Louisiana Agritourism: Pick-Your-Own Operations

Monday, May 7, 2012

Pick-Your-Own Operations

Pick-Your-Own operations are an excellent way to sell your produce directly off your farm. Entrepreuners who choose this method of sales should be aware that pick-your-own farms generally have the most business on weekends, require a friendly farm staff to meet and greet customers, requires less labor costs and necessitates the need for more liability insurance. This is a great option for the person who can meet all the needs above. Generally the season for pick-your-own crops are short. Pick-your-own opertaions require lots of marketing to bring customers to your farm. There are numerous marketing methods that have proven successful. Try any or all of these: -MarketMaker website -Pick-Your-Own website -Local Harvest website -Social media outlets: Facebook or Twitter

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Agritourism Law Limits Liability

In 2008, the Louisiana Legislature expanded the limitation of liability found in La R.S. 9:2795 et seq to include certain agritourism activities. The legislation authored by Representative Andy Anders and Senators Francis Thompson and Mike Walsworth provides that the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Foresty (LDAF) will develop a set of rules and regulations and that the LSU AgCenter will define a “plan of operation” for an agritourism venture and review those plans.

More about this law can be found on the LSU AgCenter Web site: www.lsuagcenter.com/agritourism

2012 Agriculture Census Shows Increase in Farming

WASHINGTON, May 2, 2014 –There are now 3.2 million farmers operating 2.1 million farms on 914.5 million acres of farmland across the United States, according to the 2012 Census of Agriculture, released today by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

“Once every five years, farmers, ranchers and growers have the unique opportunity to let the world know how U.S. agriculture is changing, what is staying the same, what’s working and what we can do differently,” said Dr. Cynthia Clark, the retiring head of USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service, which administered the survey.

Eighty-seven percent of all U.S. farms are operated by families or individuals.
Principal operators were on average 58.3 years old and were predominantly male; second operators were slightly younger and most likely to be female; and third operators were younger still.
In Louisiana agritourism grew from 170 farms in 2007 to 361 farms in 2012.
In Louisiana onfarm agritourism sales jumped from $2,486 to $8,996 in 2012.
In Louisiana the definition of agritourism is broader than the definition in the census; meaning that numbers are greater.