This website serves Farmers and Ranchers in the Kansas AgriTourism Industry.For family outings, go to http://www.travelks.comWelcome to Kansas AgriTourism!This website has been developed specifically for Kansas farmers and ranchers involved in AgriTourism, rural properties where the traveler has an opportunity to experience farm and country life far from the hustle of the city.The site is a project of the Kansas Agritourism Advisory Council, working in cooperation with:the Kansas Agriculture Marketing Division and the Travel and Tourism Division of the Department of Commerceand with financial assistance from Frontier Farm Credit.We invite you to explore this website to find a variety of articles and resources that will help you succeed in agritourism.If you have any questions, please contact the Department of Commerce, Travel and Tourism Division, and ask for the Agritourism Liaison.
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Kansas AgriTourism News
This Month's Featured Destination: The Boot Scootin' Barn!
It was a boot scootin' party! Everybody had a great time! They wanted to come back for more! And- before you knew it- the Boot Scootin' Barn was born! The Boot Scootin' Barn is part of the Fulton Valley Farms, a heritage farm established in 1869 near Towanda, a town about 15 miles east of Wichita, Kansas. The working farm is the home of former Kansas State Senator David and Betty Corbin, and sits between a rippling stream and acres of corn, wheat, beans and hay. But most folks just know it as the Boot Scootin' Barn.
"We have five or six weddings each year, and the rest are reunions, retreats, or just plain ol' parties," Betty said. "With tables and chairs and the catering tables, we normally host around 250 people, with the capacity to go up to 400. If the weather doesn't cooperate, and forces the wedding inside, we can handle it. We set up the chairs for a sanctuary, and after the wedding, ask folks to help us move the chairs around for a party." Click here to read the rest of this story. Visit the Boot Scootin' Barn Website Weaving Your WebsiteWhen surveyed, the Kansas AgriTourism operators had more questions about websites than any other marketing topic. We can't stress enough how important it is for your farm or ranch to be on the web. First, it's a fact that 75% of all Americans have Internet access, and surveys indicate that 94% of them use the Internet to find travel information. So with three-quarters of the nation using the Internet to find their entertainment, day trips, hunting trips, local attractions, or products-there is no doubt that every agritourism property needs to be there! In this year's Kansas AgriTourism Workshop, Jane Eckert of Eckert AgriMarketing took the participants step-by-step through the basics of this new frontier, starting with what the web is and why a farm or ranch needs a website, and then walking the audience through the planning, development, and maintenance of an effective website. To read more about planning your website and the technology terminology and considerations, click here. Intern From France Studies Kansas Agritourism Sophie has been an intern at Kansas State University since mid-February, studying the development of tourism and especially how to promote and develop tourism in rural areas. She is shown at the left with Dave Mace, Business Development Specialist at the Kansas Ag Innovation Center; and Norm Jennings, Owner Smoky Hill Winery. "I am really involved in agritourism because I think this is a good way to help farmers increase their incomes, and to promote the countryside." She said. "This is really a developed activity in France. We have many farms that sell 'produits du terroir', the cheese, honey, and meat from the farm." "It is really different here. In France, in a small area, you can find a church, a museum, a famous city, and traditional food. You drive 20 miles, and you are in another tourist place. Tourism there is well developed. People enjoy their free-time during weekends and during the 5 weeks of paid holidays to discover their country."
(Pictured at right: Steve and Norm Jennings, Smokey Hill Winery, with Sophie Robert and Jane Eckert) Read More about the Smokey Hill Winery Farm Bureau Takes A Stand on TaxationThe Portsmouth Herald in New Hampshire has an interesting story this month about Robert Johnson, executive director of the New Hampshire Farm Bureau, who believes some farmers are unreasonably assessed. Johnson is ready to take on stand on Farm Taxation. Click here to read this story To read previous newsletters, please visit our Archives. |
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Nine years ago, David and Betty Corbin's oldest son was getting married. So they poured a concrete floor in the barn, called all their friends, and they had party. 
Betty Corbin tells us that ten to twelve times each year, the barn kicks up to full power. The ceiling becomes a canopy of thousands of twinkle lights high above the two antique wooden wheeled wagons. A hanging lattice covered with artificial greenery sets off the catering tables. A building adjoining the barn, connected by a breezeway, provides a full kitchen for caterers, as well as handicapped accessible restrooms. Outside, there are three different areas for outdoor weddings followed by an indoor reception. 
"Agritourism in France is so very different than what is happening in Kansas," according to Sophie Robert, a student from the University Blaise Pascal in Clermont-Ferrand, a city in the center of France.
"This is a way of life there," Sophie said, "Very different from here. The distances between big cities, and the countryside, are so big. I think that here in Kansas, there are things to do in agritourism. But the organizations have to work together. They have to make a link to be efficient."