About the Michigan Agritourism Toolkit

WHY IS THIS TOOLKIT IMPORTANT TO YOU?

Why do you need the toolkit?

• As you make business decisions or come across a new challenge at your operation, it’s important to have readily accessible, easy to understand, and up-to-date information on the topic you’re looking for.
• It’s sometimes easy to overlook critical information or regulatory compliance simply because you may not know it existed or that it applied to you.

There is a wide breadth of information readily available on agritourism. Almost to the point of overwhelming! This toolkit was designed to save you time by gathering pertinent information and supplementary material on many agritourism topics along with checklists, links, resources, and practical advice – all placed within a single document. A perfect starting point for your research.

Agritourism begins with a personal story about a farmer and their farm. The decision to expand their current operation may be one of financial need, looking for ways to keep their land for themselves and future generations, or simply the desire to educate the public about where their food comes from and the agricultural industry.

The toolkit provides links to many of these personal stories in the “Must Read Articles” sections where you will learn what motivated some farmers to add agritourism operation(s), their successes and failures when doing so, and their practical advice to others.

There are many reasons WHY they chose to adopt agritourism, and so very many ways they chose to do so.

• From what began as a family farm selling its few crops wholesale … as a small garden to feed the family … as an interest in raising chickens … as a passion for growing flowers…
• The farm expanded to include a farm market … a u-pick … a corn maze … a tasting room … a petting zoo … cider and donuts … and Christmas trees.
• Family farm … rented acres … owned and operated by multi-generational family who grew up on the farm … who works off the farm … who came back to the farm.

PROJECT BACKGROUND

For 20 years, Michigan Agritourism has been a key player in the growth of Michigan’s agritourism industry. Through supporting the industry and responding to the needs of its members, the organization identified a lack of answers to questions commonly asked by farmers and producers in their quest to explore agritourism.

The purpose of this toolkit is to create a “one-stop” online resource aimed at Michigan farmers who are interested in establishing and/or operating one or more areas of an agritourism business.

This toolkit will live on the Michigan Agritourism website, www.michiganfarmfun.com, and provide guidance to agritourism farms throughout Michigan on a wide variety of topics. It will also serve as a resource to help farmers navigate the many facets of setting up an agritourism business.

WHAT IS IN THE TOOLKIT?

What is in the toolkit?

• Information on the fundamentals, benefits and challenges of agritourism.
• Practical tools on administrative topics and operational best practices, as well as regulatory requirements in Michigan.
• Links to helpful resources including descriptions, explanations, checklists and references for additional information.

Toolkit Content

Currently there are over 60 content modules identified for this toolkit making it one of the broadest resources available for farmers and producers on the topic of agritourism.

The main content areas are:

• Core topics – information about the agritourism industry and this toolkit
• Business Basics – business plans, financing, insurance, marketing
• Regulations – Michigan GAAMPS, right to farm, food safety, zoning
• Retail – various aspects of agritourism involving retail
• Food and Beverage – areas relating to food, beverages, and alcohol
• Events – various aspects such as u-pick, farm festivals, entertainment, school groups, agritainment
• Lodging – farm stays, glamping, bed and breakfasts
• Animal – animal care and safety, visitor safety
• FAQs – common areas such as photography, pets, stress, difficult customers

What The Toolkit Does Not Include

The focus of this project is agritourism, not the growing and production of crops or livestock. It focuses on the interaction of you and your farm visitors, not how to grow your produce, feed your livestock, bottle your wine, or make your donuts.

Whenever possible, the content is centered on areas of interest to Michigan – laws, rules, regulations, and state-specific data. Though much is generalizable to farms in other states in the Midwest and across the U.S., it is mainly focused on Michigan.