A guide to connecting your farm with the greater community
Bringing visitors onto your farm can be a great way to connect with your local community. Hosting school field trips, tours, workshops, pick-your-own fruit or vegetable hours, or other special events can expand your customer base, educate people of all ages on where their food comes from, and inspire students through experiential learning opportunities.
However, despite the numerous benefits of acting as a host, engaging with visitors can be challenging and it is important to plan ahead to make sure that you are fully prepared for all kinds of scenarios.
In deciding whether or not visitors are appropriate for your farm, it is useful to consider the following questions:
- What is it about your farm that you would like to share?
- What are your goals around hosting visitors?
- What kinds of people are you hoping to attract?
- Is your farm logistically prepared to act as a host?
a. Physical access: How will visitors be getting there? Could a bus comfortably reach your farm? Do you have parking available?
b. Physical structures: Are the physical structures of your farm in good shape? Is there a space where large groups could gather?
c. Insurance: What kind of insurance does your farm have? Would it cover the visitors you are hoping to attract?
d. Safety: What are the hazards present on your farm? Have you conducted a risk assessment? Do you have an emergency plan? Do you have appropriate signage?
e. Staff: Who will be in charge of visitors? Is the available staff fully trained for the tasks expected of them?
f. Facilities: Will visitors be consuming food on your farm? Do you have a hand washing station? Are there bathrooms available?
- What kinds of activities will be part of a typical visit?
- When will you offer visits?
- How will you schedule visits?
- Will you charge visitors a fee? How much do you think is appropriate?
- How will you go about attracting visitors?
- Will you send visitors home with anything?
Tips
When hosting a visit, it can be helpful to keep the following tips in mind:
- Know your visitors: If working with school groups, ask teachers about students beforehand: It can help to know age, what has been done in preparation for the trip, language abilities, and relevant behavioral or physical concerns
- Photography: If you are planning to take photos of visitors to use for outreach and social media, make sure you have proper permissions
- Keep groups small: Breaking larger visitor groups down can help people get the most out of the trip – there is more space for asking questions, it can be easier to hold people’s attention, and it can reduce the chance of accidents happening
- Describe the day’s agenda to the group: Explain to groups what they need to know right off the bat. Discuss the plan for the day, confirm who is in charge, and talk through any safety hazards and rules (even if you have signage, it is important to vocalize these concerns too!)
- Let your staff know about the tour: Make sure you and/or your staff is familiar with the flow of the visit and feels comfortable with the schedule, tour routes, lesson plans, and other activities
- Plan ahead & prepare for unknowns: Know what you will do if it rains, if the group is late, if you have last-minute staff changes, if you have extra time, etc.
Resources
Looking for more information? The following resources complied by organizations and institutions across the country offer in-depth how-to’s, lesson plans, templates, and inspiration to get started hosting visitors on your farm.
