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AgritourismSD: A comprehensive risk management agritourism program

Stacy Hadrick

Summary

AgritourismSD is a two-year educational program that helps farmers and ranchers develop agritourism businesses tailored to their unique resources and goals. The program guides participants through an intensive curriculum where they define their agritourism venture, their resources, and desired outcomes. Through interactive workshops, webinars, case studies of established agritourism businesses, out of state travel study trips and networking opportunities, participants explore different agritourism models and create a strategic plan for growth.
AgritourismSD curriculum addresses risks in the areas of financial, market, legal, and human. The program breaks down the business development process into smaller, manageable steps and helps participants to think critically aligning their agritourism ideas with their long-term objectives.
This session will cover:
• The method the program was developed including details of the curriculum, tools used, and outline of workshops conducted over the 24-month process.
• Keys to selecting case studies of successful agritourism operations. The variety and depth of businesses featured invited participants to their operations for tours and immersive discussion on their business models.
• How the out of state travel study trips provides further exposure to established agritourism enterprises with stops that reinforced the workshop and webinar curriculum. They also provided critical opportunities to expand participants understanding beyond the borders of South Dakota.
• Finally, it will share impact of the program from the two separate cohorts made up of beginning farmers and ranchers in South Dakota. The third-party evaluations resulted in clear growth and readiness to grow their agritourism businesses.

Details

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