It’s not always easy and sometimes it’s not even feasible, but animals can be an important part of an agritourism venue. Since we as a society have moved so far away from the farm and even further from interacting with certain live animals, many venues use animals to create important memories as well as what we like to call “teachable moments”. Animals provide the link between the world we live in and what is behind that world. They allow people to understand the origin of some of our food as well as simply experience the joy of interacting with a new form of life.

So let’s talk about petting zoos and things like it for the next several...

We are always looking for ways to improve our venues and to add new things that will help us appeal to an even broader demographic resulting in an increased number of visitors to our farm.  Adding a haunted attraction to your venue can be a great way to do just that.  On the other hand, if executed poorly, they can be what haunts your dreams at night (pun intended).  In my opinion, of all the major attractions that we may add to our venue, this one is the one that takes the most resources and is the toughest to get right but if we pull it off – the rewards can be significant.

Farms are able to offer some unique things that cann...

Reason 1:  Capitalize on a Current Event or Trending Topic!

Themes can be a powerful guest magnet if you choose the right one.  Think Big!  Pick a theme that has broad appeal.  Stay away from themes that are only about your farm or your town.  Use a theme that has the potential of drawing traffic from hours away!  Here are some of the themes we have done over the years:

• Chicago Bears vs. Green Bay Packers (our venue was located about 100 miles from both Chicago & Milwaukee)

• New York Giants vs. Philadelphia Eagles (our PA venue)

• Presidential Election themes (during election years)

• NASCAR (the year it...