Big Daddy's Farm Case Study: How a North Carolina Family Used Over a Million Christmas Lights (By Their Count) to Help Pay the Taxes on the Land
December 2021. A quiet country road in Johnston County, North Carolina. A tractor pulls a wagon full of families out into a field glowing with what the farmer reckoned was more than a million Christmas lights.
Here is the short version of how Big Daddy's Farm used those lights to help pay the taxes on its land. It charged a small ticket ($8 a person that season), welcomed more than 4,000 visitors, shared structures with its autumn haunted attraction, and built it with family and friends.
Now the long version. The wagon rolls past a row of building fronts made to look like a small town from more than a century ago. Then it rolls out into the Field of Lights. Up ahead, Santa sits on top of an antique fire truck covered in lights.
After the ride there is music and dancing, s'mores around a campfire and a photo with Santa. Visitors drove in from Greenville, Durham and as far away as Virginia.
None of this started as a business. It started in one man's front yard. Then it spread to his mom's yard next door. Then to the neighbours' yards. Then the family began buying up displays from Christmas shows in the area that had closed down.
Ask the man behind it why he did all this, and the answer wasn't really about Christmas.
"This is to help pay the taxes on the land and keep it going," Jason Champion told Business North Carolina in December 2021.
If you own land that costs more every year and earns nothing in winter, this case study was written for you.
The Short Answer • Big Daddy's Farm grew a front-yard hobby into a ticketed Christmas light show, Christmas Lights on the Farm. • In 2021 it drew more than 4,000 visitors at $8 a person. By 2025 the ticket was $15, with under-4s free. • The same land, and some of the same structures, also host an autumn haunted attraction, so the farm earns in two seasons. • Family and friends did the building, starting in September. Jason Champion said the goal was to help pay the taxes and avoid selling to developers. |
In this case study, we will walk through the full Big Daddy's story, the hard numbers behind farm land costs, three other farm light shows that ended very differently, and a plan for your own first light season. For every other way to earn from the holidays, see my guide to Christmas on the farm.
Big Daddy's Farm at a Glance
Fact | Detail |
Event | Christmas Lights on the Farm |
Where | NC Highway 222 W, near Middlesex, Johnston County, NC |
Land | 40-plus acres, family-owned |
Format | Tractor-pulled hayride, then a walk-around hub |
Visitors | 4,000+ (2021 season) |
Ticket | $8 (2021); $15, under-4s free (2025) |
Lights | More than a million, by the owner's estimate |
Labour | Family and friends, set-up from September |
Second season | Darkside Haunted Estates, autumn |
The Pain: Land That Costs More Every Year and Earns Nothing in Winter
Why would a farmer spend every autumn up a ladder with a box of bulbs? Not because farming pays too well.
The US Department of Agriculture's own forecast says the median American farm household will earn about minus $467 from farming in 2026. Not plus. Minus. The same forecast puts the median household's off-farm income at almost $94,000. In the USDA's own words: "Many farm households primarily rely on off-farm income."
So the typical farm family is subsidising the farm. Meanwhile, the land itself keeps getting more expensive to hold.
Look at the numbers. US farmers paid about $7.4 billion in property taxes in 2012, $9.4 billion in 2017 and $11.04 billion in 2022. That's a rise of roughly 49% in ten years, worked out from USDA census figures. Across the farms that reported property taxes in 2022, that works out to about $6,180 each.
In North Carolina, farms paid $162.5 million in property taxes in 2022, up from $126.8 million in 2017. That's about 28% more in five years.
And the land underneath keeps rising in value. USDA's 2026 land survey put North Carolina farm real estate at $5,750 an acre, up 5.1% in one year. The US average was $4,500, up 3.4%. This year, North Carolina land rose faster than the national average.
In rural Johnston County, Business North Carolina reported in 2021 that new homes were spreading through the countryside. Jason Champion put it bluntly. The light show was there "so we don't have to sell to the people who build all these subdivisions."
