Farm and Ranch Recreation Resource Directory
Additional
Information
The following articles have been provided as additional resource information
for your use.
Bed
And Breakfast
We have been offering bed and breakfast farm vacations to pheasant hunters
for some 25 years. You will find names from most states and many foreign
countries in
our guest book. Why do people like to come off the Interstate
to a very ordinary farm? These are examples of the many letters of appreciation
we receive:
From Ohio - "To wake up each morning to the sound of peacocks, ducks, and
geese. With the cows mooing in the background, is an experience we look forward
to again and again. We like the delicious home-cooked meals, but most of
all the friendship and uninterrupted conversations. Too often at home, T.V.
and radio take
the place of good conversation."
From Virginia - "It was very relaxing time for Jim and me. The kids have
told all their friends about how much fun they had playing with the calves,
riding Dolly,
watching the men work at eating the delicious food."
From Ohio - "Once again we wish to thank you for our visit. You made us feel
right at home. Our plans next year are to go to Glacier National Park. Do
you think
you can put up with us for the third straight year?"
How do you start? Your key words should be cleanliness, comfort and
hospitality. Walls, floors, tabletops and windows should all be clean. The
home should be
free of orders, insects and cobwebs. If you have pets remember
that guests are not apt to take kindly to picking pet hair off their clothes
or having them sleep in their bed.
The guest rooms should be free of clutter and not be used as a storage area.
Have a railing on your stairs and be sure your steps are sturdy and free
from obstructions
such as toys. Put slip-proof mats in your tub and shower.
Be certain household cleaners and all medications are put in a secure place.
However modest your home and yard, it should be clean, attractive and
well-maintained. Grassy areas should be free of weeds and trash out of sight.
If your home looks as
though you love it, your guests will sense it and feel
more welcome.
Your bedroom furniture should be unmarred and in good repair. The bed should
be comfortable, covered with mattress pad, fresh linens and spread, with
extra blankets
provided. The mattress should be firm. If you use a sofa bed,
your guests should know in advance, as most prefer a regular bed with a firm
mattress. Avoid lumpy pillows
and have some extra, too, so guests can select
their preference. Do not skimp on lights; provide lamps that can easily be
switched off and on. If not three-way, then use l
arge bulbs. Provide hangers
and closet space to hang clothes if they desire. Also, a mirror is a must
in a room.
Special touches include a variety of books and magazines of general interest
and toy box for children. Also include your state's brochures featuring places
of interest. A
green plant or flowers in season is a special touch as well.
Supply guests with their own bath towels. Have proper lighting and electrical outlets in the bathroom. Do have smoke detectors and a supply of fire extinguishers.
Don't redo your entire house just because you plan to have guests. Freshen
up any tired area, but with a minimum of expense. Don't spend money for new
linens, blankets,
or furniture, when the ones you have are presentable. A
good rule of thumb is, if it's good enough for your family, it's good enough
for your guests.
HOSPITALITY
Are you appreciative and trustful to others? Do you communicate openly and
comfortably with people of other races, other backgrounds? These are important
host qualities.
If you are concerned about the safety and protection of your
home or possessions, for your own peace of mind, you probably should not
consider bed and breakfast.
The majority of guests are very considerate,
but if you are worried something might be broken or stolen, guests will sense
your concern and feel uncomfortable in your home.
You need not be entertainers; guests can be made to feel welcome without
taking a lot of your time and attention. Make your hospitality simple and
sincere.
Bed and breakfast often turns strangers into lifetime friends and warms the
heart long after they depart. But don't be disappointed if every guest doesn't
turn out to be a friend.
Many prefer to remain pretty much to themselves;
this is especially true when they arrive late and leave early.
Hosts must strike a balance between being casual enough to enjoy a continued
parade of visitors, yet not so laid back that they are inattentive to guests'
needs. Some questions
you can ask yourself are: Will I feel my privacy is
being invaded when people I don't know are staying in my home and using my
things? Will it bother me to be on call to
solve problems? Do I really enjoy
entertaining? How do I feel about being "on" a good share of the time? If
you answer these questions right, one of the great advantages
of being a
bed and breakfast host will be to widen your network of friends.
