Farms Under 10 Acres Grew Their Visitor Money 137%, Four Times the National Rate: The $42 Photo Session, the Weddings One Georgia Farm Dropped, and the Small Farm Agritourism Playbook

21 hours ago

20 min read

Jake Carter's family has farmed the same red Georgia clay for five generations. His boyhood dream was simple: be a farmer like his dad and his granddad.

Then Atlanta came south.

By the early 2000s, Southern Belle Farm in Henry County, about 30 miles from the city, was surrounded by roughly 177,000 neighbours who didn't farm at all. The farm was turning into an island in one of Georgia's fastest-growing suburbs. And the developers started calling.

Many families would have sold. The Carters sat down at the table and asked a different question: what else could this land do?

They opened the gate to visitors in October 2006 with a corn maze, a pumpkin patch and school tours. About 3,000 customers came that first year, the Albany Herald reported. Today Southern Belle Farm draws about 500,000 guests a year, including 40,000 schoolchildren, according to a DTN/Progressive Farmer feature published on October 23, 2026. Along the way they did something most farmers never dare to do. They stopped hosting weddings, because weddings were not why people came.

That story is inspiring. But the most important line in DTN's feature isn't about a 500,000-visitor farm at all. It is buried in the USDA numbers, and it is about farms that are smaller than most people's back pasture.

The Short Answer

USDA's 2022 Census of Agriculture found U.S. farms earned $1.26 billion from agritourism, an average of about $44,000 for each of the 28,617 farms that reported it. The surprise is who is growing fastest. On farms under 10 acres, agritourism receipts rose 137.2% between 2017 and 2022. Farms of 10 to 49.9 acres grew theirs by about 50%. Meanwhile, 554 fewer farms of 2,000+ acres reported agritourism. Small farm agritourism is not a consolation prize. It is where the growth is. The farms DTN profiled show how to join it without betting the farm: start with low-cost offers like $42 photo sittings, keep what visitors actually pay for, and build big only after the money proves it.

USDA chart showing agritourism receipts rose 137 percent on farms under 10 acres, 50 percent on farms of 10 to 49.9 acres and 33 percent across all U.S. farms between 2017 and 2022 — The smallest farms grew their agritourism receipts fastest between the 2017 and 2022 Censuses of Agriculture. Chart: AgritourismSuccess.com, from USDA data via NERCRD.

What USDA's Newest Agritourism Numbers Actually Say

Every five years, USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service counts every farm it can find. The 2022 Census of Agriculture is the latest full count, and its agritourism figures are the best national numbers we have.

Here they are in plain English:

$1.26 billion. That is what U.S. farms earned in 2022 from agritourism and on-farm recreation, such as pick-your-own, hayrides, petting zoos and hunting access.
28,617 farms. That's about 1.5% of the nation's roughly 1.9 million farms. In other words, 98 farms in 100 still aren't doing it.
About $44,000 per farm. The average agritourism farm took in $44,004 in gross receipts.
Growth. DTN reports the total rose 12% from 2017. In raw dollars, Penn State's Northeast Regional Center for Rural Development (NERCRD) puts the jump at about 33%, from $949.3 million to $1.26 billion. DTN doesn't explain the gap, but 12% is roughly what 33% becomes after inflation. Either way, the money went up while the number of farms barely moved: 28,575 in 2017, 28,617 in 2022.

USDA calls this kind of income "fresh money". To me, that means new cash from outside the usual commodity channels. You don't wait for an elevator price. You set the price yourself.

If you want the full national picture, including the uncomfortable truth that a small group of farms takes most of the money, I broke it down in American farmers were paid $1.26 billion to let visitors in. This article goes somewhere different. It looks at who is gaining ground, and what the small farms in DTN's feature actually sell.

Reality Check: An average is not a promise

$44,000 is an average of gross receipts, not profit. A few big operations pull the average up, and many farms earn far less. Before you plan around a number, read is agritourism profitable?, where I show why half of agritourism farms take in under $5,000 while the top group averages $173,000. The goal of this article is to help you climb into the second group, one careful step at a time.

The Surprise in the Data: The Smallest Farms Are Winning

Here is the part that should make every small farmer sit up.