That is the real pain: the bill arrives every year, the land earns nothing all winter, and the building keeps creeping closer.
Reality Check: The tax bill is rarely the whole monster Johnston County's rate was 52 cents per $100 of value for 2025-26 and 51 cents for 2026-27. On 40 acres at the 2026 North Carolina average value of $5,750 an acre, that's roughly $1,170 to $1,200 a year in county tax alone (my illustration only, not Big Daddy's bill; it assumes full market value and ignores fire district or town taxes and any farm-use tax break). The bigger danger is land that earns nothing while every cost keeps coming. A light show attacks that gap. |
This isn't only an American problem. In England, government farm accounts for 2024/25 show 72% of farm businesses had some diversified activity. For about a quarter of those farms, the new income made up at least half of the farm's business income. Add the new inheritance tax pressure I covered in the 2026 farm inheritance tax budget, and UK families face the same question as the Champions: how do we keep the land?
The good news is that visitors pay. US farms earned $1.26 billion from agritourism and recreation in 2022, and North Carolina had 982 farms reporting this income, the third most of any state. I break those numbers down in my agritourism statistics guide.
The Big Daddy's Story: From One Front Yard to a Field of Lights
It started with one man and one front yard
Big Daddy's Farm sits about 35 miles east of Raleigh, roughly six miles from the small town of Middlesex. The family owns 40-plus acres there. Jason Champion's mother lived next door.
According to Business North Carolina, the Christmas display began in Champion's own front yard. Then it crept next door to his mother's yard. Then it spread to other neighbours' yards.
Many great farm attractions begin this way. Not with a business plan, but with one person who can't stop adding to something they love.
Here's the part most people miss. His obituary says he worked for the Wake County Public School System for many years until he retired. So the farm attractions were not his only work. Like many of you reading this, he built something extra on family land, one string of lights at a time.
Buying other people's Christmas dreams
The next move was clever. As other Christmas shows in the area closed, the family bought up their displays.
Someone else paid to build those displays. When they quit, the Champions gave them a second life.
By December 2021, Business North Carolina said it had been a full-fledged event for about five years. That points to roughly 2016, though no source gives the exact year.
Field-Tested Play: Buy the displays someone else gave up on • Shows close, just as they did near Big Daddy's. Watch local classifieds, auctions and closing notices after each season. • Ask other farms that have stopped their Christmas events if they'll sell. • Pay for the steel and the bulbs, not someone's original design costs. Then repaint and rewire to make them yours. |
The night itself: hayride, Field of Lights and Santa on a fire truck
Here is what a family gets. Notice how simple it is. They board a wagon pulled by a tractor. It is a hayride, not a drive-through, so families sit together in the cold air rather than in their cars. The ride passes through what the farm calls an old country town, a row of old-style building fronts decorated for Christmas, and then out to the Field of Lights.
Back at the hub, there are fire pits, lights strung overhead and Big Daddy's General Store. Kids meet Santa and Bucky the Reindeer, the fictional reindeer at the heart of the farm's Christmas story. Parents browse old-fashioned candy. When NC Eat & Play's writer visited with her family, a Grinch character was wandering the grounds too. On special nights, local singers perform carols, and the farm's posted stage line-up includes several gospel and ministry groups.
NC Farm Bureau's magazine called it "an experience that blends fun, faith and nostalgia." NC Eat & Play described it as "an unpretentious event that excels at what it does best: Christmas lights."
Unpretentious. Remember that word. You don't need a $500,000 music-synced show to sell an evening families remember. You need warmth, a story and something to look at.
Field-Tested Play: Sell the evening, not the bulbs Big Daddy's 2025 ticket included the hayride, bonfires, Santa photos, Santa's workshop, the general store and carol nights. Candy, s'mores, hot chocolate and apple cider cost extra. Put the "wow" in the ticket. Put the small treats on sale. That's how a $15 ticket becomes a bigger night out. |
"It takes an army": family and friends from September
Business North Carolina reported that family and friends brainstorm new ideas every year, and many of them help assemble and install the lights from September. "It takes an army to put the Christmas show up," Champion said.
