They Hid 40,000 Eggs and Up to 8,000 People Came in Two Days: How Hunt Club Farm Turned Goats, Screams and 500 Parakeets Into a Year-Round Money Machine (14 Lessons Every Farmer Can Use)
On Easter weekend 2024, a family farm in Virginia Beach hid more than 40,000 plastic eggs in its fields. Over two days, as many as 8,000 people came through the gate, according to WTKR.
Many of them bought pony rides, feed cups and bird sticks once inside. Plenty will be back in October, some to pick pumpkins in the sunshine and some to scream their way through a haunted cornfield after dark.
The farm is Hunt Club Farm, a community-based, 50-acre, family-owned farm on London Bridge Road, about five miles from the Virginia Beach Oceanfront. It has goats, ponies, miniature Highland cows, kunekune pigs and more than 500 parakeets in a walk-through aviary.
Here’s what most visitors never hear. This farm was not always a sure thing. The family’s own history says Hunt Club Farm survived because of its fall activities: the Haunted Hayride, the pumpkin patch and the harvest hayride field trip. And winters are still hard. Randi Vogel, the farm’s president, told WTKR in 2024 that in the slow months the farm will “really go into debt quite a bit” to keep its staff. Then, in her words, “Easter makes a huge difference for us.”
So this isn’t a story about deep pockets and perfect weather. It’s about a family that learned, one season at a time, to turn the same animals and acres into a dozen different reasons to pay. You can learn that too.
I went through the farm’s price lists and event pages, its haunt website, 12 years of local news coverage, the written family history, and national data from the USDA, Virginia Tech and the haunt industry. What came out is 14 lessons. Whether you farm 5 acres or 500, you can use most of them this year.
What you will learn ✅ How a horse-community dream became a 50-acre family attraction ✅ Why a scary October saved the farm, and how to think about night events on your land ✅ The “twelve ways to get paid” model that stacks income on the same animals ✅ How to build a price ladder that runs from $3 to $899 ✅ The party, membership and camp tactics that collect cash before visitors arrive ✅ What a bird flu outbreak taught them about risk, and where they still struggle |
Hunt Club Farm at a Glance
Fact | Detail |
Location | London Bridge Road, Virginia Beach, Virginia, about 5 miles from the Oceanfront |
Roots | Land of the 1760s Woodhouse Plantation; Vogel family on the property since the 1960s |
Owners | J.D. and Randi Vogel, with sons Nick and Taylor |
Size | 50 acres (the farm’s own description) |
Animals | Goats, sheep, ponies, mini Highland cows, kunekune pigs, chickens and 500+ parakeets |
Core ticket | $15 general admission; children 2 and under free (2026) |
Big events | Spring Fling & Easter, Harvest Fair, Haunted Hunt Club Farm, Santa, S’mores & More |
Year-round programs | Birthday parties, school field trips, summer camp, memberships, animal experiences |
Recognition | Haunt named one of America’s Top-Rated Haunts by the Haunted Attraction Association |
Reviews | 4.6 stars from 3,726 Google reviews (October 2026) |
The Origin Story: A Military Wife, 14 Families and an Abandoned Farmhouse
The land was once part of Woodhouse Plantation, dating to the 1760s, and the original house still stands. The farm says it is on Virginia Beach’s historical register and is being restored.
The modern story starts in the early 1960s with Mary Vogel, a young military wife and mother. According to the family history, she found a 200-acre tract with an abandoned farmhouse on London Bridge Road and recruited 14 families to buy it together. The plan was a horse community of “farmettes,” each at least five acres. Not a tourist attraction. A place for horse people.
Her son, John D. “J.D.” Vogel, grew up there. After Kellam High School he became a farrier, shoeing horses for a living. On the side he grew vegetables, strawberries and pumpkins, opened a farm market and went to agritourism conferences to learn the business. Every fall, school children came out for pumpkins and hayrides.
Then he tried something nobody nearby was doing. He started a Haunted Hayride, which the family history calls the first of its kind in the area.
By the late 1990s J.D. was working on the farm full time. In 1999 he hired Randi LaMark, a pharmaceutical sales rep, to coordinate the fall activities. They married the following year. Today the family runs the farm together with their sons, Nick and Taylor.