DTN, citing the 2022 Census, reports that farms under 50 acres saw strong growth in both the number of agritourism operations and their receipts. Look at the numbers by farm size:

Farm size	What happened, 2017 to 2022	2022 average per farm
Under 10 acres	Receipts up 137.2% to $89 million	$27,010 (up 105%)
10 to 49.9 acres	Receipts up 49.6% to $226.7 million; 6,686 farms	$33,903 (up 19%)
219 acres or fewer (all)	Now hold 54.3% of all agritourism receipts	n/a
2,000+ acres	Receipts $251.7 million (up $43 million) but 554 fewer farms	n/a
All farms	$1.26 billion total; 28,617 farms	$44,004

Source: USDA 2022 Census of Agriculture, as analysed by NERCRD (May 2024) and reported by DTN (October 2026).

Read that first row again. On the tiniest farms in America, average agritourism receipts roughly doubled in five years.

Bar chart of average agritourism receipts per farm in 2022: 27,010 dollars on farms under 10 acres, 33,903 dollars on farms of 10 to 49.9 acres and 44,004 dollars across all agritourism farms — Small farms still earn less per farm than the national average, but they are closing the gap fast. Chart: AgritourismSuccess.com, from USDA data via NERCRD.

Why small farms are pulling ahead

The Census doesn't explain the why. But after years of watching farms open their gates, and running my own, I see four reasons the data fits:

Small farms sit close to people. DTN notes agritourism clusters around urban and suburban population centres. Small acreage is often what is left near towns, exactly where visitors live.
Visitors want hands-on, not huge. A family doesn't need 2,000 acres to brush a cow or pick a bucket of strawberries. They need one good afternoon.
Low overhead means faster profit. A small farm can start with what it already has. A big operation often has to build restrooms, parking and staff before the first ticket.
Small farms can't win on commodity volume. When the commodity math doesn't work, the farmer has every reason to sell an experience instead. Andrew Donnell in Tennessee, whom you'll meet below, found his commodity crops simply didn't pencil out.

Field-Tested Play: Measure your "visitor radius" first

Before you pick an activity, count how many people live within a 30 to 60 minute drive. Southern Belle Farm taps a market of about 6 million people in greater Atlanta. You don't need that many. But you do need to know your number, because it tells you whether you'll live on repeat local families or need to pull tourists from further away. My guide on how much land you really need for agritourism shows why location often matters more than acreage.

Story 1: The $42 Photo Session That Built a Business

Rachel and Matt Long both grew up on farms. In 2013 they bought land near Scottdale, Pennsylvania, planning to raise hay and cattle and sell beef straight to customers by the quarter, half and whole. Rachel teaches full time. Matt is a machinist. This was never meant to be a big tourism business.

Then they took some family photos.

As DTN tells it, the Longs photographed their twins with some Holstein calves and shared the pictures on social media. Strangers started asking if they could use the same spots. Lots of strangers.

So the Longs did something simple. They turned the top of their barn into a photo studio and refresh it each season. They built themed sets: a greenhouse, a gazebo, an antique truck and a cabin. They planted sunflower and wildflower fields that line up with the sunset.

Here is the clever part. Rachel doesn't take the photos. Visitors bring their own camera or hire their own photographer. Autumn Ridge Farm simply charges for access to its sets:

$42 for a family's own sitting
$75 an hour for a photographer to run sessions there

Today Autumn Ridge Farm also runs seasonal festivals, animal encounters and youth camps. Its website lists themed photo sessions with names like "Coffee & Cows" and "Florals & Fluffy Cows", booked online, and invites photographers to ask about discounted hourly rates. Their Highland cows are the stars. Visitors book "Highland Hangouts" to brush the cows, pet them, take photos and lie in the grass with them. Rachel has no exact visitor count, only that thousands have come.

A Scottish Highland cow with long shaggy light brown hair standing in a grassy field, the kind of friendly animal small farms feature in paid animal encounters — Highland cows are a big draw for small farms offering animal encounters. Illustrative photo, not Autumn Ridge Farm. Photo: Peter Hoogmoed / Unsplash.

Why photo sessions are the perfect first step

Think about what the Longs are really selling. Not labour. Not produce. Scenery and time.