And they don't stay up. Champion told the paper he couldn't just unplug the lights and leave them up all year, because of the farm's squirrels. So every season means a build in autumn and a take-down after Christmas. That's one more reason to plan your crew before you plan your lights.
Two seasons, one set of buildings
Now for the smartest part of the model. The same property hosts Darkside Haunted Estates, a haunted attraction that has run even longer than the lights. The Scare Factor traces the haunt back to 1981, when it began in the boiler room of Corinth Holders High School. It moved several times before settling at its current home in 2008.
In 2017, ABC11 listed it with about 150 actors and five attractions. For 2026 it runs from about 18 September to 7 November, with general admission around $25 to $30.
Business North Carolina reported that the haunt shares some structures with the Christmas display. Champion said that once the Christmas lights are on, you would never guess it had been a scary place.
One set of buildings. Two paying seasons. Two different crowds.
If you have an old barn, shed or row of outbuildings doing nothing, this is the idea worth borrowing. I've written about turning tired buildings into income in what to do with an old barn. A light show is one of the cheapest ways to make an old building beautiful after dark.
Field-Tested Play: Make one structure earn twice List every building, fence line and lane on your farm. For each one, ask: could this hold an autumn event and a Christmas event? Build once, decorate twice. For more ways to fill the calendar, see these year-round event ideas. |
The price went from $8 to $15, and the show kept going
In 2021 the ticket was $8 a person, with under-3s free. By the 2025 season it was $15 a person for ages 4 and up, according to Triangle on the Cheap and NC Eat & Play.
That's an 87.5% rise in four years, and the show was still running in 2025: Friday to Sunday from 28 November, plus 22 and 23 December, 6:30 to 9 pm.
Many farmers worry about raising prices. Big Daddy's nearly doubled its ticket and was still running in 2025. One likely reason: the value was never just the lights. It was a whole family evening: a hayride, a fire, Santa and candy.
If pricing scares you, read my guide on how to set entry fees and ticket prices. Price for the evening you deliver, not for the bulbs you bought.
What the numbers can and can't tell us
Now some honest maths, clearly labelled. If 4,000 visitors in 2021 had each paid $8, that would be $32,000 at the gate. That's a rough illustration, not the farm's revenue. The farm reported "more than 4,000" visitors, under-3s got in free, and the farm never published its revenue or costs.
The same 4,000 visitors at the 2025 price of $15 would be $60,000. That is purely hypothetical, because no attendance figure exists after 2021.
We don't know what the family paid in tax, what the electricity cost or what bulbs they used. But even a fraction of those illustrations could cover a county tax bill like the one in the box above.
Reality Check: Don't copy the scale, copy the start Big Daddy's took years to grow from one yard to a field. Don't plan year one around "a million lights". Plan it around one area, one price and a crew you trust. The million came later. |
A legacy that outlived the man who lit it
Jason Champion died on 25 October 2023, aged 52. His obituary names him as the owner of Darkside Haunted Estates, Christmas Lights on the Farm and Big Daddy's Farms. He left behind his wife of 22 years, Judy, his children Kaylee and Logan, and a wider family.
His funeral service was held at Big Daddy's Farm itself.
The work he started did not stop with him. According to The Scare Factor's 2026 review, the haunt passed to his children, Logan and Kaylee. And the lights kept shining: listings show Christmas Lights on the Farm open from 28 November to 23 December 2025, at $15 a person, with under-4s free. In early 2026 the Johnston County Visitors Bureau listed it among the county's newer light displays and said locals had been quick to make it a favourite.
That is what a farm attraction can become: not just income, but a tradition other families share.
Three Futures of a Farm Light Show
Big Daddy's is one path. Here are three real farms that took others. One gave its show away and grew huge. One charged per car and kept raising prices. One started so small it made about $300 in its first year.
