Airbnb's New "Farm to Stay" Grant Gives U.S. Farms Up to $10,000. Only About 350 Applications Will Be Accepted. Here's How to Be Ready First.
Attention U.S. farm and ranch owners: this is time-sensitive. Applications open in late November 2026.
What the new Farm to Stay grant really is, who can apply, the odds nobody is talking about, and a 7-step plan to have your application ready before the portal opens. The plan pays off even if you never get the check.
Some Farmers Now Earn More Selling an Experience Than Selling a Crop
When the pandemic hit, Shelly Altman made a decision about her farm property in Cornville, Arizona. She opened it up to host families.
Today she is one of the farm hosts Airbnb featured when it released a new study on farm stays. And that study found something every struggling farmer needs to hear: some farmers are finding they can make more money selling an experience than selling a crop.
Read that again. Not a bigger harvest. Not a better price per bushel. An experience.
Now one of the biggest travel brands on the planet has decided to put money behind that idea. Airbnb and American Farmland Trust (AFT) have launched the Farm to Stay Grant Program. It will give U.S. farms and ranches between $5,000 and $10,000 each to start or expand a farm stay or a farm experience.
But there's a catch, and most of the headlines have skipped it. The number of applications is capped, and they will be reviewed in the order they arrive. So the farmers who win this won't necessarily be the ones with the prettiest barns. They'll be the ones who were ready.
This article is your preparation guide. By the end, you'll know exactly what's on the table, whether you qualify, how the odds really look, and the seven things to do between now and late November so you're near the front of the line.
The Farm to Stay Grant at a Glance: What Airbnb and AFT Put on the Table
Let's start with the facts, because you'll see plenty of hype about this program in the coming weeks. Here is what the two organizations have actually published:
Program at a glance | The details |
Program name | Farm to Stay Grant Program |
Who runs it | American Farmland Trust, through its Brighter Future Fund, in partnership with Airbnb |
Total available | $250,000 |
Grant size | Minimum $5,000, maximum $10,000 per recipient |
Number of grants | About 25 to 30 |
Applications open | Late November 2026 |
How you apply | A secure online portal on SurveyMonkey Apply |
How applications are reviewed | In the order they are received |
Application cap | About 350 applications accepted |
Official page | farmland.org/farm-to-stay |
One more detail matters more than it looks. AFT has said that, because of the expected volume, its team can't answer individual questions about eligibility, project ideas, project feedback or application guidance. Instead, everything will be posted on the program page before applications open: eligibility requirements, guidelines, FAQs, application instructions and applicant resources.
In plain English, nobody is going to hold your hand. The information will arrive all at once, and the clock starts right after.
Why One of the World's Biggest Travel Brands Is Betting on Your Barn
Big companies follow demand, and the demand numbers in Airbnb's new farm stay report are hard to ignore:
Search interest nearly quadrupled. U.S. Google search interest for "farm stay" nearly quadrupled between 2016 and early 2026.
Nearly $120 million to U.S. farms. U.S. farms on Airbnb earned nearly $120 million in 2025, across nearly 10,000 farm stay listings.
About $8,000 for the typical host. The typical farm stay host on Airbnb earned close to $8,000 last year.
Nearly 400% growth. Total host earnings for farm stays on Airbnb have grown nearly 400 percent since 2018.
Hotel deserts everywhere. Airbnb's report finds more than 60 percent of U.S. census tracts are "hotel deserts" where Airbnb is the only accommodation option.
Now put that $8,000 next to this number. According to USDA economic research cited in the same report, the typical small farm household lost money on farming in 2024, with median farm income of nearly minus $2,800.
Minus. As in, the farming side cost the family money.
To be fair, these two numbers aren't measured the same way. Hosting earnings are what guests paid, before the host's costs. Farm income is what's left after expenses. So don't read this as "$10,800 better off." Read it as a signal: guests are already paying farm families real money while the crop side is under pressure.
Listen to how Gail Stem, a host in Reddick, Florida, describes it in Airbnb's announcement: "We are older and have limited income so money from hosting on Airbnb goes directly into farm maintenance, taxes, horse, donkey and cattle feed, veterinarian care and more."
That's what this is really about. It isn't a side hobby. It's keeping the farm.
