Free webinar series: Agritourism Business Planning with AgPlan

Draft your business plan this winter! For seven weeks, from February 13 through March 26, we will guide business owners and managers through the process of developing your business plan using AgPlan. Each week will cover a different section of the process. If you do your homework in between sessions, you’ll have a business plan drafted by the end of March. You can register here.

  • Feb 13, 2024 01:00 PM
  • Feb 20, 2024 01:00 PM
  • Feb 27, 2024 01:00 PM
  • Mar 5, 2024 01:00 PM
  • Mar 12, 2024 01:00 PM
  • Mar 19, 2024 01:00 PM
  • Mar 26, 2024 01:00 PM

 

Free webinar: Business Planning for Agritourism Enterprises

Date and time: January 23, 2024 at 01:00 PM

This free webinar will cover key steps for business planning and introduce you to a new online tool.  We’ll provide a general overview of business planning for agritourism as well as information about registering for an online training series in February and March for those who would like to develop a business plan this winter with guidance from Extension business planning experts.

Register here.

Free Webinar: Marketing Your Farm – Agritourism

Wednesday, March 29, 12-1pm Eastern Time

Rutgers Cooperative Extension is partnering with other New England states to deliver agritourism education. A free webinar will be held to help farmers learn the three essential components of marketing your farm, with a focus on agritourism. Myrna Greenfield is the “Top Egg” at Good Egg Marketing and the author of Marketing Your Farm: A practical guide to attracting loyal customers and increasing sales. Ellen Parlee is the co-owner of Parlee Farms in Tyngsboro, Massachusetts, which offers pick-your-own fruit and flowers, along with a farmstand, bakery, ice cream stand, animal petting area, and a food trailer for lunch. Ryan Wilson is the co-owner of DeMeritt Hill Farm in Lee, New Hampshire, which offers pick-your-own apples/peaches/blueberries/Xmas trees, hayrides, school tours, special events, Cross Country running, and hiking trails and has a full commercial kitchen. The farm plays host to Torey Roderick Performance Horses and every October, the world-famous Haunted Overload. Lisa Chase from University of Vermont Extension will moderate the session.

To register see: https://uvm-edu.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_e3WWWaq9SoaQSR8nVkotdQ

This webinar is free, but registration is required.

Webinar: Incorporating Classes into Your Agritourism Business

Thursday March 23, 2023 12-1pm Eastern Time

Rutgers Cooperative Extension is partnering on a regional project with other New England Land Grant Universities to offer webinars related to agritourism in the northeast.

Join our speakers for Incorporating Classes into Your Agritourism Business, where they will share their experiences with offering, hosting, and teaching classes. As farm and food business owners, you are experts in your craft and likely face endless questions from customers and the public. Why not use this as an opportunity to offer classes, enabling your customers or the public to learn from your expertise? Classes can be tailored to a variety of topics and activities.

Susan Rigg is the owner of and cheesemaker at Whey River Creamery. Susan offers both introductory and advanced hands-on cheesemaking classes. Michele Capron is the co-owner of Lavender Essentials of Vermont. She offers numerous classes, including lavender wreath creations, cooking with lavender, native tea blending, herb garden, and make it – take it. Deb Hartshorn owns White Picket Farm LLC, offering a variety of class experiences, including soap making, creating terrariums, succulent bowls, and more!

To register go to: https://extension.psu.edu/incorporating-classes-into-your-agritourism-business

This webinar is free, but registration is required. You will need to create an account with Penn State Extension to register for this webinar.

Montclair State Univ Seeking Participants for Survey on Farm Marketing Distribution Channels

Renata Blumberg, PhD, Associate Professor in the Dept of Nutrition & Food Studies at Montclair State University is conducting a survey of farmers who engage in direct-to-consumer marketing (farmers’ markets, CSA, etc.) about their distribution practices and any changes that have occurred since the start of the pandemic. [The survey also implies she wants to know if you’ve switched from wholesale to direct marketing methods over the past year as well.] The survey should take only about 20 minutes of your time.

To participate in the survey, please click here.

Please note that you must be 18 years of age or older to participate in the survey. There is also an incentive gift card if you participate.

This study has been approved by the Montclair State University Institutional Review Board (IRB- IRB-FY20-21-1996).

Dr. Blumberg thanks you in advance for your participation! 

3rd Agritourism Webinar: Visitor Incidents and Media Communication

Kids riding in a tractorRutgers Cooperative Extension is working with other extension professionals in the northeastern states to deliver weekly, one-hour webinar programming for agritourism and on-farm direct market operators. The 3rd session will focus on what to do in the event of an confrontation, accident, or injury, and how to communicate with the media in a crisis. Registration is being handled through the University of Vermont. See information below to join the webinars. There are separate registrations for each event. 

Session 3: What to Do when Something Goes Wrong, Incident Response and Media Relations, When: May 18, 2021 7:00-8:00 PM Eastern Time. Presenters: Bill Bamka, Stephen Komar, Bill Hlubik, Rutgers Cooperative Extension – Register HERE

Session 4: Liability Insurance, When: May 25, 2021 12:00-1:00 PM Eastern Time. Presenter will be an insurance agent from VT:  – Register HERE

Recorded past sessions will be posted to this website if you missed any sessions: https://www.uvm.edu/extension/vtagritourism/safety-and-liability-farms-during-covid-19

To request a disability-related accommodation to participate in this program, please contact Christi Sherlock at 802-476-2003 or Christi.Sherlock@uvm.edu for assistance.