The ‘West Virginia Agritourism Initiative’ – Business Planning and Risk Management Education for Stakeholders in the
Agritourism Supply Chain
Doolarie Singh-Knights1, B. Brabham2, D. Bailey2, and J. Richmond2,
1Extension Specialist, 2Extension Agent, West Virginia University
INTRODUCTION
RESULTS
WV farmers are exploring agritourism as an emerging agribusiness opportunity because of its flexibility, and
income-diversification and cash-flow potential for small operations. WV is uniquely positioned to capitalize on
this opportunity having the highest family farms/capita in the nation and >20,000 small/part-time operations.
State-wide needs assessments suggest a risk-management and business planning approach is needed to help
agritourism operators evaluate and manage the potential risks and returns associated with their enterprises.
The ‘WV Agritourism Initiative,’ an agritourism short-course designed to enhance enterprise viability and
profitability, provided education, planning tools, and supplemental resources to encourage and develop
agritourism and farm-based education enterprises for 85 existing and new agritourism operators. Five
business risk-management functions (production, marketing, financial, legal and human) were
comprehensively addressed. Four short-courses (3 face-to-face sites each with 4 modules - 20 contact-hours; 1
online – 6 weeks), provided tools and coursework leading towards an agritourism specific five-page business
plan with supplemental risk management tools (eg. farm/food safety plan) upon completion.
RATIONALE
Why is Agritourism Important to WV and WV Farms
Demand Motivation
More visitors travelling by car, shorter
trips
Environmental
Diverse activities combining educational
and recreational experiences
Economic
SocioCultural
Supply Motivation
Diversify the income stream
and improve cash flow
Diversify product lines &
markets, and get feedback from
customers
Growing interest in experiential travel
Educating visitors
Growing interest by the public to
support local farmers, rural landscapes
and environmental stewardship
Agritourism Benefits
Improve community
development and appreciation
for the role of agriculture
 Agritourism development is consistent with WV’s policies to support the farming industry - vehicle for
increased farm income, increased visitor spending, local revitalization, job creation, farmland preservation.
 Agritourism is recognized as a strategy for bolstering the viability of WV agriculture - Estimated Economic
Contribution (Direct Effects only) from visitor expenditures at WV agritourism sites in 2014 was $8,370,403.
 Future public and private investment in agritourism development hinges on helping agritourism operators
to improve the business of agritourism – helping operations be profitable with significant returns on
investments. This is the overall goal of the WV Agritourism Initiative.
Proportion (%)
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Managing Financial
Managing
Managing Visitor
Risks
Farm/Food Safety
Experience
Risks
This poster illustrates 4 main aspects of ‘The WV Agritourism Initiative,’ that laid a solid foundation to
help agritourism operators move from a ‘production-oriented’ to a ‘customer-oriented and businessoriented mindset,’ thereby increasing sustainability of their operations.
 Motivations that drive agritourism operators, and the priority areas affecting the start-up or operation
of their agritourism venture that would help them achieve their strategic objectives;
 ‘Best practices for sustained adult learning’ that were incorporated throughout the short-course, that
helped uncover learners mental models, allowed learners to contribute to content and outcomes,
linked content to learner’s prior experiences, and provided a safe environment for learning;
 Key partnerships that made this project successful as a ‘one-stop-shop’ for agritourism resources; and
 The notable project outcomes and impacts that were uncovered from post-evaluation surveys.
This material is based upon work completed
with the WV Agritourism Initiative,
supported by USDA/NIFA under Award
Number 2012-49200-20031.
Matching Assets
Building
Marketing
with Market
Collaborations and (Traditional and
Demand
Partnerships
Online)
Field
Creative/Emerging
Tour/Successful
Opportunities
Models
COURSE OVERVIEW: Growing Agritourism and Farm-Based Education in West Virginia - Managing Risks for Improved Income Diversification
MODULE
TOPIC
Resource Developed
1
Assessing Your Potential: Emerging Opportunities In Agritourism • ‘Assessing the Agritourism Potential of your Region and your Farm Enterprise’
• ‘Building a Viable Agritourism Enterprise – The 5 Page Business Plan’
2
Marketing and Financial Planning for Agritourism Enterprises
• ‘Partial Budgeting – A Key Tool in Agribusiness Financial Management’
Managing Risk In Agritourism: Farm Safety, Food Safety and
• ‘Legal Guide to Managing Legal Risks Associated with Direct Markets for Local
3
Emergency Planning Procedures
Foods in WV’ (In Progress)
• ‘Understanding the Big (Regional) Picture – Where Does my Agritourism
4
Tools and Resources for Integrated Agritourism Marketing Success Operation Fit in?’
• ‘Co-opetition’ – The Art of Cooperative Competition in Agritourism’
• ‘Collaboration and Innovation in the Agritourism Supply Chain – Keys to a
Capstone Trip
Best Practices in Agritourism Operation and Management
Successful Agritourism Enterprise’
Cluster
Clusters of SMEs to provide model of cooperation and
• WV Food Trail; WV Maple Days; other smaller ‘clusters’
competitiveness (COOPETITION) to build regional viability
Development
All materials and presentations archived on WVUES Community Online Learning System website - http://extcommunity.wvu.edu/
Notable Project Outcomes and Impacts
% of
Risk Area
Production
Financial
METHODOLOGY – STRENGTHENING THE FOUNDATION FOR AGRITOURISM DEVELOPMENT
Rank of Priority Training Needs for Proposed Agritourism Course
(WV Agritourism Internet Survey 2014, n=144)
Marketing
Legal
Human
Resource
Selected Risk Management Strategy
Participants complete resource assessment guide to evaluate their potential, and consider
changes needed, to successfully pursue various agritourism/farm-based education
enterprise alternatives as possible diversification strategies.
Participants use enterprise/partial budgets, and financial statements to make
changes to their existing/proposed enterprise to improve profitability, cash flow and
efficiency.
Participants evaluate innovative collaborations/partnerships and marketing opportunities
to market the 'region/destination,’ and form and maintain mutually-beneficial alliances.
Participants
Pre
Post
16
100
22
100
6
72
Participants prepare applicable farm/food safety plans and emergency procedures, utilizing
industry best management practices to reduce liability/risk concerns.
42
Participants prepare events management checklist (e.g. 'conducting a farm tour' checklist,
'codes of standards for tour guides'), considering hospitality and labor needs.
17
CONCLUSION/IMPLICATIONS OF THIS STUDY
 100% of participants increased their knowledge, skills and confidence to start or
expand their agritourism enterprise.
 Six months post-workshop, 85 participants have implemented at least two risk
management strategies and 32 have launched a new/improved enterprise.
 Project materials can be adapted for use by other educators in designing their
educational activities, including but not limited to agritourism programming,
leading to risk mitigation and sound enterprise decision-making, using a wholefarm risk management approach.
87
WVU
Law
School
WVU
Extension
(ANR and
CEWD)
WVDA
The WV
Agritourism
Initiative – Key
Partners
WVSU
and OSU
Advisors (VT
Ext., Rutgers
Ext.)
82
Div. of
Tourism
CVBs, Farm
Family
Insurance
Operators
(WV, VT,
NC)
Survey says --- Positive Future for WV Agritourism
Mean Responses (Strongly Disagree to Strongly Agree)
I plan to expand my agritourism…
My agritourism operation is profitable.
My agritourism operation is successful.
I expect my sales from agritourism to…
I expect to hire more employees than I…
I want to attract more customers to…
I plan to exit the agritourism business…
I am optimistic about the future of the…
0
1
2
3
4
5