Future No. 1: TMT Farms, Georgia. Free, huge and finally too much
TMT Farms near Statesboro, Georgia, was a family effort named after three couples in the Thompson and McCranie families. Roy and Deborah Thompson began growing the display in 1994. It started small, with a wagon and four reindeer.
It was never a business. Admission was free. Visitors brought donations of food, toys, pet food or cash for local charities. Roy Thompson called it a ministry.
And it grew. As early as 2017, Roy Thompson told the Statesboro Herald: "We never envisioned it getting this big." In the 2020 season, about 55,000 vehicles, repeat visits included, passed through two miles of lights on unpaved farm roads. Food donations that year topped 100,000 pounds.
But growth came at a price the family paid themselves. Preparation ran almost all year. The family was tied up every evening of the season. Exit waits reached two and a half hours. There was vandalism and theft, and years earlier foot traffic had been banned after visitors trespassed and created safety risks.
In 2023 the family announced a break, then reopened for a shorter season after a wave of calls and messages of support. They ran again in 2024. Then in December 2025 they announced that 27 December would be the final night, citing family issues and "the expenses involved in keeping the tradition going." The year had been a hard one: Deborah Thompson, who started the display with Roy, died in 2025, WTOC reported.
Reality Check: Growth without a ticket price is a slow drain TMT gave the community a gift for decades. But with no ticket price, the costs and the evenings fell largely on one family. When money or energy runs short, or life changes, a show with no income has nothing to fall back on. If you want your light show to protect your land, it has to pay its own way. |
Future No. 2: Shady Brook Farm, Pennsylvania. Charge per car, raise prices, keep going
Shady Brook Farm in Yardley, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, was founded in 1913. It is run by fourth-generation siblings Dave, Paul and Amy Fleming.
Its holiday light show began in the mid-1990s. By 2025 the show had been running for about 30 years, with somewhere between 3 and 4 million lights depending on the source. Families drive the route in their own cars, or pay extra per person for a wagon ride.
Here's what matters for you: Shady Brook charges for every car, and it has kept raising the price.
A car cost $30 in 2018. In 2022 it was $40 online or $50 at the gate. By 2025 it was $45 to $50 online and $55 to $60 at the gate, depending on the night. Comparing 2018 with 2025's online prices, that's roughly 50% to 67% more per car in seven years.
Then it stacked add-ons on top: open-air wagon rides charged per person, private campfire sites, Santa photos, a farm market and greenhouse, Christmas trees and wreaths, food and drink stands and a charity run through the lights.
It also builds its own displays. Patch reported in 2022 that employees handmake and weld the displays on the farm, adding three or four new ones each year.
But scale brings its own problems. In 2023 the family agreed to sell about 80 of its 130 acres and shift towards events and entertainment. The family's statement said "Shady Brook Farm is here to stay." Then came the bigger change. The farm's own website now says: "2026 marks the final season of our classic drive-through experience." It says it is reimagining the show for 2027 and beyond, citing community growth, the challenges of a traditional drive-through, and a wish to be mindful of its neighbours.
Field-Tested Play: Price for the evening, then add one extra each year Shady Brook's model is simple: one main ticket, then optional extras (wagons, fire pits, photos, shop). Start with your main ticket. Each year, add one extra families can choose to buy. Like Shady Brook's three or four new displays a year, small yearly additions give people a reason to come back. |
Future No. 3: Bates, Pennsylvania. Start tiny, and watch the cost trap
This one is a Halloween haunted hayride, not a Christmas show. But it's the best start-small story I found, and its warning about lights is priceless.
Randy Bates runs the Bates Motel and Haunted Hayride on Arasapha Farm in Glen Mills, Pennsylvania. Ambrook reported that in his first year he spent $10,000 on payroll, props and costumes. He charged $2 a person for a 15-minute hayride. He made about $300.
