This Month's Featured Destination:

Best Practices Strategy Pays Off!
KC Pumpkin Patch

“We started off by taking note of what works, and what doesn’t. We even took photographs of the things we really liked, so by the time we started KC Pumpkin Patch four years ago, we had a pretty good idea what we were going to include,” said Kirk and Julie Berggren, in Gardner, Kansas.

Kirk served our country in the United States Air Force, so they were located in various parts of the country. Both have some farm background, and as they took their own children to pumpkin patches, they paid attention to the best practices.They looked first at what the kids enjoyed, and then at activities that were low cost, low maintenance, or good profit centers. Julie says they have an entire photo album of ideas.

Once Kirk retired from active duty (he still flies for Federal Express), they leased 60 acres in Gardner, Kansas, very close to the Greater Kansas City suburbs. The pumpkin patch spans 10 acres, with a one-acre corn maze, pumpkin cannon range, and parking taking additional space. Then they set out to put the best practices to work on their own farm.

One Price Admission
“I think our “one price covers everything” is an important part of our success,” Kirk said. “We started out charging 50 cents for the train and so forth, and I think parents resent having to pay a little here and a little there. They like knowing up front what it will cost them. The only thing we charge extra for now is the pumpkin and gourd cannons and the slingshot, where they buy their pumpkins to shoot.”

According to Kirk, the pumpkin cannon has also been a great marketing tool. He said that during the school tours, he periodically shoots off the cannon, which fires 8-inch pumpkins, and the kids go home and tell their parents. “We’ve had a lot of dads saying they came out just to see the cannon their kids were talking about,” Kirk said.

Online School Tour Reservations
Julie handles all of the school tours, and they strongly encourage all teachers to use their online registration to schedule their tours. Callers usually are greeted by a recorded message directing them to the website, www.kcpumpkinpatch.com, which specifically urges teachers to make their reservation online.

“The online form seems to make better use of the teacher’s time, and mine,” Julie said. “They can make their reservations, order our Little Farmer Lunches or Ranch Hand Specials, and get it all done during a class break, or even late at night.”

The “Little Farmer Lunches” include a hot dog, chips, and a drink. The Ranch Hand Special is 2-dozen cookies, a gallon of apple cider, and cups. Both are options available on the online form. Teachers and parents are free, and Kirk said he felt this also was a factor in encouraging parents to come back on the weekend.

Volunteer Workers
KC Pumpkin Patch uses 12-15 workers during the week, and 25 or more on weekends. All are volunteers from qualified non-profit organizations (501c3), and their organizations receive a donation in return. Julie distributes checklists to the workers for all the setup each day, and the tractor drivers also have their assignments.

Click to read More About Tractor Pulls, Activities, Refreshments, and Marketing at KC Pumpkin Patch

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Proof! People Want to Visit the Farm!

We all like to quote statistics - here is something just out of the state of Georgia that can help our industry. Pass these findings on to your friends, associations and tourism folks.

A recent Georgia study shows people want to visit farms. 60% said they are "very likely" to visit a pick- your-own, 64% "would likely" visit a farm for enjoyment it would provide and 73% indicated they would utilize a guide or outfitter service to access rural Georgia.

Read the entire article

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Kansas Agritourism Scholarship

Two of the best ways to grow your agritourism business are:

-Visit Agritourism Properties
-Attend AgriTourism/Direct Marketing Conferences

Knowing that these methods will help grow your business (and subsequently, bring more income into the state of Kansas), the Kansas Department of Commerce, Agriculture Marketing Division has once again established an Agritourism Scholarship program to assist Kansas agritourism operators in attending select conferences, seminars and educational tours.

The objective is to help you to gain first-hand information regarding agritourism best practices around the region and the country, and to develop professional, educational, and marketing relationships within the industry nationwide.

Up to $5,000 is available to help you attend an approved conference, and up to $2,000 is available to help fund an educational trip to targeted agritourism regions.

Applications will be accepted from October 5 through November 15,2006.

Click here for more information, and the application, as soon as it becomes available. Recipients will be announced by December 15, 2006.

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