If you have a small farm like I do, you will realize that the income from your crops can fluctuate. In good times, you have a little bit enough for your needs and in bad times your farm can actually lose money.
Hi!
My name is Stephen Loke and I am a durian farmer. My farm is about 6.5 acres and ever since I turned to Agritourism or agrotourism for some people, my farm has been consistently bringing people from all over the world.
Along with that, I am able to earn some really good income from Agritourism.
My farm has tourists from:
Singapore, Indonesia, China, Macau, Hong Kong, Hawaii, United States, Germany, India, Australia and of course the locals from my country Malaysia.
Here are some of the reasons why if you are a small farm owner, you should consider starting an agritourism business.
Add An Extra Income To Your Farm. The Main Benefit Of Agritourism. It Certainly Helped My Farm !
The very first reason is of course financial benefit to the farm owner.
According to the USDA Economic Research Service, agritourism revenue in the US tripled from 2002 to 2017. The revenue in 2017 was $950 million.
I think by now (2024) that figure would have grown from there.
It is a billion dollar industry in the US alone. If we take into account other parts of the world, it is a huge industry which does not often get the news and coverage it deserves.
If you are really good at bringing tourists into your farm and serving them well, you can actually earn quite a lot from agritourism.
Agritourism can make up 50% of the revenue in your farm if done right.
I know this because my sales from agritourism is 2-3 times more than the sales of my crops.
What if you could do the same?
What if you could earn 2-3 times more in your farm through agritourism?
It is not an easy thing to bring in tourists from all over the world but thankfully, I have done that and I do teach you how to do the same in my Agritourism Success Course.
Diversify Your Income And Thus Protect Your Finances
As a small farm operator I do understand weather, supply and demand and the many forces that work to make the life of the small farmer difficult.
I run a durian farm and this fruit is susceptible to weather changes. It is also highly affected by the laws of supply and demand.
When there is a lot of supply in the market, the prices of my fruits can drop dramatically.
Wholesalers also demand perfect fruits free of any defect or pests.
Thus, if in a season your fruits are not so nice, your income will be affected a lot.
When I turned to agritourism and started to bring tourists into my durian farm, I notice certain things:
I am not so affected by the fluctuations of prices of my fruits
I can charge tourists a higher price for the fruits as mine have less pesticide
Even if I have less fruits, I can earn extra income through entrance fees
My sales from agritourism is 2 times more than my sales of produce to the wholesalers
I no longer worry about supply and demand issues and how it affects my income
You can see how beneficial it is if you do agritourism correctly.
I do hope that you can also diversify your income through farm tours.
Trust me.
It may be one of the best decisions you make for your small farm.
Enable Your Farm To Be Passed On To The Next Generation
Among many first generation or second generation farmers, one of their biggest problems is passing on the baton to the next generation.
Let's be honest...
Farming is difficult. Most young people will choose a white-collar job than hard work at a farm.
It takes a lot of patience as well as good financial management to survive a difficult year in harvest.
Which is why many children of farmers will not want to carry on the farm.
But if you are able to make an agritourism business out of your farm, you can make it interesting for your children.
You can run the farm side of the business while your children can run the agritourism side of the business.
The extra income from farm tourism will also make it easier for your children to carry on the baton.
Make Your Farm Famous, Put On World Map And Bring Tourists From All Over The World
One of the greatest satisfaction that I gain from opening my farm to tourists is my small little farm became well known.
Today tourists from all over the world come to my farm.
I have tourists coming as far as
United States
Europe
China
Hong Kong
Hawaii
Macau
Taiwan
India
Australia
Singapore
Indonesia
My farm is located in Malaysia. Some of you probably have never heard of my country before. But because I open my farm to visitors, now people from all over the world can visit my place.
This puts my farm on the world map as well.
My farm on Google Map. Being one of the highest rated durian farm in Malaysia, my farm Bloopy Bentong Durians draws in tourists from all over the world.
The above is a snapshot of my farm www.bloopydurians.com on Google Map. If you type in durian farm in Malaysia, you will be able to see my farm on Google Map.
My small durian farm is one of the highest rated durian farms in Malaysia and naturally it draws in quite a lot of interested visitors.
Being highly rated on Google really helps my small farm.