Most people would have quit. He didn't. By its 33rd season, Ambrook reported about 60,000 visitors, 125 actors across 25 sets, and about 320 people on the payroll at peak. The farm also grows Christmas trees, almost 30,000 of them in the ground. And Bates told Ambrook: "This business has saved our family farm. There's no money owed."
Now the warning. Ambrook reported that a used laser can cost about $30,000, and a good show often needs five or six of them. By my maths, that's roughly $150,000 to $180,000 in lasers alone. Bates said the last time he priced a show in front of a haunted house, it was $200,000. He hasn't invested in one yet.
And in 2021 the Associated Press reported that one company's average budget for a music-synced light show had reached $500,000.
Reality Check: The laser trap The fancy end of the light-show world is a money pit for a first-year farm. Big Daddy's grew with second-hand displays and family labour, not lasers. North Carolina's Carrigan Farms, in the same Ambrook article, warned that adding technology to a haunted attraction means a large upfront investment and a steep learning curve. Spend on safety, parking and a warm welcome first. Spectacle can come later, paid for by ticket sales. |
The four farms side by side
Farm | Big Daddy's (NC) | TMT (GA) | Shady Brook (PA) | Bates (PA) |
Began | Front yard; event about 2016 | 1994 | Mid-1990s | Year 1: $10,000 spend |
Format | Hayride + hub | Drive-thru | Drive-thru + wagons | Halloween hayride |
Price | $8 (2021), $15 (2025) | Free, donations | $45-60 a car (2025) | $2 a person (year 1) |
Scale | 4,000+ (2021) | 55,000 cars (2020) | 3-4 million lights | About 60,000 visitors |
Today | Listed for 2025 | Closed after 27 Dec 2025 | Drive-through ends 2026 | Owner says it saved the farm |
Look across that table. The ones still telling their story charged a fair price and grew at a pace the family could carry.
Your First Light Season: A Practical Plan
Here's the plan I'd give you, built from what those four farms actually did.
Step 1: Light one place you already have
Don't light the whole farm. Light one place: a barn wall, a lane between two fields, a row of old sheds or a front field the cars can see from the road. Big Daddy's began with one front yard.
Before you invite the public inside any building, read is your barn legal for visitors?.
Step 2: Know what the power will cost
Good news first: with LED bulbs, electricity is a small worry. Here's an estimate, with the maths shown so you can redo it with your own numbers.
A 100-count LED mini string uses about 4.8 watts (Avista Utilities), and a federal Western Area Power Administration fact sheet gives a similar figure. That's about 46 to 48 watts per 1,000 LED minis.
Old-style incandescent minis use about 400 to 480 watts per 1,000 bulbs.
Say you run the lights 6 hours a night for 40 nights. That's 240 hours.
The US average commercial electricity price was 14.47 cents per kWh in August 2026 (US Energy Information Administration).
So 1,000,000 LED minis × about 47 watts per 1,000 = about 47 kilowatts. Times 240 hours = about 11,000 to 11,500 kWh. Times 14.47 cents = about $1,600 to $1,700 for the season.
For 100,000 LED minis, it's about a tenth of that: around $160. If your farm pays nearer the US residential average of 18.16 cents, the million-LED figure rises to roughly $2,000 to $2,100.
Reality Check: The bulbs are cheap; everything else isn't That estimate covers the bulbs only. Blow-up inflatables, controllers, music, food service, demand charges and temporary power hook-ups can add far more. We also don't know what Big Daddy's used or paid. Call your power company before you buy a single string, and ask about your rate and any connection costs. |
Step 3: Choose per person or per car
Per person fits a hayride or walk-through, like Big Daddy's. Families sit together, meet Santa and stay for s'mores. Each extra person pays.
Per car fits a drive-through, like Shady Brook. It's simpler to sell and easier in bad weather, but a car of six pays the same as a car of two.
Here are the real numbers I found, plus two clearly labelled power estimates.