The Math Nobody Is Talking About
Here's the part the press releases don't put in bold.
About 350 applications will be accepted. About 25 to 30 grants will be awarded.
If the program fills its application slots, that's roughly one grant for every 12 to 14 applications. Around 9 out of 10 applicants will walk away without a check.
I'm not telling you this to scare you off. I'm telling you because most farmers will read "$10,000 from Airbnb," get excited, and do nothing until the week the portal opens. That's exactly the wrong move.
There are really two races here.
The first race is getting into the 350. Applications are reviewed in the order received, and intake stops at roughly 350. If you're application number 351, the quality of your idea doesn't matter.
The second race is standing out once you're in. Being early gets you read. It doesn't get you funded. A clear, realistic, well-prepared project is what gets funded.
The good news is that both races are won the same way: by doing your homework now, before the rules are even published.
Do You Qualify for the Farm to Stay Grant? The 60-Second Self-Check
The full eligibility rules haven't been released yet. But AFT has said who the program is for: eligible for-profit production agriculture operations that want to develop or expand a farm stay or experience as an additional income stream connected to their working farm or ranch.
Ask yourself these four questions:
Are you a U.S. farm or ranch? The program is national, open across the United States.
Is it a for-profit operation? The program is aimed at agricultural businesses.
Do you actually produce agriculture? Crops, livestock, orchards, flowers, dairy, honey. A working operation.
Is your stay or experience connected to that working farm? The guest experience should grow out of the farm, not sit next to it.
If you answered yes to all four, you're likely in the group this program was designed for. If you're unsure about any of them, don't guess. Wait for the official guidelines and read them line by line when they come out. Everything here is based on what has been published so far, and the detailed rules and allowable expenses could narrow things further.
Stay or Experience? Pick the Project a $10,000 Check Can Actually Finish
The grant supports two broad kinds of projects. According to the announcement coverage, grant money can go toward fitting out a property to host overnight visitors, or launching guest activities as varied as orchard harvests, wine sampling, meals prepared from what the farm grows, and hands-on lessons in farm work. The official list of allowable expenses will come with the guidelines.
Here's how the two paths compare:
Question | Overnight farm stay | Farm experience |
What guests buy | A night, or several, on your farm | A few hours: a tour, harvest, class, tasting or meal |
Typical setup | A room, cabin or converted space, plus bathroom, bedding and a cleaning routine | A safe route, simple equipment, a host script and a way to take bookings |
Rules to check | Often zoning, lodging, fire safety and short-term rental rules | Often zoning, liability coverage and food handling if you serve food |
Income pattern | Fewer guests, higher value per booking | More guests, smaller ticket, easy to repeat |
Best first move if you... | Already have a spare room or an underused building | Want to test demand fast with little construction |
Now the most important principle in this whole article: size the project to the grant.
A reviewer reading hundreds of applications will trust a project that $5,000 to $10,000 can actually finish. "Convert our existing grain shed into a two-bed guest room, including bathroom fixtures and furniture, with contractor quotes attached" is believable. A 12-cabin eco-resort that needs $400,000 from somewhere else is not.
Think of it this way. A grant this size isn't the resort. It's the first profitable step. Pick the step that gets paying guests onto your property fastest, and show exactly how the money gets you there.
Not sure what that first step looks like? Read how to launch an agritourism business using only the infrastructure you already own. If you'd rather start with an experience, see how to test agritourism with a 60-minute MVP.
Airbnb's own framing points the same way. Jordi Torres Mallol, Airbnb's regional director for the Americas, said: "A 'Farm to Stay' Grant can be what helps keep a family on their land through a bad season. Sharing a room in the farmhouse can offset increased costs and bring tourism dollars to communities that visitors have traditionally overlooked."
A room in the farmhouse. That's the scale they're picturing.
The 7-Step "Ready Before November" Plan
Here's exactly what to do between today and the day the portal opens.
Step 1: Attend a free webinar. Airbnb and AFT staff are hosting two sessions: Wednesday, October 14 at 5 p.m. ET and Friday, November 13 at 12 p.m. ET. Registration links are on the official program page. The sessions cover how Airbnb works, hosting best practices for rural and farm stays, and what it takes to get a stay or experience live. You don't need to apply for the grant to attend. Take notes on anything they repeat. When the people running a program repeat something, it matters to them.