There's no crop to harvest and nothing that spoils.
The photographer brings the gear and the skill.
Families book short slots, so visitors come and go.
Every photo that gets posted online advertises your farm for free.

Here's what that pricing could add up to. This is example arithmetic only, using the Longs' published prices. It is not their actual income.

Bar chart showing example gross income from farm photo sessions over a 20-week season: 7,200 dollars at 5 sittings and 2 photographer hours a week, 14,400 dollars at 10 sittings and 4 hours, and 28,800 dollars at 20 sittings and 8 hours — Example only: what $42 family sittings and $75 photographer hours can add up to over a 20-week season, before costs. Chart: AgritourismSuccess.com.

Ten family sittings and four photographer hours a week comes to $720. Over a 20-week season, that is $14,400 in gross receipts, from a sunflower patch, a painted backdrop and a booking page.

A single sunflower in a field with a red barn in the background at golden hour, the kind of rustic backdrop families pay to use for photo sessions — A sunflower row, a barn and the right light is often all a photo venue needs. Illustrative photo, not a farm named in this article. Photo: Holly Landkammer / Unsplash.

Field-Tested Play: Launch a photo venue in 30 days

Walk your farm at sunset and pick three spots that already look good: an old truck, a fence line, a barn door, a tree.
Tidy them, add one simple prop each, and take sample photos on your phone.
Publish two prices, a family sitting and a photographer hour, and a booking calendar on your website.
Message 10 local photographers. They need fresh locations every season, and each one can bring you dozens of families.
Plant sunflowers or wildflowers next spring so you have a "new set" to announce.

For more low-cost ideas like this, see asset-light agritourism: how to monetise your farm without building a thing.

Reality Check: Write down the rules before the first booking

Photographers will want to know: How long is a session? Can they bring props, smoke bombs or pets? Where can they park? Are the animals off limits? Put your rules in a short written agreement that each photographer signs. Then ask your insurance agent whether visitors on your property for photos are covered. DTN's feature says it plainly: the typical farm policy does not cover agritourism. My guide to agritourism insurance lists the questions to ask.

Story 2: The Georgia Farm That Walked Away From Weddings

Back to Jake Carter.

Over the years, the family tried a lot of things. Weddings were one of them. Farm weddings look like easy money: one booking, one big cheque.

But Carter told DTN the family learned to stop chasing everything they thought would work and focus on what they were good at. They noticed visitors were mainly coming for hands-on farm experiences, like picking their own strawberries. So the farm stopped hosting weddings.

Today Southern Belle Farm stands on four pillars:

You-pick fruit and flowers
Attractions, like wagon rides
Food and drink
A retail market with local goods

Everything ties back to one idea. Carter said the family sensed a yearning among people to get back to the farm, and decided everything they do had to centre on that.

Their published prices show how the pillars work together. In spring, U-pick entry is just $1 a person and strawberries are $6.95 a quart. Fall admission runs from $18.95 off-peak to $24.95 at peak and covers more than 30 attractions, while the pumpkin patch, market and bakery are free to walk into, according to the farm's website. A low price to get in, and plenty to buy once you're there.

Diagram of Southern Belle Farm's four pillars of agritourism income: you-pick fruit and flowers, attractions, food and drink, and a retail market, all centred on getting back to the farm, with weddings dropped — Southern Belle Farm's four pillars, as described to DTN. Weddings did not fit the core idea, so they went. Diagram: AgritourismSuccess.com.

The lesson: subtraction is a strategy

Most struggling farms don't have too few ideas. They have too many. A corn maze, a wedding barn, a farm stay, goat yoga, a food truck and a Christmas market, all half-done.

Weddings are a good example of an idea that looks better than it often is. They can bring big bookings. But they often come with zoning questions, noise complaints from neighbours, alcohol rules and busy weekends that clash with harvest. I covered the legal side in farm wedding venue zoning: the $50,000 lesson from Ohio's wedding barn wars.

Once a year, run every activity on your farm through three questions:

Flowchart for deciding whether to keep or cut a farm activity: is this why visitors come, are we good at it on our land, and does it pay after labour and costs; three yes answers mean keep and grow it, any no means cut it or fix it — Keep it or cut it: a simple annual review for every activity on your farm. Diagram: AgritourismSuccess.com.