Item | Number | Source |
Big Daddy's ticket, 2021 | $8 a person | BusinessNC |
Big Daddy's ticket, 2025 | $15 a person, under-4s free | Listings |
Shady Brook, 2025 | $45-50 a car online, $55-60 gate | Patch |
Shady Brook wagon ride | $15-20 a person | UncoveringPA |
Mann Orchards (MA), 2025/26 | $21.99-24.99 a car online, $30 on-site | Boston Calendar |
Bates first-year spend (haunted hayride) | $10,000 | Ambrook |
Power, 100,000 LEDs | About $160 a season | Estimate |
Power, 1 million LEDs | About $1,600-1,700 | Estimate |
One used show laser | About $30,000 | Ambrook |
Music-synced show | $500,000 (one firm's average) | AP, 2021 |
For a full walk-through of startup costs beyond lights, see how much it costs to start an agritourism business.
Step 4: Sell timed tickets online, with a higher gate price
In 2025 Big Daddy's sold its tickets online through a ticketing website. Shady Brook goes further. In 2020 it required reservations and timed tickets. For 2026 its prices vary by date, it charges $5 more at the gate for the drive-through, and it opened with an early-November flash sale.
Timed tickets spread the crowd, lock in cash before the weather turns, and tell you how many helpers you need each night.
If you're worried about ticket fees eating your profit, read how small farms can sell event tickets without losing money on fees.
Field-Tested Play: Reward the early booker Set your online price lower than your gate price, as Shady Brook does. Open sales a few weeks before opening night with a short early-bird offer. You'll know your numbers before the first bulb goes on, and the gate line gets shorter. |
Step 5: Plan for traffic and your neighbours
TMT Farms had exit waits of up to two and a half hours. In one early season, cars queued for about a mile and a half. Shady Brook, after 30 years, is ending its classic drive-through partly to be mindful of its neighbours.
So before you pick a date, walk your road at dusk. Where will cars wait, turn in and leave? Who lives along that road, and have you told them?
Talk to neighbours before opening night, not after the first complaint. I explain why in how a dispute with neighbours can hurt your agritourism business.
Step 6: Staff it with family and friends, the right way
Big Daddy's built its show with family and friends. TMT leaned on church groups, civic clubs, fire departments and law enforcement, and in 2021 volunteers started signing up in May, with a waiting list. Shady Brook, at its size, has a director of special events and a director of operations.
Start where Big Daddy's started. Ask the people who love your farm. Give each helper one clear job: parking, tickets, wagon loading, the fire pit or the shop.
Volunteers and paid helpers bring legal questions, from wages to insurance. Read hiring seasonal staff for your agritourism farm before you hand anyone a high-vis vest.
Step 7: Have a weather rule before you need it
Shady Brook's drive-through runs nightly, rain or shine. NC Eat & Play warned Big Daddy's visitors to dress warmly because the wagon ride gets breezy.
Decide now: what wind speed stops the hayride? What happens to timed tickets on a storm night, refund or rebook? Put it on your ticket page. One stormy weekend can wipe out a season's profit, as I showed in the farm bad-weather policy lessons.
Step 8: Keep score, then add one new thing
Count visitors every night. Note what they loved, where the queue backed up and what ran out. Then add one new thing next year, like Shady Brook's yearly new displays or Big Daddy's habit of brainstorming fresh ideas with family and friends.
Field-Tested Play: Your first-season checklist • One lit area you already own • One ticket price, sold online, with a higher gate price • A parking and exit plan walked at dusk • A named helper for every job • A written weather rule • A notebook for next year's one new thing |
The Paperwork: Questions to Ask Before You Plug In
This whole section is questions, because laws differ between states, provinces and countries, and between insurers. Take them to the right professional. This is general information, not legal, tax or insurance advice.
North Carolina's agritourism sign law (G.S. 99E-30 to 99E-32)
North Carolina's agritourism liability law covers farm activities that let the public enjoy rural life for recreation, entertainment or education, paid or not. Under it, a farm is generally not liable for injuries caused by the activity's inherent risks.
