1 00:00:00,150 --> 00:00:02,740 - We're gonna get started with some logistics 2 00:00:02,740 --> 00:00:04,733 that you can see here on the screen. 3 00:00:06,020 --> 00:00:09,820 And I wanna acknowledge the Northeast Extension 4 00:00:09,820 --> 00:00:12,640 Risk Management Education Center 5 00:00:12,640 --> 00:00:17,630 and USDA for supporting this online conversation 6 00:00:17,630 --> 00:00:19,183 this Zoom cafe. 7 00:00:20,040 --> 00:00:24,270 Today, we're talking about farm tours and overnight stays. 8 00:00:24,270 --> 00:00:25,410 My name is Lisa Chase. 9 00:00:25,410 --> 00:00:27,790 I'm with the University of Vermont Extension 10 00:00:27,790 --> 00:00:30,510 and the Vermont Tourism Research Center. 11 00:00:30,510 --> 00:00:32,810 And with us, we have Claudia Schmidt 12 00:00:32,810 --> 00:00:34,990 from Penn State Extension. 13 00:00:34,990 --> 00:00:38,950 Elisa Fleming from Verdant View Farm in Pennsylvania 14 00:00:38,950 --> 00:00:41,840 and Scottie Jones of Farm Stay USA 15 00:00:41,840 --> 00:00:44,603 and also Leaping Lamp Farm in Oregon. 16 00:00:45,500 --> 00:00:48,870 And at this point I'm gonna stop sharing my screen 17 00:00:48,870 --> 00:00:52,780 so I can turn it over to Elisa from Pennsylvania 18 00:00:52,780 --> 00:00:54,450 to share about, 19 00:00:54,450 --> 00:00:58,050 to talk about what she's got going on Verdant View Farm 20 00:00:58,050 --> 00:01:01,560 and how her experience has been during COVID, 21 00:01:01,560 --> 00:01:04,890 during the pandemic and now that we're coming out of it. 22 00:01:04,890 --> 00:01:06,930 - Thank you so much. 23 00:01:06,930 --> 00:01:09,790 Hi everyone, it's a pleasure to be here with you 24 00:01:09,790 --> 00:01:13,970 and a pleasure to have this conversation with you. 25 00:01:13,970 --> 00:01:15,420 And again, my name is Elisa 26 00:01:15,420 --> 00:01:19,810 and I am from Verdant View Farm 27 00:01:19,810 --> 00:01:22,320 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. 28 00:01:22,320 --> 00:01:23,420 It is a fifth, 29 00:01:23,420 --> 00:01:25,760 I am on a fifth generation farm. 30 00:01:25,760 --> 00:01:30,720 My grandmother started our bed and breakfast in 1967. 31 00:01:30,720 --> 00:01:33,500 Lancaster is known by many 32 00:01:33,500 --> 00:01:36,340 for the Amish community that we have here 33 00:01:36,340 --> 00:01:39,140 as well as many other attractions, 34 00:01:39,140 --> 00:01:41,570 but at the time in the 1960s 35 00:01:41,570 --> 00:01:43,190 there was a shortage of rooms. 36 00:01:43,190 --> 00:01:45,930 And so a neighboring farmer 37 00:01:45,930 --> 00:01:49,860 encouraged my grandma to open up some rooms 38 00:01:49,860 --> 00:01:51,030 because there was a need. 39 00:01:51,030 --> 00:01:52,240 And so ever since then, 40 00:01:52,240 --> 00:01:54,500 my parents then took over the operation 41 00:01:54,500 --> 00:01:57,050 and I came back eight years ago 42 00:01:57,050 --> 00:02:00,210 to continue the bed and breakfast and farm. 43 00:02:00,210 --> 00:02:03,210 We were a dairy farm for a hundred years. 44 00:02:03,210 --> 00:02:04,097 We have since stopped that 45 00:02:04,097 --> 00:02:07,040 and we are now a 100% 46 00:02:07,040 --> 00:02:09,550 grass fed and grass finished beef farm. 47 00:02:09,550 --> 00:02:12,430 We graze the cows on 25 acres of pasture 48 00:02:12,430 --> 00:02:14,690 and we farm 74 acres of crops. 