Wooden baskets filled with fresh red strawberries on a table, like the you-pick strawberries that bring families back to farms each spring — You-pick strawberries are one of the hands-on experiences that bring families back every spring. Illustrative photo, not Southern Belle Farm. Photo: Wes Hicks / Unsplash.

Field-Tested Play: Ask visitors why they came

At the gate or at checkout, ask one question: "What made you come today?" Write the answers down for a month. If 80% say "the strawberries" and almost nobody mentions the event you spend half your weekends on, you have your answer. For more ways to turn feedback into decisions, read using feedback to improve your agritourism business.

Story 3: The Son Who Said "Let's Grow Pumpkins"

Lucas Dull left his family's farm in Thorntown, Indiana, for Purdue University and didn't plan to come back. He earned an agricultural engineering degree, met his future wife Dana there, and took a desk job. It didn't last.

Back home, his parents Tom and Kerry ran mainly corn and soybeans, plus a growing Christmas tree business called Dull's Tree Farm. When Lucas offered to come home, his father's first thought, as he told DTN, was how the farm could afford to bring him on.

Lucas had an answer: grow pumpkins.

Their first pumpkin harvest came in 2014. Within five years, the 20-day fall season was out-earning the four-week Christmas tree season. By 2019, fall agritourism plus Christmas trees were big enough that the family left row-crop farming altogether. The crop ground is now leased to Tom's nephew.

Today Dull's Tree Farm brings in about 80,000 visitors a year across 45 activities. Fall admission for 2026 is $17.95 online or $21.95 at the gate, according to the farm's website. Eight acres grow 40 varieties of pumpkins and squash. The family tends 65,000 Christmas trees and sells about 6,000 a year. A 2,400-square-foot Trading Post sells ornaments, local food and the farm's own fudge.

Two numbers from the Dulls stand out:

Food is 20% to 25% of revenue. Their "super slushy", an apple cider slushy topped with a farm-made cider donut, is a best seller.
One donut per visitor. Lucas told DTN the farm sells, on average, a donut for every person who walks through the gate.

And one philosophy stands out even more. The Dulls deliberately try not to grow too fast. Lucas said they are selling an experience, and if growth is too fast, the experience suffers.

Bar chart showing food as a share of revenue at two farms DTN profiled: 20 to 25 percent at Dull's Tree Farm in Indiana and about a third of gross at Donnell Century Farm in Tennessee — Food is a major income pillar at both Dull's Tree Farm and Donnell Century Farm. Chart: AgritourismSuccess.com, from DTN's reporting.

Field-Tested Play: Find your "one donut"

What could every visitor buy for a few dollars, without thinking twice? A cider donut, a cup of fresh juice, a bag of kettle corn, a jar of your honey. One small item sold to every visitor can quietly become a big share of your revenue. Check your local food rules first: selling food on your farm explains which permits each option usually needs. And upsells that double your agritourism revenue has more ideas.

Story 4: Tulips Instead of Corn

Donnell Century Farm in Jackson, Tennessee, dates back to 1826. Until 2019 it grew corn, soybeans and cotton. Today that crop ground is leased to another farmer.

Andrew Donnell, a seventh-generation farmer who runs the farm with his mother Rose Ann McCallum Donnell, was blunt with DTN: none of the commodities were working when he put a pencil to them.

So he put his time into Donnell Century Farm Adventure, with about 30 attractions, and a farm market with a butcher shop that sells beef cuts directly to customers. His reasoning is worth framing and hanging in your barn. Donnell told DTN that his farm is now the last one to touch the beef, and the last one to touch it usually makes the most money.

He also borrows good ideas. Friends across the country were doing well with tulips, and he saw that tulips would line up nicely with Easter. So he planted 100,000 of them to draw a different crowd: older customers, and mothers with their daughters. Fall is still the big season, with a corn maze, a pumpkin patch and zip lines, and fall admission of $18.95 online or $22.95 at the gate. Food is about a third of the farm's gross, and much of that is beef.

Notice the pattern. Donnell didn't invent tulips. He watched what worked for other farmers, matched it to his calendar, and aimed it at customers he wasn't reaching yet.