But there are exceptions, such as wilful or wanton disregard for safety, or a dangerous condition the operator knew about and didn't disclose. And the protection depends on a warning sign.
The sign must be posted at the entrance and at the activity site, in a clearly visible place, with black letters at least ¾ inch high. The same warning must appear, in clearly readable print, in any written contract for professional services, instruction or equipment rental. If the sign is missing, the farm can't rely on that protection.
Questions to ask your lawyer:
Does my light show or hayride count as an agritourism activity under 99E-30?
Where exactly should my signs go, and does my ticket page or waiver need the same warning?
What would count as a known dangerous condition on my site?
As the Virginia Farm Bureau said of Virginia's similar warning sign, the sign "is not a substitute for proper liability insurance coverage." For a state-by-state look at these laws, read agritourism laws by state, and on waivers, read do liability waivers protect your farm?.
Insurance: the gap most farmers fall into
An Ohio State University farm law factsheet warns that general farm liability policies often don't cover agritourism, saying "there is no coverage unless the landowner has added a specific agritourism rider." Food service may need its own rider too.
University of Minnesota Extension adds that a farm policy may not cover one-off events above a certain attendance. You may need special event liability insurance. Get written confirmation of your coverage from your agent.
North Carolina law firm Ward and Smith adds a warning: an activity that falls outside the legal definition of agritourism could also fall outside the property's insurance cover.
Questions to ask your agent:
Does my farm policy cover paying visitors at night, on a tractor-pulled wagon?
Do I need an agritourism rider, special event cover, or both?
Is food and drink covered? What about volunteers?
Can you confirm all of this in writing?
North Carolina farmers should also read my guide to agritourism insurance in North Carolina.
Zoning (G.S. 160D-903)
North Carolina's zoning law treats buildings used for agritourism, including buildings used for public or private events, as bona fide farm purposes, which can limit county zoning control. Evidence of farm status can include a farm sales tax exemption certificate, present-use value enrolment, a Schedule F or a forest management plan.
One key condition: the building must sit on property owned by someone with a qualifying farm sales tax exemption certificate, or on land enrolled in present-use value. If those requirements aren't kept up for three years, county zoning rules can apply again. Ask your county planner:
Does my light show qualify as agritourism under 160D-903?
Which proof of farm status do you accept?
Do I need any permits for parking, signs, temporary power or food?
Taxes and the present-use value programme
North Carolina's present-use value (PUV) programme taxes qualifying farmland at its farm value instead of its market value. NC State Extension says eligible landowners can save as much as 90% on the tax. Agricultural land generally needs a tract of at least 10 acres in production, at least $1,000 average gross income over three years, sound management and a qualifying ownership history.
If land leaves the programme, deferred taxes for the previous three years come due, with interest.
Here's the catch. I could not confirm that ticket income from a light show counts towards that $1,000 income test, and NC State Extension's guidance suggests it may not. No source says whether Big Daddy's is enrolled.
Questions to ask your county assessor and accountant:
Does agritourism income count towards my PUV income test, or only farm product sales?
Could a light show on part of my land change how that part is classified?
How should I record ticket income, and what can I deduct?
For more questions to bring to your accountant, see agritourism and taxes.
Reality Check: Ask before you build, not after Every question here is cheaper to answer in July than in December. Finding out you weren't covered after a visitor slips on an icy wagon step can cost the farm. |
What This Means on My Own Farm
I'm the founder of Bloopy Durians, a durian farm in Bentong, Malaysia, featured in Bloomberg News and Asahi Shimbun. Our durian seasons are short, about four to five months a year in total, roughly December to February and June to August.
So I understand the pressure behind Jason Champion's words: land has to pay its way even when the main crop isn't in.
What helps us is having more than one kind of customer. Bloopy Durians welcomes visitors from all over the world, and many companies send their staff and management to the farm. We supply durians for corporate events. And we have a WhatsApp list of loyal customers who buy whenever durians are available.