Insight: The Farrier and the Saleswoman Look at the two people who built this business. One was a farrier who understood animals. The other came from pharmaceutical sales and was hired specifically to run events. That pairing matters. Most farms have the animal side covered. Very few have someone whose actual job is to sell, schedule and fill the calendar. If that’s not you, find it in a spouse, a son or daughter, a partner or a part-time hire. |
How Pumpkins and Screams Kept the Farm Alive
Here’s a fact that should stop every farmer in their tracks. When the family wrote its history, it didn’t credit the vegetables, the strawberries or the horse community for keeping the farm alive. It credited the fall.
None of those fall activities depends on selling a crop at a commodity price. Each one sells an experience, timed to a season when families are already looking for something to do. A pumpkin in a grocery store is a product. A pumpkin a child picks after a hayride is a memory, and parents happily pay for the memory.
The haunt grew into a business of its own. In 2023 WTKR reported that Haunted Hunt Club Farm was celebrating 35 years. It now runs four attractions: Death Alley, Forbidden Fields, Village of the Dead and the Haunted Hayride, which that year carried a storyline called The Toymaker’s Revenge. The Haunted Attraction Association names it one of America’s Top-Rated Haunts.
Meanwhile the daytime Harvest Fair kept growing. 2023 was its 26th year. In 2026 it runs from September 26 to November 1, with a sponsor, weekend vendors and unlimited farm-tour hayrides included in the ticket.
Reality Check: Haunts Are Not Easy Money Don’t read this and build a haunted house next month. Haunt industry veteran Leonard Pickel told Park World that about 60% of haunted attractions fail within their first three years. Haunts need actors, makeup, security, lighting, parking crews and serious insurance. Hunt Club Farm has had more than three decades to get good at it. Start smaller: a lantern-lit evening hayride or a family-friendly “not-so-scary” trail will test demand before you spend big. |
The Hunt Club Money Machine: One Petting Farm, Twelve Ways to Get Paid
Most small farms have one way to get paid. They sell what they grow. Some add a second: a ticket at the gate. Hunt Club Farm has built a dozen income streams around one core asset, a petting farm full of friendly animals.
Walk through one family’s year and you’ll see how the machine works.
In spring a mother brings her two children to the Spring Fling egg hunt. In June her oldest spends a week at summer camp. In August the youngest has a birthday party in the barn. In October she and her husband bring the kids to the Harvest Fair, then come back on a Friday night, kids at grandma’s, for the haunt. In December they bring grandma to see Santa. If she’s smart, she bought a family membership back in spring.
That’s one family, six or seven paid visits and, at 2026 prices, easily more than $1,000 in a year. All from goats, ponies, a barn and a well-planned calendar.
Here’s the lesson behind all the lessons: you don’t need more land. You need more reasons for the same people to come back.
14 Lessons Every Farmer Can Put to Work From Hunt Club Farm
Lesson 1: Let Your First Customers Show You What to Sell
J.D. Vogel didn’t start with a business plan for a petting farm. He started by selling pumpkins and vegetables and paying attention to what people wanted. Schools wanted hayrides, so he sold hayrides. Families wanted pumpkins, so the pumpkin patch grew. Then he took the hayride he already had and turned it into a Haunted Hayride. Each idea grew out of the last one.
The pumpkin patch field trip is still the farm’s most popular fall trip. Children ride a hayride past the stables, greenhouse and pond, learn about pumpkins and gourds at an Education Station, see the petting farm, play on the haystack and playground, and each one picks a pumpkin to take home.
Look at that last part. The pumpkin goes home. It sits on a kitchen table for weeks, and every time the child sees it, they remember the farm. That’s some of the cheapest advertising a farm can buy.
Field-Tested Play: Try This on Your Farm Keep a simple notebook or phone note of every request you hear this season: “Do you do parties?” “Can my class visit?” “Do you sell eggs?” Any request you hear three times is a product waiting for a price tag. Start with the one that uses what you already have. Read The Exact Farm Experiences Schools Happily Pay For and Beyond the Tractor: Creative Farm Ride Ideas. |
Lesson 2: Turn Your Scariest Season Into Your Biggest Payday
Most farms already know October is the big month. Hunt Club Farm squeezes two businesses into it: a daytime Harvest Fair for families and a nighttime haunt for teens and adults. Same land, same parking lot, two completely different customers.
