This website serves Farmers and Ranchers in the Kansas AgriTourism Industry.
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 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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Kansas AgriTourism News
December 2007
Greetings!
First, we want to remind everyone that the Agriculture Marketing Division of the Kansas Department of Commerce is sponsoring a $25,000 scholarship program for registered Kansas agritourism operators to attend conferences, seminars and educational tours in 2008. Applications will be received until December 31.
Awards will be made in January. Awards may be granted to agritourism operators that have previously been awarded scholarship funding through this program. Click here to read more about the scholarship and to download an application.
Secondly, as this is may well be our final Kansas AgriTourism e-newsletter, we want to remind our readers that the Kansas Agritourism Council and both the Agriculture Marketing Division and Travel and Tourism Division will continue to work to strengthen the Kansas agritourism industry.
We have new officers for the council, with Nancy Moore, of Moore Ranch, Bucklin, Kansas, and Janet McPherson, of Frontier Farm Credit, as our chair and co-chair. Frontier Farm Credit will continue to provide funding to keep our website www.kansasagritourism.org online so that the existing resources will remain available to Kansas Agritourism farmers and ranchers.
The council, and representatives of the Department of Commerce are also planning for another Kansas Agritourism Conference, to be held in January 2009. This planning is still in its infancy, and information will be shared with the public when details have been finalized.
Our council continues to encourage your involvement and suggestions. You may email your comments to the co-chairs, Nancy Moore or Janet McPherson, or to Sarah Larison, Agritourism Liaison with the Agriculture Marketing Division of the Department of Commerce.
Thanks to all the featured destinations and others that have contributed to this newsletter. Those articles will remain available on the website for study and review. (Click here).
Happy Holidays to all, and may we wish you a great new year of Kansas AgriTourism!
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In This Month's Issue:
Featured Destination:
Strawberry Hill Christmas Tree Farm
The Marriage Saver-the Perfect Holder for the Perfect-or Imperfect-Christmas Tree
Kansas AgriTourism Scholarship Funds Still Available!
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 December's Featured Destination
Strawberry Hill Christmas Tree Farm
Lawrence, Kansas
Can You Draw
A
Christmas Tree?
When you apply to work at the Strawberry Hill Christmas Tree Farm, in Lawrence, Kansas, you may be surprised with this interview question from veteran Kansas tree grower, Eric Walther. The question applies only to those that help shear and shape the trees in the early summer, but Eric asks potential shearers to draw a Christmas tree, as he has found that this is a pretty good indicator of how well they’ll do with the real thing.
 “When we can,” said his wife Lyn, “We try to hire architectural students from the University for the tree shaping (Referring to the nearby University of Kansas). They typically have a good sense of the shape and form we want.”
These are just a few of the things that Eric and Lyn Walther and their son Mitchell have learned since they planted their first 500 Christmas trees among the wild strawberries on the hill.
Presenting the 2007 Governor's Christmas Tree
When the Vietnam veteran (thank you, Eric) retired from the Air Force, he and Lyn had shared 22 homes around the country. An employer, TRW, transferred them to Lawrence, Kansas. Lyn remembers thinking “Oh no, anywhere but Kansas,” though she chuckles at that now, vowing there is no place on earth where she’d rather live.
Eric wanted to buy 80 acres, planning to put some of it in hay and cattle, and Christmas trees. Eric dreamed of a landing field and a home on the remainder. As it turned out, they were able to buy 20 acres on highway 40 west of Lawrence. Having heard of some Iowa farmers that literally made a fortune selling Christmas trees, they contacted Kansas State University, bought root sets for 10 cents apiece, and set out one March to plant their small pine forest.
 “Later, we learned that the Iowa guys were getting land subsidies to take the land out of grain, they had all their tree stock given to them, and they were located right at a railroad siding. They made millions. We’re not quite there yet,” laughed the 76 year old Eric.
The Walther’s planted more trees each year, and started selling the first planting in 1984. By 1996, they had more than 12,000 trees growing. Now they plant about 1,000 new trees each year, basically replacing those that were sold, and those that give way to drought or other conditions. They now plant the trees with a radius of 8 foot per tree, 2 feet more than they used to allow, which affords more room for the necessary sprayers, shearers, mowers, etc.
