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I was honored to be asked to be a tour site for the Farm Bureau District 9 Women’s Summit this summer. It was a great opportunity to share with fellow Farm Bureau members about raising meat goats, rotational grazing practices and pasture-raised turkeys.

It was also the first time I hosted a farm tour. Here’s what I learned in the process:

1. It takes more time than anticipated to get the farm ready for visitors. If the visitors farm are involved in agriculture, they also understand what an undertaking it can be and are ok if a few things are out of place.
2. Think through what information you want to your visitors to take away from the tour. Don’t forget about industry resources. I was able to use grazing and grass-fed meat fact sheets from GrassWorks, a grazing organization I’m a member.
3. Do a walk through of the tour before visitors come. It helped me think through how I would share information and also draw attention to any hazards that others might not initially recognize. For example, we use electric fence and some of our pasture still has brushy stubble.
4. Plan for parking. Simple as that.
5. Have refreshments. Since we did quite a bit of walking and August can be hot, so I made sure we had water and a few snacks.
6. It’s ok to enlist in help. My husband, parents and in-laws were a great help getting things together and assisting during the actual tour.
7. Don’t forget to ask visitors if they are familiar or have experience related to your type of farm. I discovered one attendee who also raised Boer-Kiko goats and other who had an interest in starting a herd. I wouldn’t have know that if I didn’t ask.