Look at how the haunt is sold in 2026:
$40 general admission buys one night of unlimited access to all four haunts.
A VIP fast pass costs $15 extra, or $25 on Saturdays, so visitors can skip the lines.
Groups of 20 or more pay $30 Sunday to Thursday and $35 on Fridays, never on Saturdays, by reservation.
All sales are final. Prices include parking and admin fees; the city’s 10% admissions tax is added on top.
A midway with concessions, vendors and nightly special events keeps people on site, and spending, between attractions.
Each detail is a lesson. The fast pass charges the people who hate lines most, and charges them more on the busiest night. The group rate fills slow weeknights instead of discounting Saturdays that sell out anyway. And “all sales final” protects cash flow when the weather turns.
The haunt also has its own website, brand and Facebook page, separate from the family farm. A parent searching for a toddler-friendly petting farm doesn’t want a zombie on the homepage, and a 17-year-old looking for a scare doesn’t want baby goats. Two brands let each customer find exactly what they came for.
Why bother? America Haunts, an industry association, counts more than 1,200 U.S. haunted attractions that charge admission, averaging about 8,000 paid guests each, with ticket sales estimated at $300 million to $500 million a year.
Field-Tested Play: Try This on Your Farm You don’t need a full scream park. Pick one October weekend and test an after-dark product for teens and adults: a lantern hayride, a flashlight corn maze or a campfire ghost-story night. Sell timed tickets online only, and put your group rate on your slowest night. Before you open, check your state’s agritourism law and talk to your insurance agent. Many policies treat night events differently. Read Agritourism Laws by State and How to Write a Risk Management Plan for Your Agritourism Business. |
Lesson 3: Build a Calendar With No Dead Months
Randi Vogel was honest with WTKR about the farm’s year. January is seasonal. February and March are weekends only. Those are the months when the farm borrows to keep its people and its property in good shape, and the months that make Easter so important.
Every farm has a cash-flow valley. The goal isn’t to pretend it away. It’s to make it shorter and shallower. Look at what Hunt Club Farm sells across the year:
Birthday parties, field trips and memberships run in the background all year. Big seasonal events act like tent poles: Spring Fling, summer camp, the Harvest Fair and haunt, and Santa, S’mores & More in December. Regular admission isn’t even sold on October weekends, when the higher-priced Harvest Fair ticket applies. And over the years the Farm Market has added Virginia-grown Christmas trees and wreaths made from recycled clippings to carry the year into December.
Field-Tested Play: Try This on Your Farm Grab a 12-month calendar and color in every week you earn money from visitors. The white gaps are your opportunity. Fill the biggest gap first with something that uses what you already have: a winter party room, a spring baby-animal weekend or a December cocoa-and-carols night. Read Farm Event Ideas: 30 Events by Season and The 12-Month Farm: Creative Revenue Streams for the Off-Season. |
Lesson 4: Make Your Biggest Day Bigger Every Year
Easter is Hunt Club Farm’s spring tent pole, and the family treats it like a championship game. In 2024 they hid more than 40,000 eggs, up from 35,000 the year before, according to WTKR. Randi Vogel told WAVY the Spring Fling usually draws between 2,500 and 5,000 children a year.
The details are what make it work:
The hunt runs all day. Instead of one stampede at opening time, a team of about 10 egg hiders keeps the fields stocked, so every child gets a turn.
Children are split by age. Older kids hunt in their own section. Children under three get their own area, with age-appropriate candy and no hard candy.
There’s more than eggs. A DJ plays in the barn and the Easter Bunny is on hand for photos.
The biggest day gets the biggest price. WAVY reported Easter Sunday tickets at $17 for adults and $20 for children.
Look again at that last point. The child’s ticket costs more than the adult’s, because the child gets the eggs, the candy and the experience. The farm prices the person who receives the value, not the person holding the wallet.
