A Glimpse of Rock Ranch in Georgia
Sadly, S. Truett Cathy died on Monday, September 8, 2014 at age 93.
The Rock Ranch in Georgia is a
great example of agritourism. The 1,500
acre ranch owned by the founder Chick-fil-A®, S. Truett Cathy was
started as a Brangus cattle operation and in 1994; Mr. Cathy began
offering tours to school groups and church groups; and hosting corporate and
private events on the ranch.
All the activities on the ranch must meet Mr.
Cathy’s personal goals for the ranch by “Uniting families with the land and
each other” and “Growing Healthy Families.” Mr. Cathy and his manager, Jeff
Manley, use the rural setting of the ranch and its natural resources to help children
understand values.
Several years ago, I had the opportunity to
travel to the ranch with other agritourism professionals and meet Mr. Cathy and
Mr. Manley. The ranch is ideally located one hour from Atlanta and Columbus,
and 40 minutes from Macon. They have an
excellent website that gives an overview of the ranch and provides information
on group tours and other activities at the ranch. Please
visit www.therockranch.com
for more details.
So, why are they such a great example? They have taken their
assets and built on them. When we toured we asked how much of their cash flow
for new activities came from the founder of Chick-fil-A®.
Manley explained that his job was to make the agritourism operation
self-sustaining and that he had the same struggles of other agritourism
operations in the region. Each year they
add or change something to keep their operation fresh and new for visitors.
The lay out of the ranch allows for several field
trips to take place simultaneously offering different themes and providing the
opportunity to host different age groups. While every agritourism operation
will not have that opportunity, the way they structure their field trips can be
duplicated. They focus on the fall and
spring primarily when they have the most happening on the ranch for field
trips. In the summer they offer more play time in a ranch setting. There are
also numerous opportunities to visit the ranch during other times, but those
must be planned for in advance.
How often and when can you host groups of people
on your farm or ranch will depend on your access to a labor supply. Guests want
to talk with someone who herds cows, rides the tractor or picks the garden. That
person is usually someone who works on the farm. They don’t have to have on
pressed clothes; they need to look like they just stepped out of the cow
pen. Your tour guides are part of the
experience.
At The Rock Ranch, tours are planned around some
of the horticulture crops allowing guests to help harvest. They offer six weeks of tours in the fall and
spring and divide each week day into themes. On Monday, Wednesday and Friday
the field trips include whatever flowers, vegetables and new born animals are
on the farm. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, guests learn more about the ecology of
the farm. Wildlife, worms, composting, trees and seed planting are just some of
the subjects covered on those days.
In addition to group and school tours, they have
dwellings located on the property they rent for overnight stays. Who would not
want to wake up in such a beautiful place? They also have a rare collection of
Conestoga wagons they use for overnight stays.
