Panther Head Private Habitats
Partners in Conserving America's Resources

Agri-Tourism:  Turning Natural Resources
on Your Property into Profits

IDEA MAP

Big Money Ideas

| Attractive Amenities | Agri-Tours | Sports/Hobbies | Hunting Clubs |
| Traditional Agriculture | Financial & Incentive Programs |
| Other Great Ideas |

Attractive Amenities

| Top | Bottom |

  • Air strip
  • Bed and breakfast
  • Wedding receptions
  • Birthday pavilion
  • Camping
Agri-Tours

| Top | Bottom |

  • Wagon trains
  • Hay wagon ranch tours
  • Recreate early history and culture; use local museum
  • Classroom on wheels
  • Pony rides ring
  • Guided horseback rides
  • Swamp buggy tours
  • High School ecological tourism program
  • Identify plant histories and develop stories
  • Air boat rides
  • Indian mounds and fossils
Sports/Hobbies

| Top | Bottom |

  • Dirt bike courses and races
  • Bicycle rentals and trails
  • Bird watching tours
  • Unique bird species tour (owl walks)
  • Horse trails for clubs
  • Riding club
Hunting Clubs

| Top | Bottom |

  • Hunting lease
  • Fee hunting operations
  • Turkey hunts -- "Osceola Gobbler"
  • Fox hunting courses
  • Quail hunt and feed area
Traditional Agriculture

| Top | Bottom |

  • Cattle
  • Timber
  • Sod
  • Seed
  • Citrus
Niche Agriculture

| Top | Bottom |

  • Water (Zephyrhills)
  • Palmetto berries
  • Other natural herbs
  • Blueberries
  • Aquaculture
  • Catfish
  • Contract with restaurants
  • U-Pick giveaway (I.E. bag of grapefruit)
  • Marmalade and salsa
  • Goat cheese
Financial & Incentive Programs

| Top | Bottom |

  • Mitigation banking
  • NRCS programs (WRP, CRP, CREP, EQIP, WHIP, FLP)
  • Less-than-fee options
  • Resource conservation agreements
  • Grazing leases on public land
  • Interpretive tours on state lands
  • Film companies and commercials
  • Money for research on private lands

 Other Great Ideas

| Marketing Ideas | Stumbling Blocks | Need to Know | Need to Do | Available Resources |

Marketing Ideas

| Top | Bottom |

  • Get out ranch contributions
  • Contact environmental reporters
  • Media agriculture tour (NAMA tour Feb 24-25)
  • Target German, Japanese and European tourists
  • Package tours -- partner with others
  • Use "layering" (do more things)
  • Control media exposure
  • Involve self in community
  • Promote people who work there
Stumbling Blocks

| Top | Bottom |

  • Weather related issues (need to have a safety plan)
  • Permitting delays
  • Money
  • Top three complaints: bugs, snakes and cost
Need to Know

| Top | Bottom |

  • Property demographics
  • Historical products/ old implements
  • Water testing (for visitors)
  • Cost share practices and standards
  • Uniqueness of your land
  • Explore "gray areas"
  • Number of family members to do it
  • Initial investment
Need to Do

| Top | Bottom |

  • Make a plan
  • Find out about zoning and change it
  • Weighing costs -- time, investment
  • Investigate net profit
  • Handle human resource pay area
  • Take action today
  • Build and sell your vision
  • Small steps are OK
  • Start small and it will become big
  • Web-site for agritourism
Available Resources

| Top | Bottom |

  • Florida Center For Environmental Studies --see Pat!
  • Nature Conservancy
  • Water Management Districts
  • United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)
  • Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS)
  • Work available on other lands
  • Audubon Society
  • Government partners
  • Universities
  • National Agricultural Marketing Association (NAMA)

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Designed & Maintained by Florida Stewardship Foundation || Photos & drawings by David Maehr
Copyright 2002 by Florida Stewardship Foundation || All rights reserved.