Field-Tested Play: Try This on Your Farm Pick your single biggest day and ask three questions. How can we spread the crowd across the whole day? How can we separate the little ones from the big ones? What would make this worth a higher price? Then make it a little bigger every year, and tell your customers exactly how much bigger. Read How to Organize Family-Friendly Events on Your Farm and The Signature Experience Formula. |
Lesson 5: Price a Ladder, Not a Ticket
Most farms set one admission price and hope. Hunt Club Farm sells a ladder. The bottom rung is a $3 pack of bird sticks. The top rung is an $899 birthday party. In between there’s something for every budget and every reason to visit.
A few pricing moves stand out:
The Harvest Fair costs $3 more than a regular visit ($18 vs. $15) and adds unlimited farm-tour hayrides. A $15 weekday option without hayrides keeps budget families coming.
Children 2 and under are free. It costs the farm very little and removes a big objection for young parents.
Pony rides come in bundles: $10 for one, or four for $30.
Feed cups cost $6, refills $4. The refill price rewards the child who wants more, and it’s almost pure margin.
Camp works out to about $92 a day, the highest per-person price on the farm, because parents are buying childcare plus an experience.
Here’s the principle. Land, animals and staff are mostly fixed costs. Every extra rung on the ladder is a chance to earn more from people who are already standing on your farm.
Field-Tested Play: Try This on Your Farm List everything a visitor can buy on your farm, from cheapest to most expensive. If you have fewer than five rungs, add one at the bottom (a $3 to $6 impulse buy) and one at the top (a private or premium version of what you already do). Then make sure your price board shows the bundle deals. Read The Best Way to Set Entry Fees and Ticket Pricing and The Experience Premium: How to Price Your Farm for Profit. |
Lesson 6: Sell the Moment, Not the Animal
This is where Hunt Club Farm gets clever. A goat in a pen is a petting zoo. A goat you feed from a cup is an upsell. A miniature Highland calf you get to cuddle for 20 minutes is a premium experience.
In 2026 the farm sells two animal experiences on top of admission:
Mini Cow Cuddles: 20 minutes with two miniature Highland calves for $20 a person, or $99 to book the pen privately for up to six people.
Bottle feeding: 30 minutes for $40 a person, at 9:15 a.m. and 5:30 p.m., for ages 7 and up, with no more than four people per pen.
Bottle feeding runs early in the morning and late in the afternoon, away from the midday rush, so it earns money in quieter hours. The fine print is smart too. The booking page warns, “Cows are moooody!”, which sets honest expectations with a smile. Closed-toe shoes are required, professional photo shoots aren’t allowed, and the farm may photograph participants for its own marketing.
The farm even sells animals. Its 2026 adoption page listed kunekune pigs at $150 and a Highpark bull named Toffee at $10,000, with baby goats and rabbits planned for spring 2027. Friendly animals that draw visitors can also become a product in their own right.
Field-Tested Play: Try This on Your Farm Choose your friendliest animal and design a 20-minute, small-group experience around it: feeding, brushing or bottle-feeding. Cap the group size, set a minimum age, write clear rules and sell it on top of admission. Hunt Club charges $20 to $40 on a $15 ticket. Schedule it in your quietest hours. Before you sell close animal contact, check whether you need a USDA exhibitor license and confirm your insurance covers it. Read Does Your Petting Zoo Need a USDA Exhibitor License? and Tips for Managing Liability When Hosting Farm Animals. |
Lesson 7: Let the Little Add-Ons Pay the Feed Bill
The cheapest things on Hunt Club Farm’s price list may be among the most profitable. Feed cups for the goats cost $6. Bird sticks for the BirdWalk Aviary, home to more than 500 parakeets, are two for $3. Pony rides are $10.
Now watch what happens to one family’s spending:
The family walked in for $60 and spent $138, before snacks, drinks or anything from the Farm Market. That’s 2.3 times the gate price. Not one of those add-ons needed another acre.
There’s a hidden bonus. Feed cups and bird sticks make the animals come to the children. That’s the moment a child remembers, and the reason the family comes back.
