We have a guest post from a tourism student researcher. Thanks Lauren for your commitment to agritourism! We hope you enjoy reading about Lauren’s study.

My name is Lauren Howe and I am an American student studying with the School for International Training (SIT)’s Sustainability and Environmental Action Program based in Byron Bay, NSW.  As part of my program, I undertook a five-week independent study project for which I researched farm tourism in Australia. 

As farms across Australia look to expand their income streams, many have turned to tourism as a viable and auxiliary funding source.  For many of these farms, the necessary infrastructure for such an expansion already exists, as does the consumer demand.  Farmers looking to transform their businesses to include tourism, however, should keep in mind the ecological impact of their endeavors.  In this case, ecotourism or low-impact nature tourism offers many ‘best practice’ principles, which may be used to guide farm tourism in the future.  Using these ecotourism principles as a guide, I investigated how eco-friendly farmstays actually are.  This examination involved sending out 124 surveys nationally (and only receiving 19 completed ones back), interviewing four farmstay operators in the Northern Rivers region of NSW and two ecotourism-certified ‘best practice’ farmstays, and doing content analysis of 134 farmstay websites and online listings.

My study results reveal that although few farmstays actually market themselves as eco-friendly, many currently uphold environmentally sound practices.  This may come in the form of land and wildlife conservation and/or re-vegetation.  For instance, some farmstays in the Northern Rivers are working with local land care groups on rainforest and bush regeneration on their properties.  Renewable energy in the form of solar is popular and many farmstays have invested in energy efficient appliances.  I’ve seen farmstay cottages with solar panels on their roofs and individual rainwater tanks for water catchment and recycling.  Moreover, most farmstays exhibit proper waste disposal habits, from recycling to composting in the form of worm farms and feeding food scraps to chooks.  Sustainable agriculture is widespread and includes practices of organic farming, permaculture, aquaponics, integrated pest management, paddock rotation, and low-intensity animal husbandry.  Many farmstays also make efforts to source food, household goods, and farm equipment locally. 

The primary shortcoming of the farmstay industry, however, is the lack of acknowledgement given to Aboriginals/traditional landowners.  ‘Respect the sensitivities of other cultures’ is one of the principles included in the Ecotourism Association of Australia’s Code of Practice and is that which could be improved the most.  This could come in the form of consulting with local Elders, verbalizing an informal Aboriginal ‘welcome’ to guests, or simply posting a sign on the farm property. 

My study results also indicate that few ecologically sound farmstays have invested the time and funds to become officially certified through Ecotourism Australia.  Despite the lack of official certification, it is very possible for farmstays to engage in environmentally and socially sustainable practices, as exemplified by farmers in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales.

So next time you are booking your holiday accommodation, think about staying at an eco-friendly farmstay.  You can help support a local farm business and reduce the environmental impact of your travels! And in the mean time, check out these eco-conscious accommodations in the Northern Rivers: Byron Bay Farmstay, Mooyabil Farm Holidays in Mullumbimby, Imogen’s Farmstay in Whian Whian, and the Shed Bed and Breakfast in Dunoon.

I’m guessing some of you agritourism lovers are real foodies too so thought I’d share my husband’s new food blog with you. As you call into those farms for fresh produce over the summer we’ll try to keep you going with some recipes. Corrado’s Italian and is an amazing cook, so if you’d like some cooking hints and to read his story about the influence of food in his life then read away and buon appetito! Corrado Cucina – an Italian food blog, click here. Cheers Pauline

Don’t delay in booking your last minute accommodation on the farm or organizing your farm activities. Have a look through the states and see what they have to offer – farms around Australia, no matter where you are travelling to, are ready and waiting for you to visit.

Help support our farmers and call in to see them while on holidays. If it’s just a day trip you are looking for or perhaps an interesting Christmas present, then see what our farmers can help you with. We have a country full of gourmet delights!

Enjoy and have a safe holiday!

I’ve recently had an enquiry from a New York food and wine magazine searching for some new agritourism products in Australia. They are looking for accommodation properties on farms that have some great activities for people to do while they are there and if there were some great food and wine on offer that would be a bonus too. Please add your suggestions to this blog so we can help them out.

If you were to vote for the best agritourism food and wine area in Australia what would it be??

I look forward to your suggestions! Cheers Pauline

Hi all, I thought I’d share this blog from Lea who recently spent some time at Tostaree (see our Gippsland pages in Victoria). She was looking for an inexpensive holiday to destress and it appears she found it. I think we forget how peaceful it is to simply get away to the country for a while and I think Lea has captured what our farmers can offer us! My advice is search these pages for farm holidays when you are next in need of time to yourself, cheers Pauline

Lea’s Blog
Tostaree Cottages is a gorgeous, peaceful, hospitable, relaxing place to visit! You can not picture it’s sheer beauty until you see it. My husband, puppy and I have recently returned from a long weekend at Tostaree and can honestly say we didn’t want to come home. We didn’t realize from the photos alone how incredibly peaceful and stunning the surroundings were. We were quite isolated and it was fantastic as it felt like it was just us in the whole world and gave us a real sense of homeliness.

The cottages themselves are so cute and well set out. There is plenty of space for you to take an entire family!! In the Drovers Cottage where we stayed, the lounge had huge windows looking out over this amazing countryside and we spent hours just snuggled up on the couch and looking out over it all. There are also fireplaces in each cottage and that really made us feel cosy, especially on a cold night. Although we did have TV and DVD facilities, we spent hours just watching the fire and playing games, it was everything a country getaway should be!