49 00:02:14,690 --> 00:02:17,860 And we also offer farm tour seasonally 50 00:02:17,860 --> 00:02:19,840 for many people that cannot stay with us 51 00:02:19,840 --> 00:02:21,570 but wanna still learn how to milk a cow 52 00:02:21,570 --> 00:02:26,300 and learn about the farm and we open up farm tours 53 00:02:26,300 --> 00:02:27,850 primarily in the summer season. 54 00:02:29,330 --> 00:02:32,030 So today I would like to talk about 55 00:02:32,030 --> 00:02:33,150 a couple of different things. 56 00:02:33,150 --> 00:02:35,420 One, how we pivoted during the pandemic 57 00:02:35,420 --> 00:02:37,190 and continue to pivot. 58 00:02:37,190 --> 00:02:38,830 How we came to understand 59 00:02:38,830 --> 00:02:40,900 what needs our customers had, 60 00:02:40,900 --> 00:02:43,370 how we set expectations for them. 61 00:02:43,370 --> 00:02:46,350 And then also our ultimately 62 00:02:46,350 --> 00:02:49,290 we tried to exceed expectations. 63 00:02:49,290 --> 00:02:51,380 You know, the changes that the pandemic brought 64 00:02:51,380 --> 00:02:54,130 is nothing new to many of us that are on farms 65 00:02:54,130 --> 00:02:56,460 with each generation 66 00:02:56,460 --> 00:03:00,630 with the many storms that farmers have to face seasonally 67 00:03:00,630 --> 00:03:02,040 or from year to year. 68 00:03:02,040 --> 00:03:03,260 How we weather those storms 69 00:03:03,260 --> 00:03:05,560 and how we transition, 70 00:03:05,560 --> 00:03:09,150 how we find a vision and find a way forward, 71 00:03:09,150 --> 00:03:12,000 how we change the nature of our farms. 72 00:03:12,000 --> 00:03:14,240 This is all, you know, nothing new, 73 00:03:14,240 --> 00:03:16,530 but in America, you know, this is not, 74 00:03:16,530 --> 00:03:17,800 we're not alone in this. 75 00:03:17,800 --> 00:03:20,950 As you can see in the data below, we have 76 00:03:20,950 --> 00:03:22,670 we see that all from, 77 00:03:22,670 --> 00:03:25,340 I kind of try to find data points 78 00:03:25,340 --> 00:03:28,790 that represent the four generations of our family 79 00:03:28,790 --> 00:03:31,730 and as we operated the farm. 80 00:03:31,730 --> 00:03:35,720 The data shows that as farm operators decreased 81 00:03:35,720 --> 00:03:39,950 dramatically between 1920 and 2017 82 00:03:39,950 --> 00:03:43,260 population in the United States increased dramatically 83 00:03:43,260 --> 00:03:48,260 from 106 million to 325 million. 84 00:03:48,270 --> 00:03:50,840 The percent farmers of course decreased 85 00:03:50,840 --> 00:03:55,520 to 0.63% of the population in 2017. 86 00:03:55,520 --> 00:03:57,480 What I found most interesting is that 87 00:03:57,480 --> 00:03:59,780 the share of farmers, again, 88 00:03:59,780 --> 00:04:01,500 all this data we got from the USDA's 89 00:04:01,500 --> 00:04:05,053 census of agriculturalists historical archive. 90 00:04:06,550 --> 00:04:10,670 The, what I found really fascinating is that farmers, 91 00:04:10,670 --> 00:04:15,660 now 93% of farmers are working off farm 92 00:04:15,660 --> 00:04:18,283 to, you know, for a variety of reasons, of course, 93 00:04:19,210 --> 00:04:24,060 but you know, in 1945 only 27% of farmers 94 00:04:25,570 --> 00:04:30,250 had off farm income and now in 2017 it's 93%. 