BREAKFAST
Breakfast is an important part of bed and breakfast. Guests appreciate a
full farm breakfast. A high point is letting them try to milk a cow or watch
the cows being milked, or
picking the eggs. Then serve the milk and eggs
along with bacon, cereals, fruits, juice, muffins, pancakes or waffles, toast
and coffee. All food should be fresh, attractive and
of excellent quality.
Do no skimp by using powdered milk instead of cream, or margarine instead
of butter. (Keep in mind that we are dairy states). It is thoughtful to have
decaffeinated hot beverages on hand, as many are caffeine conscious. You
may also want to be prepared to serve vegetarian meals and to have sugar
and salt substitutes
on hand. Food is not the place to cut corners; make
it plenty and make it good. Whether it is served in the dining room or kitchen,
set the table graciously and allow time to
eat unhurriedly. For travelers,
this is an especially pleasant part of the day.
We live 14 miles from the Interstate so we also serve an evening dinner which we believe brings us more guests, as they have more time to do farm activities and relax.
ADVERTISING
How do you reach these guests not that you're ready? You can advertise in
many ways: newspapers (some have special bed and breakfast section), bed
and breakfast
directories (some list free, others have a charge); your local
Chamber of Commerce or tourist bureau; a broker to whom you pay a fee for
each guest; rest areas where you
can put brochures; and referrals.
Remember that your objective in advertising is not to have your ad read by
many people but to have it acted upon by people who are interested in becoming
guests.
No matter how attractive your ad, if it doesn't pull in business,
find a better place to invest your money. Check the ads' effectiveness by
the number of guests who
come through them. Ask guests how they learned about
you. Advertise the amenities your bed and breakfast offers; horseback riding,
swimming, bird watching, egg
collecting, etc.
Consider people who are most likely to be your guests. If you are within
a few hours' drive of a major city, many who live there like to do things
at their own pace on
a piece of earth larger than a city lot. They may no
longer have a farm in their background. Many remark, "This is like when I
was a kid and went to Grandpa's farm.
" They want their children to have the
same experience.
INCOME
By no means, will bed and breakfast pay off your mortgage, but it certainly
helps with household expenses. Be careful you do not price yourself out of
the market.
If you want a good flow of guests, your prices should be kept
in line with the value they received. Determine what motels in your area
charge. One would certainly
not expect to pay more for a farm, which would
be less convenient. Careful thought should be given to ensure your rates
are reasonable. Guests who feel they receive
real value will tell others
and return.
TAXES
Keep a record of each guest, give receipts and charge state tax. If you have
no tax license, write to your capital. Usually there is no charge for the
license until you
do a lot of business.
INSURANCE
Ask your agent if your home owner's policy covers paying guests. If not,
ask your agent to add that clause. Also, by joining the Tourist House
Association, you can
purchase insurance through them.
RESERVATIONS
Guests should reserve either by phone or letter. Decide if you would like
an advance deposit and set a policy on refunding it if they cancel out.
Now it's up to you. There's still a lot to learn for everyone engaged in
bed and breakfast. No one really has all the answers. No two hosts do everything
alike, and as
you become experienced, you will develop your own preferences
and style. Do remember that bed and breakfast is neighborly hospitality with
a sense of real
enjoyment on the part of both host and guest. Most hosts
find it immensely satisfying and rewarding. Remember, people love to do business
with people who love
what they're doing.
REFERENCES
Bed & Breakfast U.S.A., Betty Rundback
and Nancy Kramer Farm & Ranch Country Vacations, Pat Dickerman
The Complete Guide to Bed and Breakfast, Pamela Lanier
This article was written by Delores Skoglund
Reprinted with permission from Successful Farming
Copyright 1987 All Rights Reserved
ON-FARM
BAKERY
HOW WE GOT STARTED
We got into the bakery business after being over the road truckers for nine
years. We had been in a serious accident and needed something else to do
for a living.
