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Sharing the Farm Experience: Women Farmers Manage Risk through Agritourism

Jan Joannides

Summary

Women farmers and agritourism are natural partners, blending hospitality, educational outreach and a passion for sharing farm life while managing financial risk through income diversification. This session covers key elements that create a successful agritourism enterprise, with a particular focus on women who have created agritourism businesses that diversify their sustainable agriculture operations—from farm stays to workshops.

Session attendees will learn about:

• Challenges and opportunities during the start-up/business development phase
• Working with local zoning and regulations
• Opportunities within green/sustainable travel trends
• Target marketing and advertising, including social media
• Generating off-season income
• Supporting beginning women farmers in agritourism development

Advice and insight from successful women agritourism entrepreneurs will be shared, along with learnings from the RME project, “Managing Risk in New Agritourism Enterprises,” which focused on providing assessment and feasibility study support for small and mid-sized farmers interested in starting or expanding such enterprises.

The session will be facilitated by two leading green travel experts: Jan Joannides is the Executive Director of Renewing the Countryside, a nonprofit organization that runs Green Routes, an educational and marketing program supporting sustainable travel and agritourism, and a Senior Fellow at the Minnesota Institute for Sustainable Agriculture at the University of Minnesota. Lisa Kivirist runs Inn Serendipity Farm and B&B with her family in Wisconsin, one of the “Top Ten Eco-Destinations” in North America (completely powered by the wind and the sun) and co-author of Farmstead Chef, Rural Renaissance and ECOpreneuring.

Details

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