Field-Tested Play: Copy a proven idea, then aim it at a new customer

List the people who already visit your farm. Then list who doesn't: grandparents, couples, photographers, school groups, mothers and daughters. Pick one missing group and one proven activity that suits them. A spring flower field brings a different crowd than a fall corn maze. If flowers appeal, start with how to start a U-pick flower field. If you have a school nearby, read the exact farm experiences schools happily pay for.

What Other Farms Charge for Photo Passes and Cow Cuddles

Autumn Ridge isn't alone. Across North America and the UK, farms are charging for two things they already have: a good-looking field and friendly animals. Here are published prices from real farms:

Farm	Where	What they sell	Published price
Wicked Tulips	Connecticut and Rhode Island	Pro photographer site fee in the tulip fields	$50 for 60 minutes, $75 for 90 minutes
Big Jim Farms	Albuquerque area, New Mexico	Photographer slot in sunflower and pumpkin fields	$50 an hour
Pingle's Farm	Hampton, Ontario	Photographer's Pass (clients pay their own admission)	$150 a day
Highland Acres Farm	Champion, Ohio	Highland cow cuddling	$25 for 30 minutes
Luckie Farms	Lake Stevens, Washington	Highland cow cuddling	$30 a person for an hour
Sunset View Creamery	Odessa, New York	Dairy cow cuddling	$15 per 30-minute session
Dumble Farm	East Yorkshire, England	Cow cuddling	£95 (2025)

Prices as published or reported; check each farm for current rates. Pingle's price is in Canadian dollars.

Two of these stories deserve a closer look.

Highland Acres Farm in Champion, Ohio, shows how fast rung one can pay. Owner Ed Stanton bought his first cow in December 2024 and opened for cow cuddling in spring 2025, according to the Business Journal. By April 2026 he had 17 cows, and he advertised only on Facebook and Google.

Dumble Farm in East Yorkshire shows the opposite side of the coin: what happens when the old model breaks. Floods and milk prices below the cost of production made dairying unsustainable, so in 2022 the family sold all but a few cows and turned to cow cuddling, as reported in June 2025.

Reality Check: Animals are the most valuable and the most risky rung

Cuddling and brushing sessions bring people close to large animals. Keep groups small, choose calm animals, put handwashing next to the exit, and get your insurer's written answer before your first booking. Some farms, like Pingle's in Ontario, won't let photographers in without their own liability insurance and a signed waiver. Read the $7.55 million petting zoo before you open an animal experience.

The $500,000 Problem, and the Start-Small Ladder That Solves It

DTN doesn't sugar-coat it. Agritourism startups are not cheap. Costs can run from $50,000 to $500,000 or more once you add restrooms, kitchens, designed attractions like corn mazes or pumpkin patches, liability insurance, staff, marketing and upkeep. Southern Belle Farm alone has 16 acres of parking.

That number scares a lot of farmers off before they start. It shouldn't. Because look at where these four farms began:

Autumn Ridge: a family photo shoot with some calves.
Dull's: one pumpkin crop, added to an existing Christmas tree business.
Donnell: a farm that already had visitors and added tulips.
Southern Belle: the land they already owned, plus strawberries.

None of them started at $500,000. They climbed. Here is the ladder I recommend:

The start-small ladder for small farm agritourism: rung 1 rent your scenery with photo sittings, rung 2 rent your animals, rung 3 let visitors pick, rung 4 feed them and sell to them, rung 5 build big only when proven, at 50,000 to 500,000 dollars or more — The Start-Small Ladder: let paying visitors fund each next step. Diagram: AgritourismSuccess.com.

The rule is simple. Don't climb to the next rung until the one you're on is paying. Each rung gives you cash, customer names and proof. When you finally need a loan for the big build, you'll walk into the bank with real numbers instead of hopes.

For a full breakdown of costs, see how much it costs to start an agritourism business. To test your idea in a weekend before spending real money, try the 60-minute MVP method. And when you're ready to look for help with bigger builds, my roundup of agritourism grants and funding shows what's still available.

8 Low-Capital Small Farm Agritourism Ideas to Test This Season

Here are offers you can test with what most small farms already have. Prices from DTN's reporting are marked. Everything else depends on your area, so check what nearby farms charge before you set yours.

