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Description:
Agritourism businesses and other alternative enterprises offer farmers
and ranchers the opportunity to earn higher profits by replacing
or supplementing their traditional operations with innovative, sustainable
on-farm or on-ranch ventures. Alternative enterprises cover a vast
array of business ventures that range from the production of alternative
products, alternative marketing of traditional products, valued-added
products to, in the case of agritourism, the development of farm-based
recreational or educational activities open to the public. Thus,
alternative enterprises can make use of various on-farm or off-farm
resources. Despite this fact though, the use of natural resources
for the development of an agritourism or alternative enterprise
is not usually considered in the traditional farm enterprise planning
or management process. For this reason, an agritourism and alternative
enterprise guide has been developed to help farmers, ranchers, and
rural communities evaluate and identify their natural resources
in terms of potential for an agritourism or alternative enterprise.
The guide leads its readers through the initial assessment and identification
of on-farm and off-farm resources that can be used when developing
an agritourism or alternative enterprise. The resources directly
addressed are: family and community resources, soil, water, air,
wildlife, plant, and animal resources.
The agritourism and alternative enterprise
identification guidebook will be presented and participants requested
to provide feedback on the scope and content of it.
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