6 full lessons
Written in plain language, illustrated, and kept as a reference afterward.
Outdoors and hosting · open the gate
Agritourism: Hosting Visitors on the Farm
Turning a working farm into a place people can visit, learn, and buy from: tours, tastings, farm stands, and the safety, law, and storytelling underneath.
Six lessons built on the University of California agritourism handbook Jules taught from, broadened to the whole country: assessing whether visitors belong on your farm, the liability statutes most states now have, designing a route that lets the work keep happening, telling the farm's story honestly, the permits that appear the moment money changes hands, and a season plan that keeps hosting as income instead of a second job.
6 lessons · about 11 contact hours
$95 once, or $95 on Driftline. Add $60 and Jules reads and grades one real piece of work, passing at 80 percent. Review is optional. Nothing here is accredited or carries credit.
Take this class
Pay once, and it is yours to come back to. Pick how you want to take it.
On your own
The whole class, the practice work, and the knowledge checks. No pass score, no graded work, no certificate gate.
With Jules reading your work
Everything above, plus one real piece of work, "A one-page agritourism plan for a real farm", that Jules reads and grades against a rubric you can see before you start. You pass at 80 percent, and you can rewrite and send it back as many times as you need. This is optional, and it is not accredited and carries no continuing education credit.
Already taking this class? You can add review later and pay only the $60 difference.
11 contact hours
Measured per lesson, with written outcomes, so your time is recorded honestly.
No-pressure checks
Clear answers and explanations, unlimited tries, and nothing sent to a gradebook.
Region aware
Rules are shown by state with the source and the date we checked it.
The complete course
Lesson 1 · 2 h
What Agritourism Is and Whether It Fits Your Farm
- Name the main kinds of agritourism and what each demands
- Assess your farm's real attractions, hazards, and conflicts with the work
- Decide honestly whether, when, and how often hosting fits your operation
Lesson 2 · 2 h
Safety, Liability, and the Law
- Find your state's agritourism statute and say what it does
- Explain the difference between a waiver, insurance, and a liability statute
- Identify who decides land-use permission for visitors in your county
Lesson 3 · 2 h
Designing the Visit
- Design a visitor route that shows the farm without stopping the work
- Plan parking, restrooms, and signage before the first guest arrives
- Plan for visitors of different ages, bodies, and mobility
Lesson 4 · 1.5 h
Telling the Story of the Farm
- Answer the questions visitors really ask, honestly and briefly
- Talk about the hard parts of the work without defensiveness or spin
- Give anyone who speaks for the farm the same honest script
Lesson 5 · 2 h
Selling to Visitors
- Tell apart a farm stand, a tasting, and a food facility in your state's rules
- Find who issues each permit you need and what it costs
- Price visitor products so the visit supports the farm instead of draining it
Lesson 6 · 1.5 h
Getting Found and Staying Sane
- Choose where the farm gets listed and who to partner with
- Set a season and a capacity the work can live with
- Write a simple measure of whether hosting is worth it
What this course covers where you live
We say plainly how well each part of the country is covered, rather than implying the whole country is written to the same depth.
- West Coast: sourced and ready
- Alaska: sourced and ready
- Northeast: sourced and ready
- Mid-Atlantic and Southeast: sourced and ready
- Gulf: sourced and ready
- Great Lakes and inland: sourced and ready
- Hawaii and the Pacific islands: sourced and ready
Maine publishes agritourism guidance for farms
Maine's agriculture department collects agritourism guidance for farms adding visitors, including liability and business questions.
Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry, Agritourism in Maine · checked 2026-10-02A free training guide for leading a nature walk
University of New Hampshire Extension publishes a practical guide to leading a nature walk, useful anywhere you guide people outdoors.
University of New Hampshire Extension, How to Lead a Nature Walk · checked 2026-10-02Georgia trains coastal tour operators
Georgia Sea Grant's coastal awareness program trains guides and operators in coastal ecology and responsible visitor practice.
University of Georgia Marine Extension and Georgia Sea Grant, CARE Program · checked 2026-10-02Florida and Mississippi both publish agritourism starting points
Florida's extension program explains agritourism and the state's agritourism law, and Mississippi State Extension publishes a first steps guide for new operators.
University of Florida IFAS, Agritourism · checked 2026-10-02
If you want Jules to read your work
Everyone gets the same lessons, practice work, and knowledge checks. For $60 more you also get one real assignment that Jules reads and grades. You can see exactly how it is judged before you start, you pass at 80 percent, and you can rewrite and send it back as many times as you need. This is optional, and it is still not accredited and carries no continuing education credit.
The assignment
A one-page agritourism plan for a real farm
Assess a real farm for visitors and write the plan, or the honest reason not to host.
Choose a real farm, yours or one you know well. Assess what visitors would find interesting, what would be dangerous, and what would interrupt the work. Find your state's agritourism statute, or say plainly that your state has none, and name the county office that decides land-use permission. Sketch the visitor route with parking, restrooms, and accessibility. List what you would sell and the permit each sale needs. Finish with the season plan: how many tours or open days, listed where, and the number that would tell you it is working. If your honest answer is that this farm should not host, write that instead and defend it.
How it is graded
The assessment is honest · 25 points
Attractions, hazards, and conflicts with the work are all named, including the uncomfortable ones.
The law is checked, not assumed · 25 points
The state statute and the county permission process are found and described with sources.
The visit is designed · 25 points
Route, parking, restrooms, signage, and accessibility are planned before the first guest.
The plan has a number · 25 points
Season, capacity, and a measurable sign of success are stated, or a well-argued decision not to host is made.
100 points in total. You pass at 80. Jules grades what you worked out, not your formatting or your word count.
Where it can take you
The guiding class covers leading groups on the shore itself. The marketing class helps with pricing and buyers, and Brackish Business covers running the whole thing as a business.
This course does not carry accreditation, credit, or continuing education units, and completing it does not count toward any outside credential. It is written to the structure a continuing education standard expects, with measured hours, written outcomes, and a completion record you can keep.