Ontario growers bring ‘sun and fun’ to agri-tourism market
Agri-tourism is trending. For farmers, agri-tourism is a way to diversify, to create new revenue streams and to capture more profit by selling direct to consumers without necessarily having to expand the land base. It can also be a way to make room for additional family members to join the farm business, easing the transition to the next generation.
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“Change is inevitable, growth is optional.” That’s how John C. Maxwell said it, and he might have said it best….
For the non-farming public, it’s an opportunity to get out of the city and learn about where their food comes from.
A number of ventures fall under the agri-tourism umbrella. Farm markets, farm tours, accommodations, horseback riding or other forms of recreation are just a few examples.
They all take a lot more than just letting strangers onto the farm for some sightseeing, though. Agri-tourism means you have to actively welcome them. You have to engage with them, you have to make their day memorable.
It’s all, as the saying goes, a mouthful, and it can’t happen without clear goals and the planning needed to achieve them.
But don’t be too quick to say it would never work for you.
The demand for agri-tourism is strong, says Rebecca Mackenzie, president and CEO of the Culinary Tourism Alliance, a not-for-profit organization that aims to grow culinary and agri-tourism offerings.
Consumer research shows more Canadians want opportunities to immerse themselves in the places they go. They love tasting local foods and learning how they are grown and used.
Then, if it’s done right, Mackenzie says, visitors become ambassadors for your product. It will keep them coming back and telling others about your farm. “The potential for ‘Taste of Place’ is huge,” she says.
The Davis family, northwest of Toronto at Caledon East, first diversified their farm operation 35 years ago by building a feed and farm supply store. This was to prove only the first of the family’s many forays into retail, value-adding and agri-tourism, however, and Sean Davis is now the third generation to make it his growth strategy.
Getting started did take courage, Davis knows. His father had been working off-farm until the job was relocated to another area, which is when he chose to open the feed supply store on the farm instead of moving with the company.
“The store allowed my dad to have a career on the farm,” Davis sums up.
It also encouraged the family to continuously innovate, and the store has evolved many times as a result. Just after the millennium, for instance, the Davis family began growing sunflowers as a commodity so they could sell birdseed in the store along with the oats that they were already growing for horses.
Then, 15 years ago, when Sean and his wife Amy joined the farm operation, a garden centre was added to the farm operation. In addition to eggs, sunflower oil and sunflower honey, they also began selling potted chrysanthemums, Christmas trees and pumpkins.
Then, in a bolder step, they ventured into agri-tourism eight years ago by opening up their sunflower fields to the public.
The Davis family had learned how much interest their sunflower fields could attract almost by accident. Davis had reported a wild boar on the farm and a local news camera crew drove out. When they saw the acres of sunflowers, which had already finished blooming, the crew instantly asked if they could return the next summer.
The result wasn’t exactly a feature film. Instead, it logged in as a quick 30-second clip of the sunflower fields. But it aired on TV and it made enough impact that a tour bus stopped by the very next day, launching the Davis family into agri-tourism.
photo:
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Each year the agri-tourism operation grows. Five years ago, the family created a two-week Sunflower Festival and Davis says that they try to add something new each year.
So far, that includes live music, family photo sessions, wagon rides, yoga nights, paint nights, refreshments, a mini-golf course, petting zoo and a market featuring local vendors. Cars, trucks and a pink couch are situated amongst the sunflowers as a backdrop for photo ops.
“Year by year we’ve built the experience for visitors. It’s about making it fun for families,” Davis says.
For 2024, visitors were welcome 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. from July 27 to August 18.
Ticket sales started July 1, with 2024 prices at $13.50 for visitors aged 12 and up and $5 for children aged 6 to 12. Those under 6 were free, but still needed a ticket.
The farm operation is a family affair with Davis and his wife, Amy, his parents, his aunt and now his children, aged nine and eleven, getting involved. He says his children love sunflower time.
The Sunflower Festival also brings Davis’s two brothers (including one who lives in Romania) back to the farm to help out, and the festival creates jobs for 20 local teenagers.
When asked what it takes to be successful with agri-tourism, Davis was quick to respond: “You gotta love, love, love people.”
He says he enjoys meeting and chatting with visitors who come from diverse backgrounds. “Some come from farms and some have never been to a farm before,” he says.
Davis admits there are sacrifices too. Sharing the property with the public has meant creating boundaries around their personal space (one year they found a family picnicking on their back deck).They have also had people show up after the festival was over so they make a point of emphasizing the closing date in their advertisements.
The time commitment is also becoming more challenging as his children get older and play more organized sports, says Davis. This year he has decided not to sell Christmas trees due to the conflict with hockey at that time of the year.
Davis used to crush sunflowers to make oil but found he couldn’t keep up with the amount of work. He has since found a neighbouring farmer who has taken on the pressing.
It also takes a lot of planning, Davis adds. As soon as the first of January rolls around, the planning and thinking about what new things they will try kicks into gear. “You have to set it up right for things to go smoothly,” he says.
Timing the planting of the sunflowers is also critical. The fields have to be planted 67 days before the start of the festival to ensure the sunflowers are in bloom at the right time. He also staggers the planting in order to extend the festival so it can run from the end of July to mid-August.
Finding enough good staff to help out during the festival is another challenge, he says.
Davis says they are fortunate that the municipality is supportive. In his experience, the insurance company is also supportive once he shows them how he will ensure that activities are safe.
Although other sunflower farms have opened up since Davis began, he’s not worried about the competition. “We’re as busy as we want to be,” he says.
The farm’s proximity to the Greater Toronto Area also helps, and adding new activities every year keeps it fresh (in 2024 they added a haunted house).
But nothing happens without planning and execution, or without technology.
“Social media plays a humungous part in the tourism business,” says Davis.
Luckily, he studied computer science at university and is finding this helpful for managing the farm’s social media accounts, but success has also taken a string of business, economics and entrepreneurship courses.
The opportunity is huge, but so is the personal investment, says Davis.“You’ve got to be on top of that stuff and advertising yourself out there.”
Is agri-tourism right for you?
Questions to consider before venturing down the agri-tourism path:
- Are you prepared for the increased risk and liability of inviting people onto your farm and associated insurance coverage?
- Do you have access to capital required for the necessary infrastructure or equipment?
- Do you have customer service skills?
- Do you have marketing, website and social media knowledge?
- Are you prepared to manage employees and educate them about the farm and agriculture?
- Are your neighbours onboard with your plans to invite the public onto your farm?
- Are you willing to invest your time in the administrative aspects of agri-tourism including regulatory and land-use planning paperwork?
Source: Experience Simcoe County (website)
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