I don't have a 100 acre farm. I can't compete with a farm that is 500 acres wide and I certainly don't have the resources of a 5000 acre farm.
But being on Google Map and having a high rating does help a lot to be known in my small niche.
The truth is you don't need to have a lot of reviews to get business. All you need is 30-50 five star reviews and you will automatically draw in lots of visitors from all over the world.
Put You As An Expert In Your Area Of Agriculture
When you have many visitors to your farm you will naturally have more reviews. If you have high ratings and good reviews, your small farm will be well known.
Along with that people start to recognize you as an expert in your area.
People who use Google search and people who visit my website start to see me as an expert in the area of durian cultivation.
I am certainly not the best grower but when you have an online presence with good ratings, people naturally see you as an expert.
I have people from Singapore finding me to know how to export durians to their country. I also have people from China trying to find out how to export durians to China.
I even have a couple from Hawaii who wanted to learn how to plant and grow durians. They changed their travel schedule, came to my farm and even gave me chocolates from Hawaii!
They like it so much that they gave me a 5 star review and said that if I go to Hawaii I can stay at their place for free!
I even caught the attention of a European Agri Tech company and they want me to test out the farming app in my small farm.
Get Special Offers And Recognition And Business Deals
In the modern world of the internet, the small farm can take advantage of technology to promote themselves.
If you have:
A website
A facebook / instagram / tiktok page
A good Google rating
A good Trip Advisor rating
then you actually have free promotion for your farm
People will slowly find out about you and your farm will be well known.
As your popularity grows you will get special offers from companies who want to work with you. In the previous section I mentioned how a European company wanted me to test out their product.
The program is fully funded by the European Union where I will learn how to use satellite technology and a modern agriculture app to improve my farm.
If I didn't start an agritourism business, they wouldn't have found out about my farm.
Along the way, you might get offers from other companies who wish to cooperate with you.
Cooperations such as:
Hotels offering farm tours to your farm
Tour guides and tourism companies wanting to bring their customer to your farm
Free testing of fertilizers or technology
I have tour guides who want to bring their customers to my farm. In fact some of my visitors come to my farm that way.
This is a win win business deal that can benefit your farm and the tour guide company.
Bring Joy And Education To People And Families. This Is The Best Benefit Of Agritourism!
I save the best for the last.
All the above in one way or another helps to benefit you financially. That is very good.
But at the end of the day what can bring a big satisfaction to you and me as small farmers is how your small farm will bring joy and happiness to your visitors and their family.
Children and young people can get a nice education by coming to your small farm.
Recently I brought a family into my durian farm. My customer told me that it was his father's dream to visit a real durian farm. They came to Malaysia from Australia and my farm was one of their stops.
His dad was so happy with the farm experience. That made me very happy as well because I could bring joy and happiness to a family.
My customer gave me a 5 star review on Google as well.
The above are pictures of college students who came to my small durian farm.
At first they told me that they were not able to spend a lot of money on durians. Durians can be quite expensive especially for young people who are not earning yet.
But anyway I accepted them and treated it as a nice opportunity to educate them.
I could see the excitement in their faces as they rode the four wheel drive in. They also left my farm gaining a new education and experience that will enrich their lives.
Agritourism is truly a bridge between the urban and the rural. It certainly adds value to people's lives.
Extra Benefit - Prevent Migration Of Rural Families To Urban Areas
As I continued to study on Agritourism, I came across the knowledge of how in India, agritourism has enabled rural families to earn a living on top of the traditional farm work.
A successful agritourism business can bring in extra income. This to a certain extent can help poor families from migrating to urban areas in search of a better life.
The income from foreign visitors can sometimes be quite luxurious compared to traditional farming. This in turn will attract locals to start a venture in agritourism and prevent the migration to cities.
Why Not Start An Agritourism Business On Your Farm?
I hope the stories here has inspired you on the benefits of starting an agritourism business.
It will not be easy at the beginning but if you persist you will be able to find success.
If you are not sure where to start, the blog posts on this website is a good place to start. If you want to learn things faster you can also check out my Agritourism Success Course where I will teach you everything I have learned to build a successful agritourism business in your small farm.
It does not matter what kind of farm that you operate. The principles of success in agritourism are still the same.
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