Idea	What you need	Who it attracts	Real-world example
Photo sittings	A pretty spot, a booking page	Families, couples, graduates	Autumn Ridge: $42 per family (DTN)
Photographer access	Same spots, a signed agreement	Local photographers	Autumn Ridge: $75 an hour (DTN)
Animal hangouts	Calm animals, a fenced area, handwashing	Families, kids	Autumn Ridge "Highland Hangouts" (DTN)
U-pick strawberries or flowers	Land you already farm, containers, a scale	Families, mothers and daughters	Southern Belle, Donnell's 100,000 tulips (DTN)
Farm snack or drink	A permitted kitchen or packaged goods	Every visitor	Dull's: about one donut per visitor (DTN)
Direct beef or produce sales	Processing, freezer, permits	Locals who want to know their farmer	Donnell's butcher shop (DTN)
Kids' farm camp	A plan, helpers, safety rules	Parents in summer	Autumn Ridge youth camps (DTN)
School field trips	A simple tour, restrooms, a booking form	Teachers	Southern Belle hosts 40,000 schoolchildren a year (DTN)

If none of these fit, my list of 50 agritourism activities ranked by startup cost and profit has plenty more, sorted from cheapest to most expensive.

A father walking with his young child in a rural farm field, the kind of simple farm visit that draws paying families to small farms — Families want an afternoon on a real farm, not a theme park. Illustrative photo, not a farm named in this article. Photo: Kelly Sikkema / Unsplash.

Five Rules From the Head of NAFDMA International Agritourism Association

DTN also asked Suzi Spahr, executive director of NAFDMA International Agritourism Association in Indianapolis, for her guidelines. Here they are in short, with my notes:

Know your audience. An educational farm tends to draw families and school groups. A stunning sunflower field tends to draw couples. Design for the people you want.
Know your land. If apples won't grow well on your farm, a you-pick orchard is the wrong bet. Sell what your land does best.
Be a promoter. Make your website easy to use and able to take payment for tickets and merchandise. Leave brochures with hotels and restaurants. Work with local tourism boards, chambers of commerce and media. My guide to simple website setup for agritourism farms covers the basics.
Know the law. Zoning and health codes apply to you too. State agritourism laws protect against inherent risks, but they don't excuse negligence.
Insure your risk. The typical farm policy doesn't cover agritourism. Talk to your insurance agent before the first visitor arrives.

The Paperwork Part: Questions to Ask Before You Open the Gate

I'm not your lawyer, and rules differ by state, province and country. But every small farm should get clear answers to these questions before inviting paying visitors:

Ask your insurance agent:

Does my farm policy cover paying visitors? In writing?
Are photographers and their clients covered while on my land?
Are animal encounters, wagon rides or U-pick covered, or excluded?
What limit of liability do you recommend for my activities?

Ask your county or council planning office:

Is agritourism allowed on my land under current zoning?
Do I need a permit for events, parking or signs?
Would adding food, a shop or a building change the rules?

Ask your state agriculture or health department:

What permits do I need to sell food or drinks to visitors?
Does my state have an agritourism liability law, and what exact warning sign wording does it require?

Ask yourself:

Do I have a written agreement for photographers and other businesses using my farm?
Do I have handwashing stations next to animal areas?
Who is in charge of safety on a busy day?

Useful guides on my site: agritourism laws by state, do liability waivers protect your farm? and the petting zoo handwashing system.

Reality Check: An agritourism law is not a shield for carelessness

NAFDMA's Spahr makes the point clearly in DTN's feature: state laws protect owners against inherent risk, but they do not exempt negligence. A loose board on a hay wagon, an unsupervised animal pen or no handwashing station can put you outside that protection. Walk your farm like an inspector before every season.

Not in the U.S.? The Same Pattern Works Where You Farm

These numbers are American. But the pattern isn't. On my own farm, Bloopy Durians in Bentong, Malaysia, the durian seasons are short, roughly December to February and June to August. In that window we welcome up to 100 visitors a week during durian season.

Two small-farm lessons from our farm match what DTN found:

Short seasons need a way to keep customers. We keep a WhatsApp list of loyal customers who buy whenever durians are in season. Like Dull's turning a 20-day pumpkin season into a family business, it makes a short window count.
Being found matters more than being big. Our farm comes up at the top of Google for searches like "eat Musang King". Visitors who find you easily will travel. My guide on getting found on Google Maps shows how to start.