Field-Tested Play: Try This on Your Farm Add one impulse item at the exact spot where children meet the animals: feed cups, seed sticks or a bottle of milk for the calves. Price it between $3 and $6 so parents say yes without thinking, and offer a cheaper refill. Track what share of visitors buy one. If it’s under half, move it closer to the animals or make it easier to see. Read Upsells That Double Your Agritourism Revenue Without More Visitors and How to Price Your Agritourism Activities and Services. |
Lesson 8: Package the Party So Parents Don’t Have to Think
A birthday party is one of the best products a family farm can sell. It brings a crowd of new people to your farm at once, and many of them have never visited before. Hunt Club Farm sells four packages in 2026:
Study how they’re built:
The entry package looks like a bargain. It includes 40 admissions, worth $600 at the gate, for $399. Parents feel like they’re winning before they add anything.
Each step up adds something a parent can picture: more feed cups, a pony, a party attendant, a private clubhouse.
Add-ons are simple, round numbers: attendant $125, pony $125, hayride $125, extra feed cups $3. A pizza package means parents don’t have to bring food.
Fixed start times (10, 11, 12:30, 1:30, 3 and 4, plus evening slots in season) turn the party spaces into several paid bookings a day.
A nonrefundable 50% deposit and a rain-or-shine policy protect the farm from last-minute cancellations.
And every child at that party goes home and tells a parent about the goats. That’s how a $399 party turns into new families, new parties and new memberships.
Field-Tested Play: Try This on Your Farm Build three party packages: Good, Better and Best. Make the Good package look like a bargain against your gate price, and give the Best package something memorable and photogenic. Require a deposit, set fixed start times and sell food through a local partner. Then hand every guest family a return-visit coupon. Read Creating Fun Activities for Kids on Your Farm and How Small Farms Can Sell Event Tickets Without Losing Money on Fees. |
Lesson 9: Get Paid Before They Even Visit
An individual membership at Hunt Club Farm costs $74. A family four-pack is $259, and extra members are $59 each. Members get regular and Harvest Fair admission, quarterly member events, early entry at 9 a.m. on the first Saturday of the month, discounts on Easter, haunt and Santa tickets, and 10% off upgrades. Memberships don’t cover January or October.
Look at the math from both sides. For the family, a membership pays for itself at about the fifth visit. For the farm, it’s money in the bank up front, from someone who is now far more likely to come back and buy pony rides, feed cups and party packages.
And notice what’s left out. October, the farm’s busiest month, isn’t covered, so members don’t eat into the most valuable tickets of the year. January is excluded too.
Field-Tested Play: Try This on Your Farm Create a simple annual pass priced at about five visits. Exclude your one or two busiest weekends, add one members-only perk that costs you little (early entry or a members’ evening), and promote it hardest in December as a gift and in late winter, when you need the cash most. Read The 365-Day Yield and How to Create Effective Email Marketing for Agritourism. |
Lesson 10: Teach, and Schools Will Fill Your Weekdays
Weekdays are the hardest days to fill on any family farm. Hunt Club Farm fills them with school groups.
Its Animal Adventure Tour runs Tuesday to Friday, all year except September and October, for groups of 10 or more. Students pay $12, and teachers and bus drivers get in free. The lessons are real science: life cycles, mammals and birds, habitats, and predator versus prey. Children feed the goats, sheep and birds and explore the TreeWalk.
Two small details make the program work. Chaperones and siblings pay the same $12, which adds revenue without adding work. And parents who tag along buy their tickets on site, which keeps the school’s paperwork simple.
Field-Tested Play: Try This on Your Farm Write a one-page field trip menu with the three things a teacher needs: learning topics tied to your state’s science standards, a per-student price with free teachers and drivers, and the days you’re available. Email it to every elementary school within 30 minutes of your farm in August and again in January. Read Why Farms Struggle to Get School Field Trips (and How to Fix It Fast) and Partnering With Schools for Agritourism Educational Programs. |
Lesson 11: Turn Summer Into a Sold-Out Program
Hunt Club Farm’s Summer Farm Camp is for ages 6 to 12, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday to Friday, June to August. It costs $460 a week with a $100 deposit. Early drop-off at 8 a.m. and late pickup at 6 p.m. are free. Every camper gets a T-shirt and a farm membership for the season. Campers feed, clean and groom animals, get an introduction to horseback riding, climb the TreeWalk, fish, paddle-boat and play team games.
In 2026, all 11 weeks were marked sold out, with a waitlist.
Look at what’s really being sold. A working parent isn’t just buying a fun week. They’re buying reliable, all-day care in a place their child loves. The free extended hours make camp fit a real work schedule.
