Episode 34 - Is agritourism a viable income stream onfarm?

Farmers looking to implement a value-add business onfarm might want to consider looking into agritourism - with options such as self-contained holiday homes, glamping, and sunflower fields just to name a few. What you might consider ordinary on your farm, might just be extraordinary to an overseas or domestic customer. 

But where do you get started? And does it really bring in enough revenue to make it worth it? Hear from three experts and farmers in both the consultancy and agritourism space, covering where to start, what to consider, and what the rewards are. 

Guests include:

1. Renee Hogg, Owner & Consultant, Inside New Zealand Ltd.
2. Abbe Hoare, Farmer and sunflower entrepreneur, Mangamaire Sunflower Field
3. Annabel Craw, Farmer, Ridgecliff

Hosts:

1. Rebecca Greaves, Editor, Country-Wide
2. Lucinda Diack, Chief Publishing & Production Officer, CountryWide Media

Consultant and Owner of Inside New Zealand Ltd. Renee Hogg discusses ways farmers can look into diversifying their onfarm business, especially in the area of agritourism. She explains what farmers need to consider when getting started, and how to overcome obstacles holding them back. 

She says there doesn’t have to be a huge amount of financial investment to get started, but there does need to be a solid plan and marketing. It can also be a good opportunity to extend the brand to the entire farm, which can help the business in other ways. 

Abbe Hoare utilises her 90 hectares of farm land to grow sunflowers which has become an important stream of their onfarm income. She explains how they looked at value-add options, but were put off by the idea of maintaining a glamping business - especially when it came to making beds! Instead, they now provide a private picnic business in their sunflower field, and even host elopements too. 

Annabel and Hamish Craw are sixth generation sheep and beef farmers near Little Akaloa on the South Island’s Banks Peninsula. They have two accommodation properties on their farm, and have integrated them into areas of regenerating bush, to make the most of showing off the natural biodiversity onfarm. 

Annabel discusses how they made the agritourism business fit into their farm business, and how they’ve managed to make it financially rewarding. 

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