Integrating Safety into Agritourism

The National Children's Center for Rural and Agricultural Health and Safety at Marshfield Clinic in Wisconsin authors materials to help farmers prevent accidents on the farm.   Integrating Safety into Agritourism is just one of their many online resources. This resource has excellent tools you can use to make your agritourism operations safe.Click here to learn more.

Building a Sustainable Business: A Guide to Developing a Business Plan for Farms and Rural Businesses

Building a Sustainable Business: A Guide to Developing a Business Plan for Farms and Rural Businesses brings the business planning process alive to help today's alternative and sustainable agriculture entrepreneurs transform farm-grown inspiration into profitable enterprises.

Sample worksheets lend a practical perspective and illustrate how real farm families set goals, researched processing alternatives, determined potential markets, and evaluated financing options. Blank worksheets help the reader develop a detailed, lender-ready business plan or map out strategies to take advantage of new opportunities.

Publication alsow available in spanish.

Agritourism Professionals Must Be Experts in Hospitality

As an agritourism professional, each time to open your gates to guests it should be like opening your front door to guests in your home. Guests want to feel special. So, take the time to give them attention and they will return.  

Hospitality Tips:

1-Your guests first impression is important.  Make sure that your agricultural operation is as clean and organized as a working agricultural operation can be. If the tractor broke down, put it in the barn, seeing a tractor in need of repair with parts strewn everywhere might make the guest question safety.

2-Be at the entrance waiting for your guests arrival. Greet them with a hello and a handshake and thank them for coming.

3- Give them directions to the  restrooms and ask them to meet up at a given location at a specific time. Example: At 10 o'clock we will meet in front of the red barn.  If the group is children, relay this message to all the adults and ask for their help.

4-Train your staff to be kind to guests by listening to their needs and solving their problems.  For example, if someone has a physical disability allow them to ride in an all terrain vehicle or allow them to drive their own vehicle.

5-Apologize to guests when things don't go as planned.

5-Provide clear instruction and post signs where needed to help guests stay on the right path.

6-When they prepare to leave, thank them again for coming.

Fall Gardening Workshop in Hammond. September 30th

The LSU AgCenter and the Tangipahoa Parish Master Gardeners Association have scheduled a fall garden workshop series on Sept. 30, Oct. 28 and Nov. 18 from 9 a.m. to noon at the AgCenter’s Hammond Research Station.

Each workshop will cover topics from fall vegetable gardening tips, container gardening ideas, Louisiana Super Plants for fall, winter planting for pollinators and bees, monarchs and milkweeds and ending with native trees for Louisiana, according to LSU AgCenter agent Whitney Wallace. For more information click here.

Why Local Food Matters Seminar Today at 10 Central

No advance registration is required.  Simply click on the link on the

day to join.  Enter as Guest with just your name.

A clickable link is: https://msues.adobeconnect.com/_a828402417/srdc/

Sell Fall Produce for Added Income

Fall is almost here! Time to set up a roadside stand or attend a farmers market to sell cornstalks,  pumpkins, hay and Indian corn for Halloween decorations.

People like pumpkins in all sizes and shapes. The small ones are very popular with children and the larger ones can be used in a clustered arrangement near the front door. And, of course the all-time favorite use of the larger pumpkins is to make a jack-o-lantern.

If you want to go to a farm this fall; it's time to book your trip. Field trips to area agritourism venues book fast. Most venues offer free pumpkins with the price of admission.