Arkansas Agritourism Initiative

04/08/2020

01/02/2020

In order to streamline and reduce duplication, we will be deleting this page in a few weeks. To stay up-to-date on agritourism happenings in Arkansas, please like and follow Arkansas Agritourism Association.

12/09/2019

Agritourism and Direct Sales Survey - If you have visitors on your farm, ranch, vineyard, or fishery, you are invited to take part in a national survey about agritourism and direct sales. Whether you have a farmstand, u-pick, tastings, school field trips, events, tours, hunting, fishing, overnight stays, or open your farm to the public in any other ways, your experiences are important. This survey is confidential and should take about 10 minutes to complete. Results will be used to develop tools and resources for farmers. The survey will close January 31. Questions can be directed to Lisa Chase, [email protected] or 802-257-7967.
The survey is at: tinyurl.com/agritourismsurvey

Caution: JavaScript ex*****on is disabled in your browser. You may not be able to answer all questions in this survey. Please, verify your browser parameters.

04/10/2018

Check out the newly published 2018 Arkansas Grown magazine - featuring producers, farmers, ranchers, forest landowners, and agricultural programs, statistics, resources, and operations from across Arkansas's diverse industry. See: http://www.aad.arkansas.gov/aad-resources

04/10/2018

This Friday (April 13), join the AAD and partners at Arkansas Farm to School for Training and a Local Conversations event featuring NW Arkansas and vendors and programs, in Bentonville. See details: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/farm-to-school-training-and-local-conversations-event-bentonville-tickets-41250960734?utm_term=eventurl_text

04/06/2018

A PhD student at Iowa State University is conducting a research project regarding agritourism business operation toward environmental sustainability. The project is to investigate how agritourism operators engage in environmentally responsible behavior, incorporating various variables (motivation, barriers, value, etc).

If interested in responding, the survey link is: https://iastate.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_5ALYnV5P4jCS0EB.

Qualtrics sophisticated online survey software solutions make creating online surveys easy. Learn more about Research Suite and get a free account today.

04/06/2018

Arkansas Agriculture Department Urges Response to Census of Agriculture. Arkansas has currently completed 50.91% of Census inquiries compared to the national figure of 54.10%. Learn more about new timesaving online survey response option:http://www.aad.arkansas.gov/Websites/aad/files/Content/6140361/Arkansas_Agriculture_Department_Urges_Response_to_Census_of_Agriculture,_April_2018.pdf

03/08/2018

USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service has opened the grant cycle for the Farmers Market Promotion Program (FMPP) and Local Food Promotion Program (LFPP). AMS will host one webinar for applicants of both FMPP and LFPP on Wednesday, March 28, 2018 at 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time. Applications for FMPP and LFPP must be submitted electronically through www.grants.gov by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on May 7, 2018. Links to these programs can be found on https://www.ams.usda.gov/services/grants.

Grants.gov Workspace enables you and your colleagues to fill out webforms and apply together. Create a workspace for an open funding opportunity to begin.

03/08/2018

Great crowd and lots of good information at today’s Business Workshop for Landowners at the Winthrop Rockefeller Institute.

03/07/2018

Calling all farmers/producers, food aggregators/distributors, food processors and manufacturers, value chain coordinators, & school nutrition staff!

The Arkansas Agriculture Department, in coordination with the Arkansas Farm to School Team, will host a Farm to School Training (In collaboration with the annual Local Conversations Events) across Arkansas, February - April 2018.

Workshops will include:

-Farm to School 101
-Benefits of Farm to School
-Current Farm to School conditions
-Procurement training
-Institutional buyer panel

Who should attend?
-Farmers/Producers
-Aggregators/Distributors
-Processors/Food Manufacturers
-Value chain coordinators

The event is two-fold. The morning will serve as specific Farm to School training and shift gears in the afternoon to focus on the annual events.

***Events are free, but space is limited, so we ask that if you plan to attend the morning Farm to School training workshops, please RSVP by following the link below. THERE IS NO NEED TO REGISTER IF YOU ONLY PLAN TO ATTEND AFTERNOON LOCAL CONVERSATIONS EVENT.***

For more information, contact Rachael Tucker at 501-219-6376 or [email protected]

To learn more or register:

http://www.aad.arkansas.gov/aad-programs

03/06/2018

ATTRA's new publication, How to Add Compost on Your Small Farm, describes the benefits of compost regardless of farm size.