Step 2: Choose one project and describe it in one paragraph. Not three ideas. One. Write who it's for, where guests will sleep or what they'll do, how it connects to your working farm, and how it will earn money. If you can't explain it in a paragraph, a reviewer won't understand it in a minute. Need help with the earnings side? Read why most farm stays are undercharging, and the simple pricing formula that fixes it.
Step 3: Build a simple budget with real quotes. Call the contractor. Price the beds, the bathroom fixtures, the safety signage, the picnic tables. A budget built on real quotes shows you've done the work. Keep it inside the $5,000 to $10,000 range, or show clearly where the rest of the money comes from.
Step 4: Check the rules now, not after you win. Call your county about zoning. Ask about lodging or food permits if they apply to your idea. Talk to your insurance agent about liability coverage for guests. Look up your state's agritourism liability law. Many states have one, and these laws often require specific warning signs. A project with no legal roadblocks is a project that can actually launch.
Step 5: Gather your proof and your photos. Collect the documents that show you run a for-profit production operation, such as your farm's tax filings or business registration. The official list will come with the guidelines. Then take good photos of your farm, the space you'll improve and the activity you'll offer. Morning and late-afternoon light make any farm look its best.
Step 6: Draft your answers offline. When the application questions are published, write your answers in a document first. Edit them. Have someone you trust read them. Then, when the portal opens, you paste, check and submit. That takes minutes, not days.
Step 7: Get on the update list. Sign up for AFT's emails and follow American Farmland Trust on Instagram, as the program page recommends. The full guidelines will be posted before applications open, and you want to see them the day they're posted, not a week later.
Why You Win Even If You Don't Win
Here's the secret that makes this whole exercise worth your time.
Look at the seven steps again. A defined project. A real budget. Permits checked. Insurance sorted. Photos taken. A written description of your guest experience.
That's not just a grant application. That's a farm stay business plan.
If you win, the $5,000 to $10,000 speeds you up. If you don't, you've still done most of the work needed to launch anyway, whether that's with your own savings, a small loan, or by starting smaller with an experience that needs almost no construction.
And the webinars are free to everyone, with no grant application required. So even farmers who never get a check can walk away with free training from the platform they'll be listing on.
The grant is the bait. The business is the prize.
Not in the U.S.? Read This Anyway
The Farm to Stay grant is only for U.S. farms. But if you farm in Malaysia, Japan, Australia, Europe or anywhere else, the bigger message is for you too.
When a global travel brand puts its name and its money behind farm stays, it's telling you where it believes traveler demand is heading. In the U.S., search interest for "farm stay" nearly quadrupled in about a decade. Travelers everywhere are looking for the same thing: a real place, real people and a story to take home.
So do two things. First, look for tourism board, agriculture department or rural development programs in your own country, since many governments support farm diversification. Second, run the same seven steps. The business plan works anywhere, with or without a grant.
Related reading:
Your Next Move
Here are the dates so you don't miss them:
Wednesday, October 14, 5 p.m. ET: first free Airbnb and AFT webinar
Friday, November 13, 12 p.m. ET: second free webinar
Late November 2026: guidelines posted and applications open on SurveyMonkey Apply
About 350 applications: the point at which intake stops
Remember what AFT said: its team can't answer individual questions about eligibility, project ideas or application guidance. You'll be making these decisions on your own.
That's where we come in. Here at Agritourism Success, you'll find free agritourism education on farm stays, visitor experiences, marketing and more, plus advanced courses and consultation if you want help shaping your project. Start with the free articles on this blog. Then pick your one project and get moving.
The farmers who win this will be the ones who were ready before the line formed. Make sure you're one of them.
P.S. Don't forget the number that matters most: about 350. Applications are reviewed in the order received, and once roughly 350 are in, intake stops. The farmers who prepare in October will be submitting while everyone else is still reading the rules.
P.P.S. Have a farm and an idea, but not sure it's the right project for a $10,000 grant? Leave a comment below with your farm type and location, and let's brainstorm it together.
This article reflects program details published as of September 30, 2026. Always check the official program page for the latest eligibility rules and deadlines.
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