How to Handle Farm Visitors

You could Google it!

I am not finding much, but then I also don't want to be the first one to lose my farm because on an injured visitor, nor do I want my insurance jacked up because of an injury.

What about just handing them a form to sign?

"Here's a waiver in case you get maimed, mangled, mauled, or murdered. Please sign and we can get on with the tour."

I have had people ask if they can "come pick veggies," and I just tell them I am sorry but not open to the public. My friends and family aren't takers, so no situations leaving me feel like the Little Red Hen. I was talking to a gal at a Church event and I asked her if she was prepped for a quake. She smiled and said she used to prep, but no longer does. I asked her what she would do. She smiled even wider and said, "I'll just come to your house!"

"What if you can't get to my house?" She was speechless.

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Christie Acres
www.SequimForLife.com
http://www.irealtyvirtualbrokers.com...lori-christie/
http://luxurywaterviewhomes.com/
SequimLiving@gmail.com

Yes, I have had people tell me that, too. There is no free ride for family or friends, either.

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Christie Acres
www.SequimForLife.com
http://www.irealtyvirtualbrokers.com...lori-christie/
http://luxurywaterviewhomes.com/
SequimLiving@gmail.com

Or maybe I could just work and live and not have to deal with that sort of thing, or the possibility of an injury? Kids around here know what cows look like, so I don't think it would be a big draw anyway, plus I like my privacy.

That's all well enough. It's a personal decision. If people would just say, "I like my privacy" or "I don't like people" then there would have been no argument.

Instead they list 30 fearful, hand-wringing reasons about how you'll lose your farm if someone gets a splinter.

I could put a sign up by the road and people still wouldn't stop here. It would read "Come Tour an Authentic Hillbilly Cabin" and they'd just drive faster. I'm kind of jealous of those of you who actually have visitors stop by. Heck, when we moved in here it was 7 months before our neighbors even bothered to come by and meet us. Two of them still haven't.

That probably says more about me than them though.

No one ever asks. I must repel people, and that is fine with me. lol

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The house I grew up in is now a museum, with guided tours a couple of days a week. There are a lot of steps, and some uneven ground. Before anyone can go on a tour they have to sign a waiver. It isn't said, of course, but all the tour docents are well aware that the waiver means absolutely nothing legally. However, merely the fact that people need to sign it, IMO, makes them stop and think a bit about being more careful. In the 30+ years that it has been open for tours no one to my knowledge has hurt themselves, or threatened to sue.

Back when the family still lived there we would have people often stop and ask for a tour. Even had some people just walk in (to the garden; I don't know if anyone made it into the house) without asking. At least one said, when confronted, "But it is such an usual house, it MUST be open to the public"!?

Viriginia
//"WARNING: Under Virginia law, there is no liability for an injury to or death of a participant in an agritourism activity conducted at this agritourism location if such injury or death results from the inherent risks of the agritourism activity. Inherent risks of agritourism activities include, among others, risks of injury inherent to land, equipment, and animals, as well as the potential for you to act in a negligent manner that may contribute to your injury or death. You are assuming the risk of participating in this agritourism activity."//
Other states might have similar. All the hors riding llaces and vineyards have this posted

No, but we're almost 10 miles off the blacktop.

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Je ne suis pas Alice

http://homesteadingfamilies.proboards.com/

When my husband and I were very young (we married young) we met an elderly couple who were homesteaders through a mutual friend. They had all sorts of animals and lived in this old two story farm house. We used to buy ducks from them and loved visiting. They were very old and their family was all moved away so they seemed so excited when we came to visit. I still think of that couple fondly and remember their homestead well. I think that is where we started wanting one of our own. I hope they knew how they influenced us.

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Living Large Down on the Farm.

How interesting! And weird. But mostly interesting
Care to share where you grew up?

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" It's better to ride even if you get thrown, than to wind up just wishin' ya had."

Chris Ledoux

Make Shure your farm insurance is updated. If anyone gets hurt weather there legally or illegal you're responsible

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Be not afraid, be yourself everybody else is who they are why would you want to be like them?

I just this week had to explain to some friends that are wanting to come out to see the farm that we have committed to a “zero social engagement month” so that we can have dedicated time to some farm projects. I have a forty-hour/week job and the summer weekends are precious time that I can’t squander. They have a bucolic notion of farming and I thought it was good to let them know right away that the sacrifices (while totally worth it) are real. A four-hour evening with friends after a few hours of additional hosting prep seems like ill-prioritized time in July when the list is long. Who has time for these visits?

http://www.torhouse.org/

Tips? As in cash payment? That means you're doing a paid tour. Be sure you learn what the regulatory and insurance requirements are before you go down that path. Go with eyes wide open.