Two more smart moves. Each child can attend at most five weeks, which spreads spots across more families. And teens aged 14 to 16 can volunteer as Counselors in Training, which builds a pipeline of trained, farm-loving future staff.
Field-Tested Play: Try This on Your Farm Start with a one-week pilot camp for 12 children. Price it against local day camps, not against your admission ticket. Offer extended hours, because that’s what working parents pay for, and include a season pass so the family keeps coming back. If it sells out, add more weeks before you add more children per week. Read How Smart Farm Owners Turn Simple Land Into a Kid Magnet and How to Build a Strong Team for Your Agritourism Business. |
Lesson 12: Add One Big New Thing, Then Raise Your Prices
In 2014, Macaroni Kid listed Hunt Club Farm’s admission at $5 and pony rides at $5. In 2026, admission is $15 and pony rides are $10. That’s far faster than inflation.
Prices don’t triple by accident. The farm kept giving visitors more for their ticket. On September 26, 2020, it opened the TreeWalk Adventure, a treetop course of 10- and 12-foot-high bridges, cargo netting, slides and ramps, included in the regular ticket. The mayor and city council members cut the ribbon, and local TV covered it. Add the 500-parakeet BirdWalk and the miniature Highland cows, promoted as the newest attraction.
The pattern is simple. Add one big, visible, photogenic attraction. Include it in the ticket. Let the press and the reviews spread the word. Then raise your prices, because the visit is now worth more. With 4.6 stars from 3,726 Google reviews, most families clearly feel they get their money’s worth, even if some reviewers say the extras add up.
Field-Tested Play: Try This on Your Farm Plan one new attraction big enough to announce. Open it with a ribbon cutting, invite your mayor or a local official, and send the date to every TV station and parenting website nearby. Include it in your ticket, then review your prices for next season. Read The Signature Experience Formula and How Reviews Turn Small Farms Into Tourist Destinations. |
Lesson 13: Let Sponsors, Vendors and Neighbors Share the Load
Hunt Club Farm doesn’t carry its big events alone. The 2026 Harvest Fair is sponsored by home builder Ryan Homes. Vendors set up on weekends, and the farm uses an outside agency to sell sponsorships and vendor space. The haunt’s midway has its own concessions and vendors. Birthday parties come with a pizza package from Papa John’s.
The farm even asks the community to help with everyday supplies. Its petting farm page lists donations it welcomes, from old towels and T-shirts to produce, baking soda, newspaper and animal carriers.
Each partner brings money, products or an audience the farm didn’t pay for. A home builder wants to meet young families, and young families are exactly who visits a petting farm in October.
Field-Tested Play: Try This on Your Farm Write down three local businesses that want the same customers you have: a home builder, a pediatric dentist, a pizza shop, a feed store. Offer each one a simple package for your biggest event: a banner, a booth and a mention in your social posts. Start with one sponsor at a price that’s easy to say yes to. Read How to Partner With Local Businesses to Boost Farm Tourism and How to Organize a Farm Harvest Festival in the Fall. |
Lesson 14: Plan for the Day Your Animals Get Sick
In January 2025 the farm faced every animal owner’s nightmare. On January 23 two birds died. More followed, including a goose. Tests came back positive for avian influenza. Nearly 300 birds were lost. For a farm where, as Randi Vogel told WAVY, “our chickens are the number one attraction,” it was a heavy blow.
Here’s how the family responded:
Activated the farm’s written Emergency Response Plan.
Notified local, state and federal agencies.
Quarantined and disinfected the affected areas.
Closed the farm for the weekend of January 31.
Closed the BirdWalk for 30 days as a precaution and waited 120 days before restocking birds.
Kept birthday parties and other programs running where it was safe to do so.
The farm believed wild waterfowl brought the virus in, and its advice to others was simple: watch your animals’ health closely and keep their living areas clean. The real lesson is that a written plan, made before the crisis, let a family business act fast, stay partly open and protect its reputation.
