Agritourism workshops and summit
Each series is offered over the course of three sessions, with one series in Fresno County and one series in Glenn County.
Participants will learn about the variety of potential agritourism businesses, including wineries, farm stands, U-Pick operations, event hosting, ranch vacations, pumpkin patches, corn mazes and outdoor recreation. They will hear from experienced agritourism operators discussing the costs and benefits of their enterprises, and from experts in business planning, risk management, regulatory compliance and marketing.
The activities will guide particpants as they assess their own farms and ranches for agritourism potential and start their own business, risk management and marketing plans.
Registered participants will each receive the Agritourism and Nature Tourism handbook, which is new for 2011 and otherwise priced at $25 — in addition to all three workshop sessions, handouts, refreshments and networking times.
- Agritourism Intensive in Central Sacramento Valley
When: 8:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. Wednesdays: Nov. 30, Jan. 18, March 28
Where: Glenn County Farm Bureau, 831 5th St. in Orland
Registration: $25 for all three sessions before Nov. 23 ($30 after)
Register for the Glenn County workshop series - A Guide to Agritoursim in Fresno
When: 8 a.m. – 12 p.m. Wednesdays: Dec. 8, Jan. 25, March 14
Where: Fresno County Farm Bureau, 1274 W. Hedges Ave. in Fresno
Registration: $25 for all three sessions before Dec. 1 ($30 after)
Register for the Fresno County workshop series
Statewide summit
The first California statewide agritourism summit was Nov. 4 in Stockton, organized by UC Cooperative Extension and the UC Small Farm Program.
This summit was a chance for farm-trail groups and everyone currently involved in California agritourism to share tools and strategies for supporting California farmers and ranchers in developing successful agritourism operations.
While California agritourism has so far been primarily organized at the county and regional level, other states have organized statewide agritourism associations. At the November summit, participants explored the relationships and benefits involved in both statewide and local/regional agritourism programs. Speakers at the event included Karen Ross, secretary of the California Department of Food and Agriculture and Martha Glass, executive director of North Carolina’s highly successful Agritourism Networking Association.
Presentations and notes from the group activities are available here.
Funding for these events
Statewide agritourism summit: This project was partially funded by the Western Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program, with additional support from the Delta Conservancy and the Sierra Nevada Conservancy.
Fresno and Orland workshops: Funding for this project was provided by the Washington State University Western Center for Risk Management Education and the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture.
These events are organized and hosted by the University of California Cooperative Extension and the UC Small Farm Program.
More
Want to know more about agritourism? Visit the Agritourism section of this website to learn more.
For questions or more information, contact Penny Leff, paleff@ucdavis.edu or (530) 752-7779.