95 00:04:30,250 --> 00:04:31,430 To me that shows that, you know, 96 00:04:31,430 --> 00:04:34,020 as farmers we're trying to diversify our income 97 00:04:34,020 --> 00:04:36,650 that we're trying to reach out. 98 00:04:36,650 --> 00:04:38,673 But also it tells me that if, 99 00:04:39,752 --> 00:04:42,800 with all of these changes and the percent of farmers 100 00:04:43,680 --> 00:04:46,290 more and more people are further and further removed 101 00:04:46,290 --> 00:04:47,140 from agriculture. 102 00:04:47,140 --> 00:04:50,470 And so I say this because every tourism has a critical role 103 00:04:50,470 --> 00:04:53,240 in educating the public as we all know, 104 00:04:53,240 --> 00:04:56,360 but we are the link between producers and consumers 105 00:04:56,360 --> 00:04:59,040 we're the link between rural and urban 106 00:04:59,040 --> 00:05:00,720 and we provide a critical link 107 00:05:00,720 --> 00:05:03,790 in helping people have a connection 108 00:05:03,790 --> 00:05:05,633 to farms and to agriculture. 109 00:05:07,050 --> 00:05:10,920 So, you know, in last year as the pandemic in quarantine 110 00:05:10,920 --> 00:05:13,390 as we were thinking about how we were gonna move forward 111 00:05:13,390 --> 00:05:15,740 if, when we could move forward 112 00:05:15,740 --> 00:05:16,890 we had to start thinking about how, 113 00:05:16,890 --> 00:05:18,040 what changes are gonna make 114 00:05:18,040 --> 00:05:21,040 and how we can provide a safe and welcoming environment. 115 00:05:21,040 --> 00:05:22,200 And I think first and foremost, 116 00:05:22,200 --> 00:05:24,620 we wanted to listen to our customers 117 00:05:24,620 --> 00:05:26,840 and we continue to listen to them 118 00:05:26,840 --> 00:05:30,980 and also to our coworkers and to our family. 119 00:05:30,980 --> 00:05:33,210 Ultimately, I think what was important to us was that 120 00:05:33,210 --> 00:05:36,120 we tried to make our customers feel welcomed, 121 00:05:36,120 --> 00:05:39,590 to feel that they were comfortable and safe 122 00:05:39,590 --> 00:05:42,680 but at the exact same time as answering questions of like, 123 00:05:42,680 --> 00:05:45,610 are you open and is it safe? 124 00:05:45,610 --> 00:05:49,030 I try to really emphasize all the farms in general, 125 00:05:49,030 --> 00:05:50,740 but also our particular farm 126 00:05:50,740 --> 00:05:53,220 already provide that was very COVID friendly. 127 00:05:53,220 --> 00:05:54,570 And so that was, you know, saying that 128 00:05:54,570 --> 00:05:56,080 we had multiple hand washing stations 129 00:05:56,080 --> 00:05:57,200 and they could wash their hands 130 00:05:57,200 --> 00:05:58,213 however many times they wanted, 131 00:05:58,213 --> 00:05:59,488 it's right in there with them. 132 00:05:59,488 --> 00:06:02,110 And plenty of space to spread out. 133 00:06:02,110 --> 00:06:04,810 There was unstructured play available that they could do, 134 00:06:04,810 --> 00:06:08,560 self-guided, we had outdoor, accommodate, you know 135 00:06:08,560 --> 00:06:11,530 outdoor dining and private accommodations. 136 00:06:11,530 --> 00:06:12,950 And, you know, as this picture 137 00:06:12,950 --> 00:06:15,360 that we got from our Instagram account 138 00:06:15,360 --> 00:06:18,170 shows they've a Zoom meeting which like today, 139 00:06:18,170 --> 00:06:21,450 but it hasn't represented many of the different animals 140 00:06:21,450 --> 00:06:23,880 on our farm as well as some of our coworkers. 