Reality Check: Your Animals Are Your Biggest Asset and Your Biggest Risk Every animal attraction carries disease risk, for the animals and for visitors. Hand-washing stations, clear signs, a relationship with a vet, the right insurance and a written emergency plan are not optional extras. If you farm in Virginia, also read Agritourism Warning Signs: Where to Post Them After the 2026 Virginia Ruling. |
Field-Tested Play: Try This on Your Farm This week, write a one-page emergency plan for your animals: who calls the vet, who calls the state veterinarian, which areas close, how you’ll tell customers and which programs can keep running. Then ask your insurance agent, in writing, what your policy covers if a visitor gets sick. Read How to Write a Risk Management Plan for Your Agritourism Business and The $7.55 Million Petting Zoo: What Your Insurance May Not Cover. |
Where Hunt Club Farm Still Struggles (and What That Teaches You)
No farm is perfect, and a case study that pretends otherwise isn’t worth your time. Here’s where Hunt Club Farm is still exposed:
Winter cash flow. By its president’s own account, the farm goes into debt in the slow months. Even a well-run attraction needs a cash reserve or line of credit to get from January to Easter.
Weather. One rainy Easter weekend or October Saturday can wipe out some of the year’s best days. That’s why the no-refund and rain-or-shine policies exist.
Animal health. The 2025 bird flu outbreak showed how fast a star attraction can disappear.
Price pushback. Some online reviewers say the extras add up. Every premium price brings a few complaints.
Complexity. A haunt, a fair, camps, parties, field trips, a market and animal sales all need staff, training and systems.
Mixed messages online. Listings over the years have described the farm as 28, “over 30” and “over 50” acres. Inconsistencies confuse customers and search engines, so keep every listing consistent. Here’s a guide to getting found on Google Maps.
The takeaway: diversification protects you, but it also adds work. Add one income stream at a time, and get it running smoothly before you add the next.
Why This Matters for Your Farm Right Now
If you’re thinking this only works because Hunt Club Farm sits near a beach town, look at the bigger numbers.
According to the USDA’s Economic Research Service, U.S. farms earned $1.26 billion from agritourism and recreational services in 2022, up 12.4% from 2017 after adjusting for inflation. Agritourism showed up in 57% of U.S. counties, and farms in more populated counties tended to earn more from it.
Yet the 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 28,617 farms with agritourism income, down from a peak of 33,161 in 2012. Fewer farms are sharing more money. The operators who treat agritourism as a real business, like the Vogels, are taking a bigger slice.
Closer to Hunt Club Farm, a Virginia Tech study (announced in 2017, using 2015 data) found Virginia agritourism generated $2.2 billion in economic activity and supported about 22,000 jobs. Virginia Beach alone drew 14.3 million visitors in 2024, who spent $2.6 billion, according to Visit Virginia Beach.
You may not have 14 million tourists on your doorstep. But you almost certainly have families, schools and businesses within 30 minutes who want exactly what Hunt Club Farm sells. To see how two very different farms did it, read our case studies on Carter Mountain Orchard and Applecrest Farm Orchards.
How to Apply the Hunt Club Playbook on a Small Farm
You don’t need 50 acres or a beach town to use these ideas. Here’s how each one scales down:
Hunt Club Farm does this | Your small-farm version |
Four-attraction haunt | One lantern-lit evening hayride or flashlight maze in October |
40,000-egg Spring Fling | A 2,000-egg hunt with two age zones and timed entry |
Mini cow cuddles and bottle feeding | A 20-minute goat-feeding or bunny-cuddle session for six people |
500-parakeet BirdWalk | A walk-in hen house with $3 feed cups |
Four party packages, $399 to $899 | Two packages under a picnic shelter, with a deposit |
$460-a-week summer camp | A one-week farm camp pilot for 12 children |
$74 to $259 memberships | A season pass priced at about five visits |
Sponsored Harvest Fair | One local sponsor for your fall weekend |
Your First 90 Days
Days 1 to 30: Map your calendar, list your current price ladder and write your animal emergency plan.
Days 31 to 60: Launch one add-on (feed cups or a small-group animal experience) and one party package. Send your field trip menu to local schools.
Days 61 to 90: Choose your tent-pole event for next season, set the date, sign one sponsor and open ticket sales online.
Frequently Asked Questions About Hunt Club Farm
Where is Hunt Club Farm?