Download it for free at NCAT's ATTRA website: https://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/summaries/summary.php?pub=593.

The publication is also available in Spanish: https://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/summaries/summary.php?pub=594.

Compost, nutrients, plants, soil structure, soil, water-holding, and root diseases, microorganisms, porosity, friability, water, gases, compaction, texture.

03/02/2018

This is a GREAT opportunity for Farmers and Farmers Market managers that want to offer SNAP at their market or farm stand. The authorization process usually takes an applicant 45-60 days, but if they attend on March 27 they can accomplish this in ONE DAY!

03/01/2018

2017 Census of Agriculture Needs Your Response

There is still time to fill out your 2017 Census of Agriculture survey. As of today, the return rate on the 3 million agriculture questionnaires mailed last fall, is just over 40 percent. Participate today at https://www.agcensus.usda.gov/?utm_content=&utm_medium=email&utm_name=&utm_source=govdelivery&utm_term=.

American Samoa | Guam | Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands | Puerto Rico | Puerto Rico by Municipios | Virgin Islands

03/01/2018

It's official! The Arkansas Agritourism Association adopted bylaws and elected officers this week. Ruth Pepler of Dogwood Hills Guest Farm (Searcy County) was elected President. Congratulations to this group of hardworking people and their efforts to support, promote and grow the agritourism industry in our state.

We had a great turnout for the 1st meeting! Thank you all for coming out! I'm really looking forward to working with everyone.

02/27/2018

Business Workshop for Landowners – Mar. 8

The Winthrop Rockefeller Institute, University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service & Mississippi State University are hosting a business planning workshop to explore various types of outdoor businesses, including the pros and cons and income potential of each. Examples include outdoor recreation businesses such as hunting leases and agritourism. The workshop will be held on Thursday, March 8, 2018 at 8:00 am-3:30 pm. Details including registration link are posted online at http://rockefellerinstitute.org/institute-programs/land2018.

The Business Workshop for Landowners will help farmers and other landowners learn how to diversify the earning potential of their working land. Participants will hear from experts in natural resource enterprise and legal matters and will have an opportunity to begin building a business plan for an o...

02/16/2018

Interested in joining the new Arkansas Agritourism Association? Attend the official formation meeting on February 26. Visit www.uaex.edu/agritourism for more details and to RSVP.

Agritourism is any activity, enterprise or business combining elements of agriculture and tourism. Frequently, agritourism provides educational or recreational experiences. It offers visitors something to see, something to do or something to buy.

01/10/2018

Secluded cabins and camping are often the draw when people think about a vacation where they can surround themselves with nature and the activities that go with it. Here are two places that give city dwellers all that, plus the feel of farm life. Dogwood Hills Guest Farm All ages can enjoy this uniq...

12/13/2017

One more week to win! Just like, comment, and share and you'll be entered into the drawing for our cheese basket! You get to come to the farm, get a tour, get an array of meats and cheeses and sweet goat treats!

12/13/2017

http://amp.arkansasonline.com/news/2017/dec/12/arkansas-evergreens-papa-santa-s-specia/

SALINE COUNTY -- Santa Claus sells Christmas trees freshly cut from his forest of evergreens in rural Saline County, 10 miles southwest of Benton. He has a jolly good time, as do the boys and girls who take a seat in his flightless sleigh to divulge their gift wishes.

12/11/2017

Congratulations to Luke and Deedee Alston of Holly Springs Homestead in Polk County for being named the 2017 Arkansas Farm Family of the Year!

12/07/2017

12/06/2017

We were happy to host the preschool students and teachers from Arkansas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired today at the tree farm. We really love the special ornaments they made for us!

12/06/2017

12/05/2017

Congratulations to our friends at BoBrook Farms!

Voters named BoBrook Farms the Best Family Entertainment in the Central Arkansas area for 2017. More than 8 other nominees competed for the title, but in the end there was only one winner. Thanks to all who voted and congratulations to BoBrook Farms!

12/05/2017

Christmas presents come in all shapes and sizes!
Cutie Pie III

12/03/2017

We love when families come to the farm and have pictures made for their Christmas cards !!!

12/03/2017

This family has been coming to the Christmas Tree Farm since we opened. We are so blessed by their friendship! Love y’all