Greg and Vicky, the owners, were so friendly and hospitable we felt like we had known them forever. They lent us a Quad bike to drive around on and explore the farm, which was great as we could really see every bit of the 200+ acres. We drove up hills and took hundreds of photos of stunning views and gorgeous landscapes. We also spent an evening in front of the huge fireplace in the Tavern, having a few quiet beers and then later a BBQ. It was so homely and warm!

I can highly recommend these cottages to any one just wanting to get away from it all. You come back feeling so relaxed and full of fresh air. For those that want more to keep busy during the day there is plenty to do including fishing, surfing, cycling, bushwalking and a stunning beach only about 10mins away. It is also extremely close to the busy Lakes Entrance, which makes for a nice day trip. Greg pointed us in the direction of this gorgeous town called Metung about 20mins away and we had a lovely meal and watched a great band down there on the Sunday afternoon as well.

Thanks to Greg and Vicky for a fantastic weekend away. You made us feel right at home and allowed us to really unwind, which is exactly what we needed. The fact that we could bring our dog as well was a huge plus for us and he also thoroughly enjoyed himself! It’s funny how we spend so much money and time travelling the world and trying to see all these different places, but we very rarely stop to explore our own beautiful country. And it really is beautiful.

Lea da Silva Gomes

I received this email recently from the government and thought I might share it as it may be a good time to study some marketing or business skills to build your agritourism business. See their website below for more details.

Reminder – FarmReady Financial Year Eligibility

FarmReady Reimbursement Grants provide funding of up to $1500 to eligible primary producers, wild game harvesters and Indigenous land managers to attend approved training courses. The grant can be used to cover course costs and additional funding is available for travel, accommodation and childcare expenses.

FarmReady registered courses aim to improve the capacity of primary producers to adapt to the impacts of climate change and increase self reliance and preparedness.

Over 520 training courses are registered with FarmReady, on a variety of topics including:

> understanding the implications of climate change
> whole farm planning
> financial management
> farm business management

FarmReady Reimbursement Grants are capped at $1500 per financial year. Eligible primary producers and indigenous land managers will need to have participated in pre-approved training by 30 June 2010 and have submitted all necessary paperwork by no later than 30 July 2010 to access available support in the 2009/10 financial year.

To see what courses are available, confirm that you are eligible and claim your reimbursement, visit www.farmready.gov.au or phone 1800 087 670.

Get your property photos out there in this great campaign from Tourism Australia.

There´s less than a week left to ensure your tourism business is part of Tourism Australia´s next international marketing campaign. It´s easy. Spread the word to your colleagues, guests, family and friends and ask them to upload a photo of a unique experience or aspect of your tourism operation to www.nothinglikeaustralia.com. A digital map containing all the photos will be unveiled at the Australian Tourism Exchange.

Make sure your area is on the map!

Good Luck!

With Easter just around the corner why not consider spending your weekend with some real rabbits! Take the family out to one of the farm stays listed on our site and have a ‘back-to-nature’ easter holiday. There’s some great accommodation in rural areas and if you don’t want to stay over try some of the produce being sold directly from the many farm produce shops dotted around the countryside. A winery trip also makes for a nice day out, take a picnic basket and rug and enjoy!

I’ve had a request from a Canadian student who is doing a research project on agritourism in Australia and she’d like to find our more info. about ‘dude ranches’ here. I must say I had to ask what that was and it appears it’s a ranch where you can go to ride horses and learn about ranching life. So I guess if any of you have a business like this you might like to put a post here that Courtney can access and have a read about what you are offering.

Thanks Pauline

We just had a lovely break on the Mornington Peninsula; staying high on the hill in Dromana, within a hop skip and a jump from the wonderful Red Hill area. We indulged ourselves a couple of days and meandered around the area calling into wineries and food places along the way. We really enjoyed ourselves at Ten Minutes by Tractor winery where a helpful young man took much time in explaining wines to our 21 year old son, Marcus (who we are trying to educate away from mixed drinks and beer to wine!). The young man in question created a friendly and non-threatening environment for Marcus to feel comfortable in asking a range of questions on wine – it was very pleasant indeed!

We also tried some delicious cheeses on the balcony at Red Hill Cheese, where they have quite a lovely system set up to try the cheeses using a tick off sheet with all the cheese names clearly listed so you don’t forget as you go along. Staff there explain the types of cheeses and how they are made before letting you loose on them, another great experience! The setting on the balcony amongst the tall forests surrounding the homestead is just delightful.

Stawberries too were on the menu. We left Sunny Ridge Stawberry Farm armed with mountains of the sweetest, plumpest strawberries I have eaten in ages and I must admit to also buying a jar of their chocolate dipping sauce which accompanied our stawberries later that night – wicked but wonderful!

On one of our day trips we also stopped off for lunch at The Long Table in Red Hill South who specialize in regional seasonal produce and Peninsula wines. The food was exquisite and the wines superb; coupled with an inviting ambience it too was worth the visit. Actually we also came out of there armed with some local produce; the Leontyna extra virgin olive oil they served with the bread was so stunning we had to ask what it was and bought some, I highly recommend you find some!

Another day saw us having a light lunch at Stillwater at Crittenden’s winery which is set on a small lake on the property; the perfect place for lunch under the umbrellas out on the lawn on a nice day. Their little local produce shop also saw us walking away with armfuls of goodies.

The break ended all too quickly but with its easing driving distance to Melbourne we’ll surely go back again and again; for those of you heading down that way pop in to the Dromana Visitor Information Centre for all the food and wine maps and have yourselves a wonderfully wicked time.

Cheers for now, Pauline