That's exactly what Big Daddy's did with the haunt and the lights: one piece of land, more than one season, more than one kind of customer.
Your quiet season might be winter. Mine is between durian harvests. The answer is the same: find what people will gladly pay to experience on your land when nothing is growing, and start small.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the Big Daddy's Farm Christmas light show still open?
Listings show Christmas Lights on the Farm running from 28 November to 23 December 2025, at $15 a person with under-4s free. As of 3 November 2026, the farm's website showed a 2026 dates graphic, but we could not confirm the dates or prices from it, so check the farm's own website or Facebook page before you go.
How much does it cost to start a Christmas light show on a farm?
There's no single figure. Bates spent $10,000 in the first year of his haunted hayride, a useful start-small benchmark. By our estimate, the electricity for 100,000 LED mini bulbs could be around $160 a season, and for a million LEDs around $1,600 to $1,700, before inflatables, controllers and hook-ups. At the top end, a used show laser can cost about $30,000, and one specialist company's average budget for a music-synced show reached $500,000 in 2021.
How much do farm Christmas light shows charge?
Real examples: Big Daddy's charged $8 a person in 2021 and $15 in 2025. Shady Brook Farm charged $45 to $60 a car in 2025, and Mann Orchards in Massachusetts charged $21.99 to $30 a car for 2025/26. Hayrides and walk-throughs usually charge per person; drive-throughs charge per car.
Can a Christmas light show help pay the property taxes on my farm?
It can bring in cash to help pay them, which is why Jason Champion said his family ran theirs. Whether ticket income counts towards a farm tax programme such as North Carolina's present-use value test is a separate question, so ask your county assessor and accountant.
Do I need special insurance for a farm light show?
Very likely. Farm law experts warn that general farm liability policies often don't cover agritourism unless you add a specific rider, and big one-off events may need special event cover. Ask your agent and get the answer in writing.
Should I run a drive-through or a hayride?
A hayride, like Big Daddy's, lets you charge per person and sell treats, but needs more helpers and a weather plan. A drive-through, like Shady Brook's, is simpler to sell per car but can bring heavy traffic, one reason Shady Brook is changing its format after 2026.
Can farms in Canada or the UK do this too?
Yes, the idea travels anywhere families celebrate Christmas. In England, 72% of farm businesses already had some diversified activity in 2024/25. The rules on liability, insurance, planning and tax are different in every country, state and province, so ask local professionals before you open.
Your Next Step: Plan Your First Light Season
Big Daddy's didn't win with the biggest budget. It won with a plan the family could carry: one price, one crew, one piece of land working twice.
If you want that plan on paper, The First-Season Profit Plan (Workbook Ebook) is a 39-page workbook with 6 printable worksheets and a 12-Week Countdown. It walks you through researching your local market and choosing your launch season, sizing and laying out your land for your busiest hour with a Busiest-Hour Calculator, budgeting year one and your break-even (with two launch budgets compared), and the insurance, permits, parking, emergency plan and bad-weather policy you'll need before opening day, including an insurer question list and a rain-day rule. It also includes a pre-opening readiness checklist and an Opening Day Scorecard, and it comes as an instant PDF download with a 30-day money-back guarantee. It isn't written only for light shows; it's for any farm's first paying season.
Want to talk through your own farm and numbers? Book a one-on-one consultation, and we'll work out whether a light show fits your land and how to start small.
Not sure your farm is ready for paying visitors yet? Take the free quiz and find out where you stand. And for more holiday ideas, revisit my full guide to Christmas on the farm and my report on choose-and-cut Christmas tree prices.
P.S. Remember where this story began: one man, one front yard and a string of lights, on land his family was determined not to sell. Years later, thousands of visitors were riding a wagon through his field. Your farm doesn't need a million lights this year. It needs the first string, and a plan.
Stephen Loke of AgritourismSuccess.com, whose farm is featured in Bloomberg News and Asahi Shimbun. This article is general information, not legal, tax or insurance advice; check the rules in your state, province or country.
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