For 12 years we had baked bread in a brick oven for the Kalona
Historical Society's Fall Festival, so when we decided to start baking, it
was not something new.
We started baking out of our house in the fall of 1982. By March 1983 it
was build a separate bakery or do something else --that's how fast the business
was
growing-- so we did. The new bakery opened its doors in May 1983 with
20 loaves of bread and rolls.
When we started they bakery, we only had two kinds of bread, plus whole wheat
raised donuts, cinnamon rolls, apple nut rolls and hamburger buns. Since
then we
have added four-grain bread, pecan nut bread, raisin bread and wheat
seed bread. We make our own grapenuts, granola and six kinds of cookies.
We also make
whole wheat angle food cakes and noodles. We specialize in whole
grain products and do not make wheat bread unless it's ordered. Everything
is made from
scratch--no mixes.
BUILDING, EQUIPMENT AND SUPPLIES - Our bakery is a 42 foot by
24 foot building. It's divided into four parts--slightly more than half the
space is
the kitchen. There is a five-foot by six-foot bathroom and a four-foot
by four-foot office, and the rest of the space is the customer service area.
The kitchen
contains a coffee maker, a convection oven that holds up to 30
loaves, a proofer (for raising the dough), a deep fat fryer for donuts, a
sink, a table, a standard
refrigerator, a 20-quart mixer, a bun maker, two
Magic mill grinders and a noodle machine. There are also counters for work
space.
We use only 100 percent whole wheat ground fresh every day in our breads.
We use no refined sugar, except in some of our cookies, and we use low
cholesterol
corn oil and "butter match" (70 percent butter, 30 percent oil).
Except for the wheat and honey, the baking supplies come from the local branch
of a national food
distributor. The wheat, which is high protein, comes from
Walton Feed Co. In Montpelior, Idaho. The honey comes from a local farmer.
We use no mixes--everything
is made from scratch.
ZONING AND OTHER RESTRICTIONS - Because the bakery is in an area zoned
for farming, we can't put in booths to serve coffee and donuts inside, so
everything is take out. There have been no restrictions, otherwise. We've
had no problems with the state health inspectors--even when we were baking
at home.
We keep the bakery clean and mopped up, and we receive no complaints.
We pay particular attention to keeping the deep fat fryer clean and the oil
changed.
When we opened the bakery, we had one employee. Today we have four employees,
and sometimes we need more help. They alternate days so there are only two
working at a time. Junior does the baking, starting at 3 a.m. each day. We
have found it is very important to have a good work system in place, so that
mixing the dough,
raising the dough and baking it are timed right.
FINDING MARKETS - The bakery is four miles from the nearest small
town and 12 miles from a city, but we haven't had any problems finding customers.
October
through December is the busiest time of year for us. Monday, Wednesday
and Saturday are the busiest days of the week. In the summer, we get bus
tours of people
touring Iowa's Amish country. At least twice a week, we deliver
35 loaves of bread and rolls to a health food store in Iowa City. We fill
individual orders there, as well.
About 10 percent of our business is mail
order, through UPS.
The first year we were in business, we advertised heavily. We have found word of mouth is the best advertising, so now we run ads only in the local school publications.
We are going on four years in the business, and it has been a good four years.
What we would like to do next is expand our operations by franchising. To
that end, we
have registered the Amish Country Bakery name and logo. We hope
to pursue it further in the coming year.
This article was provided by Junior and Ruby Miller owners
of the Amish Country Bakery.
Reprinted with permission from Successful Farming
Copyright 1987 All Rights Reserved
USING COMPUTERS
IN MARKETING
Several communities in the Southeast have targeted vegetables as a new enterprise
for introduction into their area. Over the past twenty years, and with increasing
frequency, marketing cooperatives have been formed to grade, pack, ship and
sell the vegetables from these communities.
