Iowa farmers hope to sow the seeds of agritourism
They were wrong. Not only do urbanites want to visit their Farmhouse Bed & Breakfast, they wake up at 5 a.m. to perform chores.
Illinois resident Debbie Dewane booked a stay on the farm for herself and her two sons.
"My 8-year-old son went out on the tractor (with Loren Engelbrecht) and brought in bales of hay," Dewane said. "Each of the boys got their chance to milk a cow. It was really cool."
The Engelbrechts are among the few in Iowa to offer farm stays, which treat the farm as a mini-theme park, with cows and chickens instead of roller coasters and bumper cars. About 80 percent of the approximately 1,000 tourists they attracted last year live in urban areas.
In some areas, farm stays are widely used to add profitability to small family farms But unlike neighboring Nebraska, Iowa hasn't developed a cohesive marketing effort for the state's agritourism.
"Iowa is slow (in developing this market), compared to our surrounding states," said Malinda Geisler, an Iowa State University specialist who operates Growing Family Fun in Bondurant, a family farm that includes a pumpkin patch and corn maze.
"Iowa has tremendous resources related to this and, at the moment, they're not located in one convenient location."
A coalition supporting agritourism hopes to change that with a new initiative in 2008. The group hopes to gather marketing and business resources for the agritourism industry. This effort coincides with the next Census of Agriculture, a look at farm ownership and land use that will result in a better picture of the industry.
The booming wine industry has been quick to embrace agritourism, using tours, concerts and B&Bs to create customer loyalty for new wine labels. And success stories like the Farmhouse B&B show the industry has possibilities.
Tourists "want an authentic experience: Feed the calves, milk the cows, prune the grapes, mow the grass, whatever you're doing," Dianne Engelbrecht said.
The Engelbrechts have attracted customers by selling half-price vouchers through a Chicago radio station. Dewane purchased one of those vouchers and added a few days to make the five-hour drive worth the family's while.
The Farmhouse "was something completely new," she said. "I grew up in the city and I like to do different things with the kids. ... (The Farmhouse was) different from water parks, like at the Dells. That's kind of everywhere."
What kind of an experience was it for Jesse, her 8-year-old son?
"He would go back tomorrow and never come back, if he could."
Bill Brink, who owns Brink Farms Bed and Breakfast with his wife, Kathy, has never had trouble attracting hunters to his farm in the Loess Hills. But he attracts only a handful of families each year for farm stays.
"When we started this 10 years ago, we thought we'd be turning people away, but we probably only get about three families a year."
The Brinks started the side business to augment their income when cattle and crop prices dipped.
Their farm seems to have the right accoutrements: livestock, miniature donkeys and horses, walking trails through the Loess Hills, farm machinery and a pond with a rowboat. Brink's hunting traffic returns annually, but farm visitors don't typically return.
"I'm really disappointed," he said. "I still think my biggest downfall is we're not advertising."
The marketing he has tried, such as passing out brochures, has failed to bring in business.
Ken Christensen, an Omaha farm real estate salesman, owns a farm near Audubon that he has considered turning into a farm-stay business. But after researching the market and speaking with Brink, he's uncertain the farm he loves to relax at on weekends will attract visitors of similar mind.
"Perhaps nobody's interested," he said. "You go out to a farm, and it's pretty boring if you don't enjoy hiking and fishing and nature."
The agritourism industry got started 20 to 25 years ago in Vermont, and many farms there now offer vacation opportunities, according to Mary Holz-Clause, assistant vice president for Iowa State University Extension.
But some of the reasons Vermont has succeeded are reasons Iowa may not.
"Our farms are single-commodity, and when people go to agritourism farms, they want an Old MacDonald farm: sheep and goats and chickens around," she said.
Tourism in Vermont also draws from a larger population base.
One Vermont farm that Holz-Clause visited, Liberty Hill, started as a dairy farm, but gradually began hosting skiers visiting the area. Holz-Clause asked the owner whom she considered to be competition for tourism dollars.
"She said, 'My competition is Disney World,' " Holz-Clause said. "Kids say, 'I want to go there,' because they do hands-on things."
In Nebraska, an agriculture cooperative called KAAPA set up Country Adventures, a one-stop shopping Web site for rural experiences. Those who visit the site find vacations, tours, cabin rentals, hunting excursion and other offers from farms and ranches around Nebraska and Missouri.
The year-old site charges farms $7.50 for a listing, plus 15 percent of sales. More than 200 adventures are listed for sale.
"(Sellers) don't have to spend money on pamphlets or marketing money," said Kelly Krier, marketing director for Country Adventures. "The provider has absolute control over how much involvement they want in this side business. If they just want to offer a few days during deer season, or the entire season with a farm home stay and a steak fry, it's up to the provider.
"We're one of a kind, the first one to get into this arena."
Though Iowa has some regional tourism efforts, such as Silos and Smokestacks, no such central clearinghouse or farm-stay specific Web site exists.
"Up until now, we didn't really have any coordinated effort specifically for agri-tourism, yet there's tremendous opportunities with the many existing farm families already doing these things," Geisler said.
Not every farmer would want to host strangers, but Engelbrecht and her husband have enjoyed meeting people since starting the Farmhouse B&B in 1998.
"It's time-consuming," she said. "You have to love being around people all the time. You have to be willing to be teachers. You have to carry a lot of insurance and warn (guests) of dangers and be prepared for lots of questions."
For Engelbrecht, a former high school principal, and her husband, the idea started as a way to make improvements on their farmhouse tax-deductible. They have received guidance from the Iowa Bed and Breakfast Association.
"We really are busy for being what people might consider out in the middle of nowhere," she said. "Most of the people coming have never been on a farm before."
The Farmhouse B&B caters to families, but also attracts couples celebrating anniversaries and business travelers.
"They think it's very peaceful here," Engelbrecht said. "They're looking to reconnect as a family or husband and wife, to reconnect with nature.
"The more activities you can offer guests, the wider range of people we have coming."
Hansen's Dairy has used farm tourism to increase brand loyalty with customers. In 2006, about 1,700 people, including students, bus tours and restaurant owners, toured the farm and dairy. Last year, that number increased to 2,900.
"When they come to the farm, they see where the milk is coming from. Then they come to the store," said dairy co-owner Jeanne Hansen. "A lot of the local people have become customers and they learn about it from the farm.
"Once you get them in the door, that's an opportunity to tell them about the other products on the farm. It's public relations."
