.org.

source : www.capitalpress.info