Done. That's what my blog is for. It's our virtual tour. Far better than any in person tour could be. My blog shows over 13,000 photos and over 1,600 articles over many years across all the season. An in person visit can never go into that level of detail. The blog is always there and it saves gas since people don't have to travel. It also protects us from the biosecurity problems that visitors bring.

There's the rub. Most of those requests are not customers. We don't have a farm stand, retail store, etc for them to browse either. Nearly 90% of our sales are standing-order wholesale business to stores and restaurants which my wife delivers weekly. That's the bread and butter for us. Retail sales via our CSA and roaster sales are a nice but that is scheduled by appointment, not drop by. I'm fine with giving the driveway tour but we don't do agri-tourism.

That assumes there is something extra to sell that people want. Our existing markets pretty much soak up everything we produce. Most people are looking for high-on-the-hog stuff and that's sold out with advanced orders. We keep almost nothing in the freezer. Few people are interested in trotters (feet), bones, heads, kidney, liver, etc which is about all that is left over each week after regular deliveries.

You might say, "Well produce more" but realize we're already doing a lot, and building our own butcher shop and built our own house and... There's a limit. We have no interest in hiring employees, interns, etc. Doing tours requires manning the tours - We would have to be doing the tours rather than actually farming. We're farmers, not tour guides.

It's great that some people enjoy agri-tourism. But it isn't for everyone. We've got work to do.

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SugarMtnFarm.com -- Pastured Pigs, Poultry, Sheep, Dogs and Kids

Almost every friend or family member who comes is required to do some work while here. Our lives don't stop...

This morning, I negotiated an Offer, will be conferring with a Buyer who flew in from out of the Country (military), weeding in my garden, helping DH prepare our boat for a trip, hang up my laundry, and the list goes on... On any given day, work just "happens," and any one who happens to be here must understand that!

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Christie Acres
www.SequimForLife.com
http://www.irealtyvirtualbrokers.com...lori-christie/
http://luxurywaterviewhomes.com/
SequimLiving@gmail.com

Over the years we've fielded a number of requests to fish in our pond. Strangers would just drive up and ask, but we've always said no as we like our privacy. The only folks who fish here are our nearest neighbors who are like extended family.

We do enjoy having family and friends out, but I'm forever amazed at people who think it's OK for their kids to run wild, climbing on the implements, chasing the animals and wandering off unsupervised. They're all suburban families who seem to think the farm is their personal Disneyland. Early on, we learned to set the ground rules...no children go into the barn or fields without our personal supervision and all kids stay in sight at all times. It's made visits much more pleasant.

I do love that friends love to visit us, and I like to think they've learned something along the way.

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Beth ~ Old Church, VA
3 Nigerian Dwarf goats, 4 cats, 3 Pekin ducks and 7 chickens. One very patient husband~

Everyone who comes to our place is expected to work a few hours. Guests from towns seem to actually enjoy a bit of exercise and/or learning how to do simple chores.

NOBODY comes up without calling first or else they get a friendly escort back to the gate. One time seems to teach them manors or else drives them away forever.

Everyone we know knows that we have a very relaxed dress code and calling first seems to work out fine for all. We have time to get dressed up and they don't go blind if they don't share our lifestyle.

Get a driveway alarm so you can greet visitors before they get a chance to get out of their car. Ours goes off when they are about 700' from the house. Uninvited can be turned around and the invited warmly welcomed.

Aside from house and outbuildings, get insurance riders for farm equipment and then as much umbrella coverage as you can stand.

We keep guests away from the chickens and ducks.

But, all in all, we like guests and get a half dozen or so a month. On our terms.

I am well insured and careful. I find visitors disruptive because there's a ton of work to do, and very few know the difference between a baby carrot and a weed.

But there's something about people coming out for the first time, looking past the things that need fixing to the trees and birdsong, the old barn with hand hewn beams, the antiques and sunshine and herbs drying in the windows, iced tea brewing on the porch and fresh cherry pie cooling on the sill, and I hear the wistfulness in their voices when they say "Could we come back sometime?"

I know how much *I* love being here. I can't blame them for feeling the same way.

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