These marketing cooperatives have met with varying degrees of success, ranging
from those that have been very successful to those that have quickly failed.
All have had
to deal with a wide array of management, operational, production
and marketing problems. In a self-help effort to deal with these problems
more efficiently, leaders of several
of the marketing cooperatives began
to meet under the sponsorship of Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) and
Agricultural Cooperative Service (ACS) during the late 1970s.
In October,
1983, these leaders organized the Horticultural Producers Federation (HPF).
A federated organization of local cooperatives with representatives from
North Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee and Kentucky.
During the fall of 1983, 30 vegetable marketing cooperatives in the Southeast
region were interviewed as the initial step in identifying the services the
federation could provide
to local cooperatives that would be most beneficial
to them. Interest was expressed in HPF providing services relating to market
information, record keeping, communications,
accounting and planning, joint
purchasing and centralized marketing. Our project staff determined that the
introduction of microcomputers into the individual cooperatives, which
could
be tied together be effective in addressing the market information, record
keeping, communications, accounting and planning needs.
During the past three years the Horticultural Producers Federation has grown
from 5 to 16 members. Programs have been initiated for the member cooperatives
in five areas
(1) Educational programs, (2) joint purchasing, (3) centralized
marketing, (4) microcomputer services and (5) market information.
Educational programs - Six major workshops or tours have been sponsored
over the past three years. Workshops on microcomputer programs, tours of
marketing facilities
and other programs have been held. The communication
among directors, managers and staffs of the participating marketing cooperatives
growing out of these educational
programs has been one of the major benefits
resulting from the federation effort.
Joint purchasing - The member cooperatives feel that economics can
be obtained through joint purchasing of containers and other materials.
Representatives of each firm met
with several representatives of container
firms at least year's annual meeting as an initial step toward joint purchasing.
The divergence in the types of containers used among the
member cooperatives
was found to be a major barrier to joint purchasing and a HPF committee was
recently established to work on standardization of containers.
Centralized marketing - Centralized marketing is a service which has
the greatest potential to benefit the cooperatives, yet is one that may be
most difficult to implement.
During the past marketing season, the federation
operated a market analysis and pricing committee to provide the individual
cooperatives with assistance in their marketing.
This effort which could
be a first step to centralized marketing was successful and proved to be
very helpful to local managers in understanding market conditions. Plans
to
initiate centralized marketing for the member cooperatives during the
1987 marketing season are currently being considered.
Microcomputer services - During the spring of 1984, IBM PC's, printers,
communications modems and software were installed in six of the marketing
cooperatives as a pilot
project. Training was provided to the local staffs
on the operations of the computers and the software. Some software, such
as the packinghouse record-keeping program and
the market information program,
was written for use of the cooperatives. Commercial software, such as accounting
and payroll, was used for other applications.
VEGMARC
This is the packinghouse record-keeping program that was written under the
project to keep packinghouse records of farmer deliveries, records of buyer
purchases and
calculation of pool period prices. I would like to outline
some of its major features. The main menu for the VEGMARC record-keeping
program has eight options.
Change current date
Install this program
Maintain client lists
Daily grower transactions
Daily buyer transactions
Daily reports
Pool period reports
Write checks
The installation menu includes such items as the list of commodities to be
handled by the cooperative, the setting of printer codes and the fees of
packinghouse charges.
These are normally set at the beginning of the season
and would need few changes.
The maintained client list routine includes provisions for maintaining grower
and buyer names, addresses and telephone numbers. These names can be retrieved
for various
printouts in the record keeping program and may be retrieved
for printing directories and labels.
Under the daily grower transactions and the daily buyer transactions menus,
daily records of grower deliveries to the cooperatives are maintained and
daily records of sales to
buyers are maintained. All entries are maintained
for individual records and for use in computing pool prices. Individual records
may be marked for editing if a problem with
the transaction is suspected.