141 00:06:23,880 --> 00:06:27,130 And we tried some always maintain a good sense of humor, 142 00:06:27,130 --> 00:06:30,340 even when, you know, in the difficulty of everything. 143 00:06:30,340 --> 00:06:32,490 And what do our customers seek? 144 00:06:32,490 --> 00:06:33,323 You know, before COVID, 145 00:06:33,323 --> 00:06:37,040 I would think that many of the questions that I fielded 146 00:06:37,040 --> 00:06:40,090 were about the activities and options that they could have. 147 00:06:40,090 --> 00:06:42,450 They wanted to hands on activities for their kids. 148 00:06:42,450 --> 00:06:44,360 They want to dedicate a time with us. 149 00:06:44,360 --> 00:06:46,250 Anytime we were in the garden or in the shop 150 00:06:46,250 --> 00:06:48,987 or, they would ooze into our space and say, 151 00:06:48,987 --> 00:06:49,950 "Hey, what are you doing? 152 00:06:49,950 --> 00:06:51,060 Why are you doing that?" 153 00:06:51,060 --> 00:06:54,260 They really wanted, you know, to be up close and personal. 154 00:06:54,260 --> 00:06:56,780 They wanted a family style breakfast indoors 155 00:06:56,780 --> 00:06:58,550 where we eat with our visitors. 156 00:06:58,550 --> 00:07:01,020 And so they really, and then, you know, they, 157 00:07:01,020 --> 00:07:03,530 not only did they wanna pack it in during their stay 158 00:07:03,530 --> 00:07:04,900 but they also wanted to, you know, 159 00:07:04,900 --> 00:07:07,780 go visit many other attractions in the area. 160 00:07:07,780 --> 00:07:09,720 So they went from, you know, 161 00:07:09,720 --> 00:07:12,720 as we fielded questions and calls from our visitors 162 00:07:12,720 --> 00:07:14,350 it went from packing it in 163 00:07:14,350 --> 00:07:18,590 to almost every question was related to safety and retreat. 164 00:07:18,590 --> 00:07:19,423 And they wanted to know 165 00:07:19,423 --> 00:07:22,810 if it was gonna be a safe environment indoors and outdoors, 166 00:07:22,810 --> 00:07:24,210 they wanted limited interaction. 167 00:07:24,210 --> 00:07:25,980 They didn't want to talk to us necessarily. 168 00:07:25,980 --> 00:07:28,150 They wanted to come and have a space for their own, 169 00:07:28,150 --> 00:07:29,320 for themselves. 170 00:07:29,320 --> 00:07:33,620 They wanted outdoor dining and sitting at separate tables. 171 00:07:33,620 --> 00:07:35,990 They wanted private accommodations 172 00:07:35,990 --> 00:07:37,540 and they didn't even wanna leave the farm 173 00:07:37,540 --> 00:07:39,766 for so many of us, 174 00:07:39,766 --> 00:07:41,660 I'm part of a farm stay group here in Lancaster. 175 00:07:41,660 --> 00:07:45,200 And I think everyone in the times that we've touched base 176 00:07:45,200 --> 00:07:46,880 agree that so many of the families 177 00:07:46,880 --> 00:07:50,310 really just wanted to spend so much more time on the farm. 178 00:07:50,310 --> 00:07:51,850 And of course they wanted to, 179 00:07:51,850 --> 00:07:52,970 they wanted them to know 180 00:07:52,970 --> 00:07:55,840 what the COVID cancellation policy was. 181 00:07:55,840 --> 00:07:58,280 In the midst of trying to figure out the logistics 182 00:07:58,280 --> 00:07:59,950 and the physical nature 183 00:07:59,950 --> 00:08:02,160 or the response that we were gonna have 184 00:08:02,160 --> 00:08:04,680 for the physical aspects of our business. 185 00:08:04,680 --> 00:08:06,860 I think it's important that we stop and acknowledge 186 00:08:06,860 --> 00:08:11,510 the difficulty it is that we can have as a small business 187 00:08:11,510 --> 00:08:13,910 in balancing competing priorities. 