Projects & Products
Agritourism
Rural America is a popular recreation and vacation destination. Some producers see agricultural tourism,
or agritourism, as a way to supplement income, entertain the public and educate people to farming. Agritourism includes
farm tours for families and school children, interactive outdoors and/or educational activities, hands-on chores, u-pick produce,
hay or sleigh rides, petting zoos, festivals, hunting trips and overnight stays in a bed and breakfast.
Agritourism operators have a lot of things to consider when inviting the public to visit their farm, including health and safety
for their guests, staff and family. Protecting children and adults from injury on the farm, along with providing proper facilities and sanitation
to prevent the spread of pathogens, takes careful planning, preparation and continuous quality control. The National Children’s Center, working
with a broad group of stakeholders, has developed health and safety guidelines and easy-to-use checklists specific to children to help
agritourism operators manage health and safety on the farm.
NEW in 2008, two ten-page checklist guides were designed to allow agritourism operators to review health and safety considerations
that have already been incorporated on the agritourism operation and also to identify any deficiencies, so actions can be taken to prevent
or control hazardous exposures to guests visiting the farm. These guides are supplements to the 2007 Agritourism Health and Safety
Guidelines for Children.
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NEW! Agritourism Policies and Procedures Checklist Guide (.pdf)
The Policies and Procedures Guide will help agritourism operators and workers prepare and plan for emergencies, prearranged visits by groups,
documentation, supervision of children, proper hand-washing, animal contact, traffic and parking, fires, tractors and display equipment, locations
for barriers and fencing, pest control, and hayride operations. This checklist guide will help create, revise, or add content to the farm’s own policies and procedures.
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NEW! Agritourism Worksite Walkthrough Checklist Guide (.pdf)
The Worksite Guide will help operators check the physical operation’s preparedness for emergencies, communication with guests,
animals and hand-washing, fires, tractors and display equipment, walkways and structures, barriers and fencing, pest control, food handling,
recordkeeping, along with hayride and corn maze operations. This checklist will help operators and workers perform a hazard identification walkthrough
of the agritourism worksite to view and correct hazards before visits by guests.
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Agritourism Health and Safety Guidelines for Children (.pdf)