Hunt Club Farm is on London Bridge Road in Virginia Beach, Virginia, about 5 miles from the Oceanfront. It describes itself as a community-based, 50-acre, family-owned farm.
Who owns Hunt Club Farm?
The farm is run by the Vogel family: J.D. and Randi Vogel and their sons, Nick and Taylor. J.D.’s mother, Mary Vogel, organized the group of families that bought the land in the early 1960s.
How much does Hunt Club Farm cost?
In 2026, general admission is $15 (children 2 and under are free), Harvest Fair admission is $18 and Haunted Hunt Club Farm is $40 a night. Pony rides, feed, animal experiences and parties cost extra, and Virginia Beach’s admissions tax is added.
How long has Haunted Hunt Club Farm been running?
WTKR reported that the haunt was celebrating 35 years in 2023. The family’s history says J.D. Vogel’s Haunted Hayride, which grew out of school pumpkin hayrides, was the first of its kind in the area.
What can small farms learn from Hunt Club Farm?
Build several ways to get paid around the same animals and land: seasonal events, parties, field trips, camps, memberships and small add-ons. Price a ladder of options, fill every month of the calendar and plan ahead for animal health risks.
Is a petting farm a profitable agritourism business?
It can be, but rarely on admission alone. Hunt Club Farm earns from parties, camps, memberships, add-ons and big seasonal events, and even so its president has said winters are hard. The profit comes from stacking income streams on the same fixed costs.
Your Next Step: Find Out Where Your Farm Stands
Hunt Club Farm didn’t become a year-round attraction overnight. It took a farrier who listened to his customers, a saleswoman who knew how to fill a calendar, and more than 35 years of testing, learning and adding one thing at a time.
You don’t have 35 years to figure it out by trial and error. But you can start today by finding out exactly where your farm stands.
Step 1: Take the free Farm Readiness Quiz.
In a few minutes you’ll see which parts of the Hunt Club playbook your farm is ready for now, and which gaps to close first.
It’s a step-by-step checklist for planning, pricing and growing an agritourism business, so your next season earns more than your last.
P.S. Remember the 40,000 eggs. Hunt Club Farm didn’t start there. It started with pumpkins and a hayride for a class of school children. Your first step can be just as small. Take the quiz now and see what your farm is ready for.
Sources
WTKR: Thousands visit Hunt Club Farm to celebrate Easter weekend (March 31, 2024)
Yahoo News/WAVY: Hunt Club Farm closes after bird flu cases (2025)
WTKR: Some birds at Hunt Club Farm test positive for bird flu (2025)
Macaroni Kid Virginia Beach: Hunt Club Farm petting zoo and fall Harvest Fair (2014)
USDA Economic Research Service: Agritourism income chart of note
Virginia Tourism Corporation: Economic impact of Virginia’s agritourism industry (2017)
Photo Credits
Photos are illustrative and were not taken at Hunt Club Farm. Charts, diagrams and infographics are by AgritourismSuccess.com, based on the sources above.
Pumpkin patch: “Kalscheur’s Pumpkin Patch” by Corey Coyle, CC BY 3.0
Hayride wagon: “Haunted Hayride” by Jennifer Zorn/USFWS, public domain
Haunted hayride actor: “Haunted Hayride 2012” by Virginia State Parks staff, CC BY 2.0
Easter egg hunt: “NT-Annual Easter Egg Hunt” by Virginia State Parks staff, CC BY 2.0
Highland cow and calf: “Highland Cattle calf and cow” by Jean-Pol Grandmont, CC BY-SA 3.0
Kunekune pig: “Kunekune Pig at Hamilton Zoo” by Brian Gratwicke, CC BY 2.0
Parakeets: “Budgerigars and Cockatiel” by Harsha K R, CC BY-SA 2.0
Children petting goats: “Petting Zoo in Georgia” by TMDrew, CC BY-SA 3.0
Disclaimer
This case study is an independent analysis by AgritourismSuccess.com based on public sources available in October 2026. It is not sponsored by, endorsed by or affiliated with Hunt Club Farm. Prices, dates and programs change, so check huntclubfarm.com for current details. Quotes are short excerpts from the cited news reports. Nothing here is legal, insurance or financial advice; talk to qualified professionals before launching new attractions.
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