Kansas AgriTourism News
October 2005
Greetings!
Wow! It's finally October!
In a matter of days, we'll have frost on the pumpkins, and crowds in the pumpkin patch!
This month, I want to introduce some friends of mine in the pumpkin patch business. Our featured destination is the Renyer's Pumpkin Farm in Wetmore, Kansas. Their story, like mine, is a reminder of how important it is for us to get to the workshops and training that help us grown.
Doug and Brenda Renyer mark the year they went to the NAFDMA Convention as "a turning point" in making their business grow.
 Have you reached your "turning point"? Do you want help?
See the article "Don't Pass Up Free Money" and get your application submitted for the Kansas Agritourism Scholarship. It may change your life!
And be sure to read our interview with Dennis Lawson of Frontier Farm Credit, as he discusses the Credit Bureau Report, and how to improve your credit scores!
Have a great month!
Becky Walters, Chair for the
Kansas AgriTourism Advisory Council
|
In This Month's Issue:
A Turning Point
This month's featured Destination:
Renyer's Pumpkin Farm
Don't Pass Up Free Money!
When You Must Borrow
Money to Grow Your Business,
Part IV: Credit Bureau Reports
|
| |
A Turning Point
This Month's Featured Destination:
Renyer's Pumpkin Farm
October 2005
When you ask Brenda Renyer how long they’ve operated a pumpkin patch, she hesitates.
“Well, I guess we’ve been in this business for six years. But I consider this to be our second year. I mean our second real year. That’s when we first went to NAFDMA.”
NAFDMA is the North American Farmers’ Direct Marketing Association, and Doug and Brenda Renyer mark attending the association’s national convention as a turning point in their agritourism business.
“The first four years, we planted some pumpkins and thought that maybe someone would come by and buy them,” she says. That’s when they started Renyer's Pumpkin Farm in Wetmore, Kansas.
Brenda says she grew up going to craft shows with her mom, and originally they opened up the farm one week a year to visitors, and sold her craft items, and pumpkins. She had been a teacher, and this seemed like a way that she could stay home with her son Clay, yet still realize a little income.
So what was that turning point?
“The NAFDMA convention begins with pre-conference bus tours,” Brenda explains. “For three days, you are traveling with at least 50 other agritourism people, and going to all sorts of successful farms. Everyone is talking about what works, and what doesn’t, and you get to see how it can really be done.
“We saw farms where they converted old grain bins into play areas, and used the history of the farm to educate visitors…all sorts of things that you can incorporate without spending a lot of money- and yet make it educational and fun.”
“And then in the conference itself, we learned how to really make it all work,” Brenda recalls. “I learned all sorts of things from Jane- I’m still trying to get it all done!”
Jane Eckert, the Kansas Agritourism consultant, is a past president of NAFDMA, and often is asked to lead a full day workshop titled “Direct Farm Marketing and Agritourism 101: Make Your First Steps Your Right Steps.” This workshop is just one of several tracts available to attendees, based on their interests and experience.
“You can walk around our farm and see all sorts of things we learned at NAFDMA.
Read More About the Renyer's Turning Point
Return to top
Don't Pass Up Free Money!
The Department of Commerce has $25,000 available for scholarships for certified agritourism operators to attend a winter meeting and to gain knowledge to improve your farm business. This is free money, and it's earmarked for you!
The only catch is you must act now-You must apply by October 30, 2005. You must also be a registered agritourism operator, which is easy to do, and also has certain benefits you'll find of value.
If you are not sure if you have registered, call or email Janna Dunbar at the Dept of Commerce, phone 785- 296-3737 to find out.
So here are a few suggestions of how you might use the scholarship money:
If you currently have lodging facilities on your property-or you are thinking of building some-perhaps you should plan to attend the Kansas Bed & Breakfast annual meeting March 5 -7, 2006 in Junction City.
As the Renyer's have indicated in the previous article, the NAFDMA Convention is an excellent learning opportunity. Since last month's reminder, NAFDMA has now posted their full agenda. Presenters will include Jane Eckert, the agritourism consultant to Kansas, who will be giving an full day workshop titled "Make Your First Steps the Right Steps."
Visit the Kansas Agritourism Calendar for More Conferences
Return to top
When You Must Borrow Money to Grow Your Business,
Part Four: Credit Bureau Reports
As we are either starting or expanding our direct farm marketing businesses,
the inevitable dilemma occurs:
"I don't have enough capital to do it right. Should I borrow, or should I just start small?"
Note: This is the fourth of a series of articles about this timely dilemma, based on a series of interviews with Dennis Lawson, who works with Kansas farms and ranches for Frontier Farm Credit. To read part one, click here.
In the previous articles in this series, we talked about the financial documents that should be reviewed with your loan officer, and then we talked about developing the cash flow projections that give both a good indication as to whether or not to proceed with securing a loan to start up or expand your new operation. You can review these articles by going to the "Ask the Expert" page, and then scrolling down to the articles section.
In this article, we want to briefly look at the Credit Bureau Report, and why it is important to the lending agencies that are evaluating your project with you.
If you’ve never heard of a credit bureau, these are for-profit companies, managed by their shareholders with no connection to the government. Credit bureaus gather consumer credit information by soliciting creditors such as credit card companies, banks, and lenders to join their systems and contribute their credit experience on consumers to the systems.
In return for submitting information to the systems, creditor members may use the system to obtain credit information on consumers to approve credit decisions or review existing consumer accounts.
Credit bureaus are generally regulated by the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), which is the Federal law covering credit bureaus and credit reporting in this country.
Learn About the Credit Bureaus, and How to Improve Your Credit Rating!
Return to top
To read previous newsletters, please visit our Archives.
