We’re a rather funny species us humans, aren’t we? I mean for all that Mother Nature has given us and other animals naturally by default, we’ve somehow found a way to commoditise everything, including what is now essentially the privilege of being able to breathe fresh air and even something as simple as enjoying the fauna and flora and all its natural beauty.
The economics and politics of that probably make for a discussion for another day and perhaps even another blog completely, but what is a discussion for now is that of the emergence and growth in popularity of agritourism as a means through which we can all just get a bit closer to nature and enjoy it in a few of its most basic forms — the best way possible.
So what exactly is agritourism? Agricultural equipment portal Agriaffaires takes us through what agritourism is:
You can probably guess from breaking the term up according to the two words it’s indicatively comprised of, those being agriculture and tourism. So that’s exactly what agritourism is — a super travel alternative which is enjoyed by both solo travellers and travel groups such as entire families, where the destination is a farm or plot which would then naturally be situated in a rural setting.
So if you’re an agritourist and you’re going away on an agritourism vacation, you’re essentially just retreating to a farm or plot, which would then naturally mean you’d want to have a more hands-on experience, so there’d probably be less or perhaps even none of the regular holiday clichés of lazing around on some beach somewhere.
Agritourism Activities
So what does one get up to when they’ve retreated to the rural areas and can legitimately call themselves an agritourist? You get a real taste of the outdoors and the farm lifestyle, pulling your weight of course through your contributions to the daily labors of life on the ranch/farm.
It doesn’t end there, however, because agritourism has grown to become so popular that it’s a bit more formalized than just taking your pick from a few farms to visit. The quintessential agri-desination incorporates quite a variety of entertainment, such as dining and shopping, a plethora of outdoor physical activities, a few great ways to relax, and even a good educational experience, to name but just a few.
Overall, agritourism can provide the opportunity for people to get a hand on experience of living at a farm by even learning to operate farm equipment and tools such as bale scales and livestock feed hoppers Canada or in other countryside locations.
Farm owners who provide agritourism for enthusiasts usually make provisions for them to stay on their farms and experience what it is like to live in the rural countryside. The type of equipment used by agritourism farms can vary depending on the size and scope of the farm. However, they often include equipment such as tractors, balers, crimper rollers, and harvesters. This can be a great educational experience for people who want to learn about the work that entails operating a farm.
Agritourism is more than just a passing tourism fad – it’s becoming more like a lifestyle that encourages a healthier, more active way of enjoying some downtime. Moreover, it is a way of discovering new skills related to farm life and equipment. The visitors can try using agriculture tools and equipment like plows, mowers, planters, balers, etc., as well as explore the mechanical side of it by learning to change tractor tires or how to do basic upkeep of heavy vehicles. This could prove to be an educational experience for mechanical and automobile engineering students.
Value-for-Money Vacation
If you just take a look at some of the activities on offer as part of an agritourism getaway, you’ll very quickly realise that you get some serious value for money. Just thinking about the prices around the likes of wine tours, game drives, bird-watching, clay target shooting, etc., one would expect to pay a lot of money to enjoy those individually, but these are just some of the activities which usually come packed in with very affordable agri-tourism getaways.
I mean for some of us just getting to drive a tractor would pretty much make the entire trip, but students in particular and the likes are really taking to agritourism because of the affordability factor.
