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Agricultural TourismAgricultural Tourism: Emerging Opportunities for Family Farmers and Rural Business
by Desmond A. Jolly Presented at the Agritourism Workshop, Walker Creek Ranch,
When Robert Rubin announced his resignation as Secretary of the Treasury last week, President Clinton praised him as the most effective Secretary of the Treasury since Alexander Hamilton. He was equally praised by Democrats and Republicans alike. He is credited, along with Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, as being the chief architect of the longest, non-inflationary postwar economic boom in the last 50 years. The number of millionaires in our country has grown at an incredible rate. And billionaires are no longer that unusual. Certainly Mr. Rubin is to be complimented, praised even, for his co-management of the U.S. economy. But it has not been, and is not an undiluted success. There are vast areas of less rosy parts of the picture. We could point to the Eastern European nations, some of which are economic basket cases, such as Russia and many of the former Soviet countries. We could point to much of what we used to call the Third World. We could point to the collapse of the Asian Tigers, even of the Asian Lion - Japan. Not that Mr. Rubin controls all of these economies, but he helps shape global economic policies that have eventuated in many of these outcomes. Closer to home, some industries have been big beneficiaries of the booming economy; others have been left out. Some have been victims of the economic growth and transformation of the past two decades - the last of which has been under Mr. Rubin's administration. One sector that currently does not appear to be tightly linked to the economic boom in the rest of the economy is agriculture. A key indicator of this is that, while incomes in most other sectors have been expanding, incomes in agriculture have been declining. Essentially, the fate of our agriculture is more closely linked now to situations in the rest of the world than it is to the United States. So in large measure we don't determine our fate. But though agriculture in general, and particularly Heartland agriculture, is in decline, some parts of agriculture are holding their own. Some specialty crops and more entrepreneurially driven parts of agriculture are not just surviving, but thriving. We are in a new set of circumstances, and smart people who have the necessary skills and vision are developing a new agriculture. This new agriculture is more consumer focused, and responds quickly and directly to an emerging set of interests, needs and demands by consumers. It is also more closely linked to domestic consumers. This trend started back in the 1970s with an increased interest in fresh, nutritious, and health oriented products. During the 1970s, we also witnessed an upsurge of interest in environmental concerns - protecting natural resources and biological diversity. Along with this increased concern about our biological heritage has evolved a concern with our social heritage - among which is the institution of the family farm. These concerns gave rise to the development of a host of institutions to address the society's concerns. At the University of California, we administer a number of these programs, including the Water Resources Center, the Genetic Resources Conservation program, the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program, and our own program, the University of California Small Farm Program. The New Agriculture
Beyond these programs, other opportunities for farms to respond to emerging consumer needs came in the form of programs like the Certified Farmers' Market program, which requires essentially an exception to the requirements of the California Agricultural Code to enable the kind of packaging and merchandising that takes place at farmers' markets. Farmers' markets facilitate a direct exchange of values between consumers and producers. Originally, farmers' markets catered to the emerging demand for farm fresh, diverse, flavorful produce that consumers were beginning to develop. But as importantly, and research is showing that consumers increasingly value these attributes, it allows consumers to have a different kind of food shopping experience. The whole quality of the experience is perceived by the consumer to be of a different sort when he or she buys directly from the grower and can engage in a more primal relationship with the producer. It allows the consumer a kind of vicarious participation in farming - in this rich social heritage of "the family farm." It was either in the late 1970s or early 1980s that a friend of mine who used to farm in Winters, California, proposed selling shares in his operation. He had learned of a kind of relationship between consumers and producers that was being used in Japan, whereby the urban consumers shared in farm production by purchasing shares in the expected crop production, and by providing some of the labor for cultivation or harvesting. At the time it seemed a rather farfetched notion that was sufficiently radical not to stand a good chance of making it in the U.S. But Community Supported Agriculture has not only made it, it has, for many family farms provided the critical difference in terms of their economic stability and social sustainability. It diversifies their income stream, adds stability to that income stream, and provides interest free cash for production. But perhaps as importantly, it forges meaningful relationships between farmers and non-farmers, and between urban and rural people. Many members of