 To maximize tree growth and minimize damage by pests and disease, the grass beneath the trees is mowed fairly regularly. It takes about 40 hours each mowing. Over the years, they’ve used hedge trimmers, then thin, 24” shear knives, and now the trimmers use Beneke trimmers, a 10” rotary blade that operates from an extended arm.
The Family Experience
A visit to the Strawberry Hill Christmas Tree Farm is really about the family experience more than it is about the trees. Families return to the farm year after year for this cherished tradition. The visit begins with a wagon ride out to the trees. Then the search begins to find the perfect tree. Most of the trees are 6 to 8 foot Scotch Pine, as the popularity of the Austrian Pine has diminished in the Midwest. There are also taller trees for families with vaulted ceilings, or an exaggerated sense of the size of their homes. Once found, the tree is cut, and on the wagon ride back, all thoughts turn to the free hot-spiced cider and “black and white cookies” that await them in the barn.
Click here to read more about how the Walthers combine the perfect family experience with a personalized, friendly marketing approach to assure steady business and satisfied customers.
The Marriage Saver...
The Perfect Holder for the Perfect-or Imperfect-Tree
Enjoying the harmony and satisfaction of selecting “the perfect Christmas tree,” the family triumphantly brings the tree into their living room and prepares to install it into the stand. “A little to the left,” mother says from the center of the room. “It’s leaning too far back,” says sis from the side. “Dad,” says her brother, laying on his belly beside father, beneath the prickling pine branches, “The screws won’t even reach if you tip it that far!” “It has to go back to the right,” mother intones. Frustrated, father finally bellows, “Alice, the darn thing is going to fall over if we lean it any farther!”
 As many readers know from personal experience, this squabble is also a holiday tradition in many homes. But in the early 1980’s, a DeSoto, Kansas man, Jack Russell, Jr., came up with a solution he named the Cedar Valley Christmas Tree Stand. An interesting collection of welded steel, wooden dowels, chains, and various size pots, the CV stand, also known as “the Marriage Saver Christmas Tree Stand,” is said to provide for a quick and perfect adjustment.
In 1994, Jack decided to retire from making the stands, and sold the business to a friend, Patty Lehman, of Louisburg, Kansas. Patty said that today’s stand comes in three sizes, 5 qt, 2 gal, and 3.5 gal. She, her husband Bill, and now their son, all work in manufacturing the stands, which are currently being sold in more than 7 states, ranging from Oregon to Mississippi. The stands are only sold wholesale.
For more information about this Kansas industry, the Cedar Valley Christmas Tree Stand, email cvtreeholders@mokancomm.net, or call (913) 837-5751. You can purchase your personal CV stand at this month’s featured farm, Strawberry Hill Christmas Tree Farm in Lawrence, and other Kansas Christmas tree farms.
Scholarship Funds Still Available
The Agriculture Marketing Division of the Kansas Department of Commerce is sponsoring $25,000 in scholarships to help Kansas agritourism operators attend conferences, seminars and educational tours, gain first-hand information regarding practices and techniques used by other agritourism vendors and develop nationwide relationships within the industry.
Commerce will award two types of scholarships:
 Conference Attendance Scholarships will reimburse awardees up to $5,000 per application for all costs related to educational tours, workshops, seminars, registration and one year’s annual organizational dues related to attendance at an approved agritourism, tourism or agricultural direct marketing conference. Each approved application must consist of two representatives from the agritourism operation, both being directly involved in the operations, marketing and development of the business, and both must attend the conference. Funds may not be used for travel, lodging or incidental expenses.
 Best-Practices Educational Trip Scholarships will reimburse awardees up to $2,000 per application for costs associated with guided, organized trips to agritourism, tourism or value-added businesses regionally or nationally. Funds may be used to offset the following costs related to the trip: vehicle rental, lodging, airfare, motor coach costs, consultation fees charged by the business being visited, admission fees to model attractions or events, insurance for trip participants for the duration of the trip or shared educational materials purchased for or during the trip. Collaborative proposals involving multiple regional or market group partners will receive priority designation.
All applicant businesses must be registered with the Department of Commerce as a certified agritourism operation as provided by the Agritourism Promotion Act, K.S.A. 74-50,165 et seq.
Applications are due December 31, 2007. Awards will be announced within one month of receipt of application.
Click to download Scholarship Application form:
-download in word format
For more information, contact Commerce agritourism liaison, Sarah Larison, at (785) 296-3737.
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