A dirt road without exit that crosses the rural areas of Wisconsin leads to a grass spold from highlands with hairy coating, Icelandic and spongy sheep and a vintage air air trailer that the farmer Brit Thompson turned the field.

His guests, mostly professionals from the Chicago area, offer a constant income flow in an increasingly unstable agricultural economy.

Thompson, who also collects animals for meat on his farm, Pink River Ranch, is one of the many farmers who use the agricultural tourism industry of $ 4.5 billion, according to the data of the United States Agriculture Department (USDA ), and offers activities and stays during the night as a consumer demand. For rural experiences they grow and agricultural income decreases.

Farmers whose crops are used to make food, feed livestock and produce vegetable oils are fighting for profits after corn and soy prices are sinking at least four years in 2024.

The Airbnb’s income from Thompson has helped him support volatile product markets and far exceeded what he did when selling beef and lamb to restaurants and directly to consumers, he said. Free breed cats on their property are now accustomed to the sound of the tires of the guests who creak at the entrance of gravel and are running towards those who bring additional income, and the additional affection.

The guests arrive almost every weekend during their high season, drawn by the currents rich in spring and rich in trout in the area, wooded hiking routes and non -contaminated night skies. Thompson reserves shot when nearby cities closed during pandemic.

Agritourism retired during Covid when people decided to vacation in farms and in rural areas, attracted by the promise of socially distanced fun in the field. The industry has continued to grow since then, driven by a growing number of city inhabitants who seek peace and loneliness and farmers who are looking for additional ways to infuse their farms with very necessary cash.

“Now that we return to normal, people still remember those experiences and have brought those activities to their family traditions,” said Suzi Spahr, director of the International Agritourism Association.

Nationally, about 7% of farms offer agritourism opportunities, which also include sales of agricultural products to visitors, said Lisa Chase, an extension professor at the University of Vermont. Many increased their income by $ 25,000 to $ 100,000 per year through Agritourism companies, and some farms can earn more than $ 1 million a year from the bed and breakfast race, the block orchards of selection apple and other agricultural experiences , said.

The number of farm, a housing on a farm, which appears on short -term rental platforms in the US. Airdna data. Airbnb, as well as the popular websites of hipcamp camp, Harvest Hosts and Dyrt, also said their platforms have seen substantial increases in farm listings in recent years.

Inclination times

Agritourism dollars are a welcome blessing to the low crops prices, high interest rates and the expensive costs of seeds, fertilizers and labor, said the farmers and experts in the industry. Agricultural income has decreased by 23% since 2022 in one of the greatest decreases in history, according to USDA, and the American Agriculture Office says that the agricultural economy is in a recession.

Although the income from the US farm is expected to improve this year, the increase is largely due to the help of the federal government. Crop sales revenues have continued to decrease.

This year it could bring more financial pain for farmers if commercial wars with Canada, Mexico and China are prolonged. The president of the United States, Donald Trump, announced tariffs on goods from the three countries on February 1, but then offered a 30 -day postponement to Canada and Mexico after those countries offered some concessions.

“We can resist some of these years of more tight or negative margin because we have diversified the way we earn money,” said Kaylee Heap, 35, co-manager of the Giant Pumpkin farm of Heap, a corn and soy farm In Illinois in Illinois.

“It is the reason we diversify. If we focus on row crops, we would be having a different conversation. “

In autumn, Heap customers can choose sunflowers, mothers and pumpkins; hit with hay walks; and wandering through a corn labyrinth. The farm also produces corn and soy of basic products, often for international export.

Not all farms are suitable for tourism. Some have inaccessible locations or owners who are not willing to open their property to strangers. Insurance and compliance with government regulations can also be expensive.

But the income of recreation and tourism can help families maintain ownership of their farms, pay debts and provide jobs to younger generations, which sometimes prefer to cure Airbnbs and build websites on moisture monitoring of the soil and prices of grain futures, farmers said.

“You cannot survive as a family farm only agriculture,” said Catherine Topel, 56, a pork producer of North Carolina who houses a cabin and airbnb camps through Hipcamp.

“The cabins, the camp: it makes you sustainable and resistant in difficult times, and gives you flexibility to enter other companies instead of making the line of what your father did and what your father’s father did.”

The desire to raise children in a rural environment and share their agricultural lifestyle with visitors also motivates farmers to open their properties to the public, farmers said.

Thompson, 33, says he likes to teach guests about sustainable grazing, as well as the fishing of his riverbank with his five -year -old daughter, who staggers in a fat bag with a miniature fishing cane.

“The youngest generation finds that the farm does not have to be this long litany of depression and bad prices,” said Ryan Pesch, an extension educator from the University of Minnesota.

“They say: ‘Why don’t we do this other thing?’ They see opportunities and entrepreneurship, ”he said.

Topics Agribusiness to share the economy