188 00:08:13,910 --> 00:08:16,770 And so like accommodating our customers 189 00:08:16,770 --> 00:08:19,090 and trying to go, bend over backwards 190 00:08:19,090 --> 00:08:20,700 to meet them wherever they were at 191 00:08:20,700 --> 00:08:22,750 while also safeguarding our own family 192 00:08:22,750 --> 00:08:24,920 and our farm and our business needs. 193 00:08:24,920 --> 00:08:27,050 And I shared a graph here. 194 00:08:27,050 --> 00:08:30,950 It shows my room revenue from January one to June 10, 195 00:08:30,950 --> 00:08:33,080 from 2017 to 2021. 196 00:08:33,080 --> 00:08:35,130 And I shared this graph in part, 197 00:08:35,130 --> 00:08:37,810 one, to cheer on 2021. 198 00:08:37,810 --> 00:08:39,770 It's my best year in the past five years. 199 00:08:39,770 --> 00:08:41,910 And I'm happy with this trajectory, 200 00:08:41,910 --> 00:08:46,350 but really it's also a reminder that in 2020, 201 00:08:46,350 --> 00:08:48,560 on June 10th, 2020 202 00:08:48,560 --> 00:08:50,760 if you would've called me and said, "Are you open? 203 00:08:50,760 --> 00:08:54,220 And, you know, do you have all the answers for me?" 204 00:08:54,220 --> 00:08:57,950 I myself looking at numbers that were just really terrifying 205 00:08:57,950 --> 00:09:00,140 and I didn't have answers for myself, 206 00:09:00,140 --> 00:09:03,220 but you know, the exhaustion of trying to figure it out 207 00:09:03,220 --> 00:09:07,130 and navigate it and understand the different legal aspects, 208 00:09:07,130 --> 00:09:09,900 how we did, how could we mitigate liability, 209 00:09:09,900 --> 00:09:14,900 how could we do all of this extra work with fewer staff. 210 00:09:15,100 --> 00:09:18,090 These were all, you know, leading to exhaustion 211 00:09:18,090 --> 00:09:20,930 and leading to a lot of perplex conversations, 212 00:09:20,930 --> 00:09:22,280 you know, giving ourselves the grace 213 00:09:22,280 --> 00:09:24,190 as a small business to understand that 214 00:09:24,190 --> 00:09:25,760 we don't always have the answers 215 00:09:25,760 --> 00:09:28,230 and that was okay for me to tell my customers too. 216 00:09:28,230 --> 00:09:29,470 There were many moments where I said, 217 00:09:29,470 --> 00:09:31,960 you know, I don't know this is what I'm doing for this week 218 00:09:31,960 --> 00:09:35,770 or this next week, but trying to figure it out as we go. 219 00:09:35,770 --> 00:09:38,060 And I think they appreciated the honesty. 220 00:09:38,060 --> 00:09:40,230 So exactly what did we do to pivot? 221 00:09:40,230 --> 00:09:43,380 We tried to offer more private accommodations. 222 00:09:43,380 --> 00:09:45,020 We put spacing in between, 223 00:09:45,020 --> 00:09:47,150 in between room reservations, 224 00:09:47,150 --> 00:09:49,930 we modified our check-in procedure so it could be touchless 225 00:09:49,930 --> 00:09:51,600 and limit exposure. 226 00:09:51,600 --> 00:09:55,120 Almost any interaction I had with visitors was outdoors, 227 00:09:55,120 --> 00:09:58,090 even including the check-in process of bringing them 228 00:09:58,090 --> 00:10:00,550 and explaining where they needed to go. 229 00:10:00,550 --> 00:10:03,780 We served breakfast entirely exclusively outside. 