Whether you farm in Ohio, Ontario, Yorkshire or Pahang, the formula is the same: start small, sell what visitors really come for, and let the cash fund the next step. If crop prices are squeezing you right now, these 10 farms used agritourism to fill the gap.

Your 30-Day Small Farm Agritourism Plan

Week 1: Look. Walk your farm with a phone. Photograph every spot a visitor would love: views, animals, old buildings, a fence at sunset. Count how many people live within an hour's drive.

Week 2: Ask. Call your insurance agent and your planning office with the questions above. Ask five local families and three photographers what they would pay for.

Week 3: Offer. Pick one rung-one idea, like photo sittings or an animal hour. Write it up with a price, a date and a booking link. Post it on your Facebook page and Google Business Profile.

Week 4: Run and record. Host your first paying visitors. Ask each one why they came. Record your takings and your hours. Then decide: keep it, fix it or cut it.

If you need help with the first step, how small farms can make their first $1,000 from visitors walks through it.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much do U.S. farms earn from agritourism?

According to USDA's 2022 Census of Agriculture, U.S. farms earned $1.26 billion from agritourism and recreational services in 2022. The 28,617 farms reporting it averaged about $44,000 each in gross receipts. That is revenue, not profit, and many farms earn far less than the average.

Is agritourism growing on small farms?

Yes. On farms under 10 acres, agritourism receipts rose 137.2% between 2017 and 2022, to $89 million, and the average per farm rose 105% to $27,010. Farms of 10 to 49.9 acres grew receipts by 49.6%. Farms of 219 acres or fewer now hold 54.3% of all agritourism receipts, according to NERCRD's analysis of the Census.

How much does it cost to start agritourism?

DTN reports startup costs from $50,000 to $500,000 or more for restrooms, kitchens, designed attractions, insurance, staff, marketing and upkeep. But many farms start much smaller, with photo sittings, animal encounters or U-pick on land they already farm, and build only after the income proves it.

How do farm photo sessions work?

The farm provides the setting and the photographer provides the camera. Autumn Ridge Farm in Pennsylvania charges families $42 for their own sitting and photographers $75 an hour to run sessions on its sets, according to DTN. You need attractive spots, clear rules, a booking system and insurance that covers visitors.

Why did Southern Belle Farm stop hosting weddings?

Jake Carter told DTN the family learned to stop chasing ideas and focus on what they were good at. Visitors were mainly coming for hands-on farm experiences like you-pick strawberries, so the farm dropped weddings and built around you-pick, attractions, food and a retail market.

Does my farm insurance cover visitors?

Often not. DTN's feature, quoting NAFDMA's Suzi Spahr, notes the typical farm policy does not cover agritourism. Ask your agent, in writing, whether paying visitors, photographers, animal encounters and U-pick are covered before you open.

Do I need a lot of land for agritourism?

No. The fastest growth in USDA's 2022 Census came from farms under 10 acres. Location near customers, a clear offer and a good experience usually matter more than acreage.

Your Next Step

The farms in this article didn't wait until they had $500,000. They started with what they had: a barn loft, a calf, a strawberry bed, a pumpkin field. Then they listened to what visitors actually paid for.

Find out which steps your farm is ready for right now. The free Farm Readiness Quiz takes a few minutes and shows where to focus first.

Take the Free Farm Readiness Quiz

Then download the free 21-Point Agritourism Blueprint, a simple checklist for opening your gate to paying visitors the safe, profitable way.

Get the Free 21-Point Blueprint

P.S. Remember Jake Carter and the developers calling about that red Georgia clay. The easy answer was to sell. The Carters kept the farm by opening the gate, and then had the nerve to say no to weddings. Your first step doesn't need to be big. It just needs to be the right one. A $42 photo sitting is a fine place to start.

Stephen Loke of AgritourismSuccess.com, whose farm is featured in Bloomberg News and Asahi Shimbun. This article is general information, not legal, insurance, tax or financial advice. Please check with your own insurance agent, local planning office and a qualified professional before starting any visitor activity.