Community Supported Agriculture programs will spend several days per year camping in tents at the farm, participating in the work, and engaging in relationships with the farm family. So for many in Community Supported Agriculture programs, the benefits are more than just farm fresh produce. The benefits extend to participating in the rural farm experience, at least vicariously and knowing that they are choosing to help preserve a vital part of our social heritage - the family farm. There are many large issues about which people care, but over which they feel they have little control. Participating with family farmers in this way allows them to feel they have the power to make a difference about something that is important to their core values. This phenomenon leads directly into the area of agricultural tourism. Like direct markets and Consumer Supported Agriculture, it facilitates an exchange of values between the consumer and the farm community. Agricultural tourism takes many forms, including the drive-by, as in those who patronize farm and roadside stands and farm stays, where people come and stay for several days. Agricultural tourism includes educational tours, dude ranches, agricultural heritage festivals, tasting events, ag museums, county fairs, commodity festivals, such as the Gilroy Garlic Festival, and a host of other events and opportunities for consumers and producers to generate a meaningful exchange of values. Consumers value the ambiance, the experience, the difference, the cultural exchange, and the products. Farmers get a sense of satisfaction from providing positive experiences for people, from relationships that develop with these people, and, of course, from receiving a remuneration for their efforts. At the recent USDA National Agricultural Outlook Conference, a member of the panel on direct marketing discussed how she left a mid-career executive position in Southern California, returned to the family's apple operation in Missouri, and grew the business almost totally based on agricultural tourism, into a $3 million per year operation. She developed a range of products that could appeal to consumers over a long season and marketed them to urban residents. These products included such things as U-Pick apples, Halloween Festivals and a host of other activities that cater to the whole family. So if this farmer can build a $3,000,000 agtourism business in Missouri, others with requisite assets can develop a reasonable livelihood by developing various niche markets. Important assets are entrepreneurial skills - vision, coordination, people and marketing skills. In addition to knowing what a produce buyer or a packer or processor wants in terms of product quality, you need to have some sense of what people want, what they like to do, what kind of interests they have and how to relate to them. Since you will often have other people interacting with you - clients or customers, you will need to provide good training in customer relations and develop systems for quality control. Your business becomes more of a front-line versus a back room operation. The Role of UC Cooperative Extension
We (the Small Farm Program) applied for and received a grant from USDA in 1997 under the Fund for Rural America Program to help foster an educational program on agricultural tourism in California. We know that many agtourism activities and programs have been ongoing in California for decades - festivals, tasting rooms, county fairs and the like. But we saw a need to widen the net of participation by serving as a catalyst for developing the institutional framework to enhance the spread of agtourism in the state. In particular, we have an interest in seeing how family farmers can benefit. To this end, the Small Farm Program has developed a number of partnerships to support pilot projects in different parts of the state - San Diego, Marin, and the Central Coast, in particular. In each area, there is a core of key people taking the lead in organizing steering committees; developing plans; including visions, goals and objectives; and designing an educational program that can empower family farms and rural communities to meet a growing consumer demand for the rural and agricultural experience. A statewide Agricultural Tourism Working Group comprised of university research and extension faculty, farm and consumer advisors, and representatives from industry meet periodically to define an education and research agenda that can support the development of agtourism in California. This workshop is one product of a collaboration among members of the Working Group. Several of the presenters today belong to the working group and will share their knowledge on various aspects of the agtourism business. Hopefully, this workshop and follow up efforts will lay the foundational infrastructure to develop a dynamic agritourism sector in this region. This workshop can help establish vital linkages between and among key people that can facilitate this development. Conclusion The changing demographics and lifestyles of California's and the U.S. population offers opportunities for more closely linking agriculture to consumers. Exploiting these opportunities requires a new set of skills, somewhat different than those typical of a more conventional agriculture. It is direct marketing. Educational programs can assist in promoting the transition to this new agriculture, and the University of California, through its Small Farm Program and Cooperative Extension, will do its part to support the development of agritourism and the new agriculture.
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