This website serves Farmers and Ranchers in the Kansas AgriTourism Industry.
For family outings, go to http://www.travelks.com

Welcome to Kansas AgriTourism!

This website has been developed specifically for Kansas farmers and ranchers involved in AgriTourism, rural properties where the traveler has an opportunity to experience farm and country life far from the hustle of the city.
The site is a project of the Kansas Agritourism Advisory Council, working in cooperation with:
the Kansas Agriculture Marketing Division and the Travel and Tourism Division of the Department of Commerce
and with financial assistance from Frontier Farm Credit.
We invite you to explore this website to find a variety of articles and resources that will help you succeed in agritourism.
If you have any questions, please contact the Department of Commerce, Travel and Tourism Division, and ask for the Agritourism Liaison.
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July's Featured Destination:

They Just Want To See a Real Farm

Over the past few months, we’ve introduced you to three or four well-established Kansas agritourism destinations. They have recovered their investments, made some money, learned a lot, and we truly appreciate what they have shared with our readers.

This month, we wanted to remind our readers that there is always a beginning. If you’ve been there already, enjoy re-living your story! If you are thinking about taking your first step into agritourism, we think you’ll enjoy reading about the Bauman family, and the Cedar Valley Farms.

Located on the main road to Cedar Valley Reservoir, Cedar Valley Farms of Garnett, Kansas, has a nice location to start an agritourism business. Folks driving by see the pastured chickens and livestock sometimes just stop in to see if John and Yvonne Bauman perhaps will sell eggs, poultry, or vegetables directly to them there on the farm.

Still, the Bauman’s bought the farm in 2001 primarily to raise pastured chickens for sale to restaurants, stores, and the Lawrence Farmers Market, not yet considering an onsite, farm market. They sell about 7,000 broiler chickens each year, and average selling 350 dozen eggs each week. They also raise a little beef, have just started raising lamb, and sell elk raised on neighboring farms.

Last year however, John and his oldest daughter, Rosanna, age 16, attended the Agritourism workshops in Spring 2004 and the Kansas Agritourism Conference in Great Bend. Fortified with new information and encouragement, John and Rosanna decided now was the time to take the plunge! On Memorial Day weekend 2005, the Cedar Valley Farms held their first agritourism event, and opened the farm to the public.

Among other things, they scheduled their spring pickup for beef orders for the Saturday and Monday of the Memorial Day weekend, inviting their beef customers to also tour the farm and see how their food was grown. They also distributed a few flyers around Garnett and nearby Lawrence, put notes inside the egg cartons they delivered, and added an extra sign or two on the road, including one resting on the tractor at the entrance.

"My oldest brother kept saying 'Why would anyone want to drive clear down here just to see a farm? We aren't anything special, just an ordinary farm!'" Rosanna recalled.

"I said, 'The people will come, just wait and see! They don't want to see anything special, they just want to see a real farm.'"

“Considering we did so little promotion, we were really pleased to see 30 people each day come to the farm,” Rosanna told us. “We charged $4 per person, with children age 3 and under for free. One of the main things we’ll do differently next time is to do a better job with our promotions and getting media attention. We did have some signs being made, but they weren’t ready in time for our first event.”

The guests got a tour of the farm, which was abundant with baby animals. The kids got to hold baby chicks, hug the lambs and baby kittens, and see the calves. Each day, there was a sheep-shearing demonstration, and families talked about how the wool was used for clothing.

Kids also got a big kick out of some of the activities ready for them, such as walking in the farmer’s boots, a left-hand only maze, and an egg splat game. The maze, made of hay bales, was only a bale high so anxious little ones could keep an eye on their parents, and the egg splat involved throwing unsellable eggs at a scarecrow or target. Visitors could also ride a tractor-drawn hay wagon around the chicken pasture, and there was a pony-drawn wagon for the smaller children. A little extra touch – the children were invited to help plant pumpkin seeds (and hopefully those same children will want to come back this fall to buy their pumpkins!)

A part of the event was the opportunity to meet and talk with the Bauman family, who care very much about providing a natural environment for their animals, and providing healthy, nutritional food to their customers. The family's conservative dress- Rosanna says they are "Old German Baptist Brethren"- probably added to the charm of the farm visit.

On hand were John, Yvonne, Marvin (18), Rosanna, Kevin (12), Steven (11), Ivin (8), and Joanna (5), and several cousins who came to help for the day.

The extended family made it possible to sell homemade cookies and baked goods, water, elk snack sticks, fresh vegetables from neighboring farms, and soda. The younger cousins served as runners, and the older ones were able to help with the tours and sales.

Rosanna said that three-fourths of the visitors were not previous customers, but many have been back since. “We were very pleased, and we were tickled that no one complained about the price. We tried hard to be sure they got their money’s worth.” A handicapped-accessible port-a-john was rented to place on the farm for their guests.

This fall, she said, they are planning three events: Labor Day, the second weekend in September in conjunction with the Garnett Corn Festival, and a third event in October. But there are a few things that will be done differently.

“We learned that three-year-olds can spend a long time holding baby chicks, and that kept us from doing other things. So we think it’s fair to lower the age for free admission to two years-old and younger.”

“This fall, we’ll have the pumpkin patch, a seven-acre corn maze, and more vegetables and baked goods. We are also going to do a lot better job of marketing and promotion. We’ll get out a lot more flyers, and we are working on getting more media attention. We will also have better signs. The signs will be up early for the drive-by folks headed to the lake.”

Rosanna is also planning to start sending out an electronic newsletter in the very near future. She stressed that the newsletter will be friend-building, rather than a hard sell. “For example, we’ll have tips on how to better cook our delicious, lean grass-fed beef and lamb. Folks who aren’t used to lean meat tend to overcook it.”

She said the newsletter will also be a way to keep in contact with existing customers, and to let them know when harvests are ready.

Recently, Jane Eckert, who presented the Agritourism Workshops, received a letter from Rosanna about their new endeavor into agritourism. In it, Rosanna says:

“I think we are making progress in Anderson County Tourism.” “We are excited about the direction our agritourism business is taking, and we hope it will prove to be a successful venture.” She then added, “We are extremely grateful for all the info you have given us, Jane. It gave us the confidence to take that big, important first step. Were it not for you and the State of Kansas’s support and encouragement, we may not have even taken that first step. Thanks!”