Statewide Agritourism Summit 2015

Planning the Future of California Agritourism

Developing a Framework for Communication, Collaboration & Advocacy

This one-day Agritourism Summit connected agritourism operators, organizers, regulators, educators and tourism professionals throughout California with each other. We learned from each other and together took steps to plan the future for California agritourism.

The California Statewide Agritourism Summit was Wednesday April 8, 2015 from 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the Heidrick Agricultural History Center, 1862 Hays Lane, Woodland, CA 95776.

Summit agenda

Presentations:

Sierra Oro Farm Trail (Presentation by Jamie and Nicole Johansson)

Visit California Presentation (Presentation by Traci Ward)

Discussion notes:

Agritourism SUCCESSES relating to discussion topic areas (posted on the wall)

Report Back: notes and plans from group discussions at the Summit

Some handouts distributed:

Putting Your Group ON THE MAP, by Vivien Straus, Sonoma Marin Cheese Trail

Insurance Discussion Sheet, from www.safeagritourism.com

Statewide agritourism connections from the UC Small Farm Program

Letter advocating more agritourism activities allowed by right in Yolo County zoning updates, by Paul Muller, Capay Valley Vision Ag Task Force

Primary organizers were UC Small Farm Program and UC Cooperative Extension.

 The goals of the summit were to:

• Build awareness and understanding of successful local and regional networks that benefit agricultural producers and communities, and connect agritourism operators, the larger tourism community and county staff and officials
• Promote sharing of successful agritourism activities and marketing efforts
• Help agritourism producers learn to collaborate with others in their regions
• Learn to extend the reach of regional efforts to market agritourism to the public statewide
• Generate a voice for agritourism at a legislative level
• Plan a statewide framework for agritourism communication and collaboration

This project was funded in part by the California Department of Food and Agriculture’s Specialty Crop Block Grant program. Additional sponsors include Western Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (WSARE) for California, Sierra Nevada Conservancy, the California Rangeland Conservation Coalition, Interwest Insurance, and Nationwide Insurance.

Funding was available through these generous sponsors to assist with travel costs for a limited number of agricultural producers and agricultural educators who could not otherwise attend the Summit.

Download event flier:  pdf version    jpg version

Thank you to our sponsors: