Using Agritourism to Finance Your Life in the Country
The fundamental problem that keeps many would-be hobby farmers from moving to a rural location is how to make a living in the country without commuting hours to work in the city every day, or risking the entire year’s income on the whims of nature. For the majority of people looking to go “off grid” the goal isn’t to be completely self-sustaining, to be a hermit, or make a living off the land by raising crops or livestock. Their goal is to live a simpler life, a healthier life; and to enjoy the beauty and calm of nature.
Well the good news is you don’t have to wait until you are retirement age to start this journey. Rather than commuting to work, why not invite others to share in the beauty of your farm? Ask yourself this: Wouldn’t it be nice to stay on a country farm for a week on your next vacation instead of that busy tourist-trap or expensive beach you usually go to? Wouldn’t it be nice to experience an old-fashioned bed and breakfast, or perhaps stay in your own fully-equipped country cottage or mountain cabin for a few days – just to wind down and meditate on what’s really important in your life?
You’re not alone! Many other people would like to do that too, which is why there is a huge market for agritourism and rural accommodation, especially if it’s on a farm with activities. Heck, there’s a whole website dedicated to farm vacations with lots of places doing exactly that!
The going rate for farm cottages and B&Bs seems to be $120 – $150 a night!
And there are plenty of things you can do to entice families or couples (or even entire schools!) to stay at your place…
- Teach the kids how to milk a cow/goat.
- Let guests collect their own eggs for breakfast.
- Cheesemaking workshops where guest get to keep what they make.
- Organic gardening classes
- Petting zoo
- Corn maze
- Hay rides
- Horseback riding
- Fishing
- The list goes on and on…
You can even make money by acting as a “travel agent” or “concierge” and setting your guests up with off-farm activities like white water rafting or, if you don’t offer it, horseback rides. Most tourist activity operations will pay a nice commission if you bring them steady business.
Don’t have time to teach classes? I know a farm that has someone come out once a week to teach their guests how to knit (if anyone signs up for the class) and spends over an hour at the farm doing this for FREE! Her motivation is that the students will want to buy some knitting supplies after class, or perhaps give her a nice tip if they feel so inclined.
How to Get Started: Do Your Homework
The first thing you should do is not believe me. If we all believed everything we heard about how to make a living in the country everyone would have an Ostrich or Alpaca farm and we’d all be in debt up to our ears with nothing to show for it but the cost of feed. Instead, do your own homework. For instance, know that you can’t keep those rooms, cottages or cabins rented out all year, or that your corn maze or pick-your-own-pumpkin patch is only going to bring in money a few weeks out of the year. So contact other people who are already doing it and ask them about their experiences. Go stay on a “farmstay” for a weekend and talk to the owners. How many weeks out of the year do they keep their units rented out? How much do they have to pay in extra utilities or liability insurance? How far away from the city can you get before people just don’t want to drive out for a weekend get-a-way?
Who knows, if you look hard enough you might even find a piece of land for less than your current home, but with ten acres, a nice farm house AND a country cottage or barn loft apartment to rent out already. Build a couple more units, put up a website and you’re in business!
…if only it were that easy.
Farmstay and Agritourism Resources
- Farm Stays in Vermont
- Running a B&B Resources
- Directory of Rural Accommodations
- Blue Ridge Farmstyle Cabin Rentals
- Hobby Farms Magazine
- Directory of Agritourism Resources
- Book About Building Corn Mazes
- How to Start a Pick-Your-Own Farm Operation
- The Oregon Bed and Breakfast Guild
- Professional Association of Innkeepers Internations
Wonderful article! I intend to share this with members of our state & national bed and breakfast associations. Our bed and breakfast is not “off the grid” but there are some locally who are. Thank you for such a comprehensive presentation.
–Heather
To whom it may concern:
My husband and I have moved back to Ruidoso, NM to take back the lodge we had sold 4 years ago. While we were gone the then owners ran the place to the ground and the bank foreclosed on them. We just got back a week ago and need to market it different. My thoughts were to “go green” and I need help in that direction.
Thank you for your time,
Jacque Craig
Jacque,
Seeing as how most people who stay in cabin rentals are from out of town, you can’t expect them to find you in the phone book. Most of them are probably going to look online, and most of those people are probably going to use Google. I think you should look into better search engine optimization of your site. For instance…
http://www.shadowmountainlodge.com/cabinindex.htm
Change the TITLE (as in the meta title) of this page to “Ruidoso Cabins – Cabin Rentals in Ruidoso New Mexico”
Change the meta description to something that includes those keywords as well, instead of the default meta description that appears on every page of your site. The same goes for your meta keywords. As one idea for a description: “Stay at Shadow Mountain Lodge and enjoy the natural beauty of Ruidoso, New Mexico. Our cabin rentals start at $100 for two-person occupancy. Learn more at Shadow Mountain Lodge, Ruidoso, NM.”
Utilize header tags like H1 and H2 tags. These would go where you currently have CABINS, but instead of just “CABINS” that would say “Ruidoso, New Mexico Cabin Rentals” or something like that. Or maybe you have a Heading AND a Subheading like…
Shadow Mountain, NM Lodge & Cabins:
Ruidoso, New Mexico Cabin Rentals
That way you have your brand name, cabins plural, cabin singular, New Mexico, NM, Cabin rentals, Ruidoso… these are all words people are going to type into Google to find your website.
And that’s just the start. SEO is free (meaning you don’t have to pay for a click from Google, although you might have to pay someone to optimize your site) and is the best way there is to advertise because people are actually ASKING to see your advertisement in the form of a search result, rather than you forcing it on them in a magazine ad or radio commercial.
Good luck in bringing your lodge back to life!
Just so you know, it is possible to have something to show for an alpaca farm, my parents went that route. It isn’t easy though.
)
My wife and I love the idea of agritourism and have been planning to give it a go someday. Thanks for providing the links to so many great resources!