The daily report menu allows the user to print up to four different types
of reports (grower, buyer, packinghouse and sales). These daily reports may
be used for checking input,
filed for later use by the cooperative and for
keeping growers informed.
The pool period report menu allows the cooperative to calculate pool period
prices for each crop marketing individually or in combination with other
crops. The buyer report,
the growers report, the load out report and the
pack out report are also generated.
The check writing option gives the user the flexibility to write checks,
record both handwritten and computer printed checks and balances as many
checking accounts as the
cooperative maintains.
Evaluations by users of the program have been positive with 85 percent of
the cooperatives, indicating it meets their needs for record keeping. Some
difficulties have been
encountered in having the program meet all the individual
accounting procedures used by the member cooperatives. These problems are
being resolved by modifying the
program to meet the needs of the cooperatives
or by having the cooperatives modify their operating procedures. Several
minor modifications are currently being made in the
program and the program
is being converted from DbaseII to DbaseIII to improve its speed of operation.
Market information and communications - Three different methods of
delivering market information and providing for communications between the
cooperatives were tested.
Market information and communications were delivered
during the first year through a microcomputer network with a host microcomputer
at Virginia Tech serving as the
hub for delivery of market information from AMS and to the communications network. The second year a commercial time-sharing
network was used in place of the host
microcomputer at Virginia Tech. AMS
market information and communications producers were similar to the first
year. The third year it was decided to test the use of
ProNet, a commercial
market information system. The AMS market information was helpful but most
cooperatives felt more complete marketing information was needed.
The
participating cooperatives have access to ProNet through a joining subscription
arrangement with HPF.
Spreadsheets - The marketing cooperatives have access to Supercalc
for use in their business. Programs have been developed for grower inventory
of containers,
calculating patronage refunds, calculating packinghouse breakeven
analysis and for some other applications. The Supercalc spreadsheets have
been used some, but not
to the extent anticipated. Further training on writing
spreadsheets among the participating cooperatives is needed to encourage
the writing of individual applications.
Accounting and payroll - Rather than write programs in accounting
and payroll, it was decided to work with the cooperatives to purchase the
commercial Red Wing
software system. Several of the participating cooperatives
have purchased the accounting and payroll programs and are finding them most
useful. Since the marketing
cooperatives employ large numbers of workers
for a fairly short season, the payroll program which can calculate salaries,
hourly wages, piece rate or some combination
of the three, has been valuable.
The program also calculates employee deductions for FICA, federal and state
taxes, print payroll checks and W-2 forms and separates
employee expenditures
into projects for better cost analysis. Most of the cooperatives have purchased
the payroll program and several have purchased and are using the
general
ledger program.
Word processing - A couple of firms are using a commercial word processing
system and find it useful. As the financial and accounting applications become
established,
expanded use of word processing among the other cooperatives
can be expected.
As a result of this work, we have concluded that the use of a microcomputer
by a marketing cooperative can greatly benefit them and, in my judgement,
will be essential if a
marketing firm is to remain competitive in the future.
The computer has proven to be an effective tool in helping the office staffs
handle the large number of records associated
with this seasonal business.
As the users gain experience new applications can also be expected.
This article was written by James B. Bell, 1986
Reprinted with permission from Successful Farming
Copyright 1986 All Rights Reserved
Agritourism, Recreation and Alternative
Enterprise
Resource Directory, by State/National, 1999
Compiled by James A. Maetzold and Reprinted with permission
Agritourism, Recreation and Alternative
Enterprise Leader
Resource Economics and Social Sciences Division, USDA/NRCS
(See RESSD web site for list and updates
http://www.nrcs.usda.gov
This site is the Natural Resources Conservation Service / US Dept of Agriculture.
List of Cooperative Extension Specialist Working on Alternative Enterprises,
Enterprise Diversification, Recreation, Tourism and Rural Economics &
Community
Development that were Identified in a National Survey taken by
the Extension Service