Agritourism opportunities: UW’s WORTH Initiative bridges gap between two of Wyoming’s largest industries
During the Wyoming Sheep and Wool Festival, held in Thermopolis July 12-14, University of Wyoming (UW) Outdoor Recreation, Tourism and Hospitality Extension Educator Hailey Sorg highlighted the importance of agritourism and outlined some value-added ag opportunities for producers in the Cowboy State.
“Agritourism has a really unique way of bridging Wyoming’s second and third largest economies – tourism and agriculture – together and presenting unique opportunities not only for visitors to the state, but also to our residents and our producers,” Sorg stated.
“In Wyoming, we have this Western cowboy culture, brand and lifestyle that people crave and want to be a part of and understand,” she continued. “Agritourism presents a great way for them to come in and understand a little more of who we are and what we do.”
Agritourism
Although agritourism is fluid and proves hard to define, Sorg explained the best definition she has come across is from the National Agriculture Law Center (NALC), which defines the industry as a “fork of commercial enterprise linking ag products with tourism to attract visitors to the farm or ranch.”
In Wyoming, agritourism is especially important because it connects tourism and agriculture, which are the state’s second and third largest industries, respectively.
According to Sorg, in 2023 Wyoming received 8.6 million visitors, with numbers continuing to grow, and the tourism industry boasted nearly 33,000 jobs across the state, up nine percent from 2020-21.
Additionally, in 2022 alone, agriculture contributed $2 billion to the state of Wyoming and supplied around 20,000 jobs.
Value-added opportunities
Sorg further noted adding an agritourism feature to a farm or ranch can provide multiple benefits, including revenue diversification, valorizing the landscape and Western culture, providing opportunities for the next generation and younger residents who may otherwise leave the state to seek work, supporting sustainable economic activity and providing an avenue of education to teach the general public more about agriculture.
“The U.S. Department of Agriculture breaks agritourism into five categories – direct sales, education, hospitality, outdoor recreation and entertainment – and most parts of any agritourism operation can fit into one of these five categories,” she said.
“Altogether, these five things make up one big agritourism pie, and what I absolutely love to see is how people are able to take bits and pieces of each slice and put them together to create something really unique,” she continued.
She also pointed out the value-added opportunities of agritourism on a farm or ranch can be supplementary, a minor activity to support main operations; complementary, an activity sharing equal weight to what the operation is already doing or primary, in which agritourism is the sole focus of the farm or the ranch.
Examples of agritourism opportunities include anything from direct sales of farm-fresh eggs, produce and honey at an on-farm store; offering horseback riding, mountain biking or wildlife viewing opportunities at a farm or ranch; hosting a pumpkin patch or seasonal festivals once a year or running a full-time guest ranch, just to name a few.
“There are a lot of different opportunities for everybody involved,” Sorg stated. “The list goes on and on.”
While agritourism may add value to some operations, it is not for everyone, Sorg pointed out.
“One of the biggest questions to ask before embarking on an agritourism journey is if it is right for you. I wish I could tell everybody they should add this to their farm or ranch, but it isn’t always the case – it takes a special type of person and/or operation and a unique idea. It isn’t for everybody and that’s okay,” she said.
Sorg further noted the most important factor for implementing agritourism on an operation is having a passion for it.
“To have an agritourism operation, one has to have a passion for it, and not everybody does. But here in Wyoming, I think we all have a lot of passion, in addition to grit, authenticity and a love for our Western way of life,” she said.
The WORTH Initiative
During her presentation, Sorg also took time to introduce the relatively new Wyoming Outdoor Recreation, Tourism and Hospitality (WORTH) Initiative created by the University of Wyoming in 2021-22 to support, expand and diversify Wyoming’s economy through outdoor recreation, tourism and hospitality industries.
She explained the initiative was introduced by UW President Ed Seidel in 2021 and was funded by Gov. Mark Gordon’s Wyoming Innovation Partnership.
“What is really interesting about the WORTH Initiative is their partnerships with other departments and colleges across UW,” Sorg said. “We are able to work with individuals across campus and see a lot of different synergies taking place in this great state and at our college itself.”
According to UW, the WORTH Initiative is currently in phase one of its implementation, which includes starting up educational products and services such as a Hospitality Management Certificate program, as well as other training programs and certifications relevant to WORTH-related industries, while also coordinating and consulting with the WORTH Advisory Committee to develop and deploy applied research products and services.
Phase one also included hiring Sorg, Wyoming’s first-ever WORTH Extension specialist position to support the industry statewide, and developing a long-term funding strategy consisting of a mixture of self-generated fees, fees for service, block grant funds, corporate partnerships and grants.
Hannah Bugas is the managing editor of the Wyoming Livestock Roundup. Send comments on this article to roundup@wylr.net.
