Growers Must Charge for Agritourism

The Fruit Growers News received the following response from Bill Bakan to our June question of the month: “Have you added anything new to your farm this season?”

Dear Editor,

We are continuing on our expansion of our agri-tourism venues. We have done corn mazes and related activities for the past seven years. This year we have added products as well as experienced-based revenue producers. I am not sure if it was this publication or not but a year or two ago there was an article about a place who did a pretty good deal of this and charged little to nothing. Please, if you enter into this area, charge the going market rate for family activities as per other industries. For years the public has been able to get food for next to nothing as a percentage of their incomes. When it comes to on-the-farm experiences, you are opening yourself up to risks and liabilities not otherwise encountered. You need to offset these circumstances with revenue generated by the activities as well as the associated increase in sales of your crops. The public expects, and is willing to pay for, farm experiences, and there is nothing wrong with charging for them. Price them fair, price them consistent, but make a profit!

The following is a list of new crops and activities as well as expanded activities we are going to offer at our farm for the coming season.

Crops:
  1. Blueberries (first harvest next season )
  2. Strawberries
  3. Raspberries
  4. Grapes
  5. Doubled greenhouse capacity (Mostly annual and perennial flower production)

Experiences:

  1. Summer "Farm Fantasy Day Camps"
  2. More frequent balloon lift offs
  3. Pumpkin Cannon (Mounted on the back of a fire truck)
  4. Expanded food service (three times)
  5. Expanded petting pasture and activity area
  6. Double haunted maze area
  7. Probable paintball corn maze

Marketing:

  1. Added another farmers’ market (Helped on committee to get it started) We will now retail at a total of five locations.
  2. Developed integrated marketing plan to expand maze market (Radio, sponsorships and still a growing list of participants)
  3. Planning and production for opening of a vineyard and winery for spring 2005
  4. Participant host on 2004 summer DAMA twilight tour

We are still working hard to make our market more attractive to our customers/guests. It is a struggle to brand I.D. our enterprise and compete in our area with discount retailers and lots of "Junkers". We have a large flea market near us and a great deal of produce that is destine for the dumpsters at the terminal markets finds its way into our back yard. While it is of very questionable quality the general public does not understand seasonality of crops (These are CHEAP!). So when these guys dump seedless watermelon for $2 in May, they still ask me why I don't have my produce here?

Expansion of our experience activities appears for now to be the only edge we can continue to hone. However, we are careful to make the core business of production the reason for the extra experiences, not the other way around. This is a careful line to walk and one that requires much discretion.

Thank you,

Bill Bakan
Maize Valley Farm Market
Hartville, Ohio
www.maizevalley.com


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