230 00:10:03,780 --> 00:10:06,610 There is a picture here of our, what we call our veranda 231 00:10:06,610 --> 00:10:09,170 and that random we've actually now enclosed it. 232 00:10:09,170 --> 00:10:12,530 And so it's able to extend the season. 233 00:10:12,530 --> 00:10:14,090 We could start earlier in the spring 234 00:10:14,090 --> 00:10:17,740 and then go further into the fall to serve outdoors. 235 00:10:17,740 --> 00:10:20,110 We now see people, instead of all sitting together, 236 00:10:20,110 --> 00:10:24,360 we see people at their own tables and plate food separately 237 00:10:24,360 --> 00:10:26,960 so that there's not cross-contamination. 238 00:10:26,960 --> 00:10:29,830 And we updated our housekeeping procedures. 239 00:10:29,830 --> 00:10:32,600 Of course, and tried to, we actually improved our wifi, 240 00:10:32,600 --> 00:10:34,670 changed our service so that people 241 00:10:34,670 --> 00:10:37,810 that are working from home or were bringing work with them 242 00:10:37,810 --> 00:10:40,470 or students that were doing e-learning 243 00:10:40,470 --> 00:10:42,960 would have a better service. 244 00:10:42,960 --> 00:10:44,770 And then a big thing for us 245 00:10:44,770 --> 00:10:46,210 was adjusting our farm activities. 246 00:10:46,210 --> 00:10:48,120 So there are certain activities that we do 247 00:10:48,120 --> 00:10:49,330 with our visitors every day 248 00:10:49,330 --> 00:10:51,680 we do something called morning tours. 249 00:10:51,680 --> 00:10:55,340 And it's an hour guided experience that we take them on. 250 00:10:55,340 --> 00:10:57,210 And whoever's leading morning tours 251 00:10:57,210 --> 00:10:58,680 we'll teach them how to milk a cow. 252 00:10:58,680 --> 00:11:02,100 And we do, meet all the different animals and feed them. 253 00:11:02,100 --> 00:11:04,630 And one of the popular activities, for example, 254 00:11:04,630 --> 00:11:06,550 and we do this on the tours as well 255 00:11:06,550 --> 00:11:07,840 is bottle-feeding baby cattle. 256 00:11:07,840 --> 00:11:10,020 And we decided that 257 00:11:10,020 --> 00:11:11,523 the nature of bottle feeding of these cattle 258 00:11:11,523 --> 00:11:14,840 wasn't, it wasn't a pandemic friendly activity. 259 00:11:14,840 --> 00:11:17,910 We had to share a bottle, the calves drinks so fast. 260 00:11:17,910 --> 00:11:20,320 I don't have limitless calves to feed 261 00:11:20,320 --> 00:11:22,530 and so we just removed that. 262 00:11:22,530 --> 00:11:24,670 We didn't even offer it all. 263 00:11:24,670 --> 00:11:25,830 We also removed bunnies 264 00:11:25,830 --> 00:11:28,630 because people want to crowd in and hold the bunnies. 265 00:11:28,630 --> 00:11:31,220 So any, we adjusting our farm activities 266 00:11:31,220 --> 00:11:34,120 so that it reduced cross-contamination 267 00:11:34,120 --> 00:11:36,180 and it also allowed people to spread out 268 00:11:36,180 --> 00:11:38,130 while enjoying the activity. 269 00:11:38,130 --> 00:11:40,143 They didn't feel like they were being, 270 00:11:41,640 --> 00:11:43,570 they were receiving less. 271 00:11:43,570 --> 00:11:46,470 On the tours, we offered private tours. 272 00:11:46,470 --> 00:11:49,740 We limited the size of each tour 273 00:11:49,740 --> 00:11:53,260 and so that it, you know, was more manageable. 274 00:11:53,260 --> 00:11:56,520 And also people could, again, spread out and do everything. 275 00:11:56,520 --> 00:11:57,530 We sanitized. 276 00:11:57,530 --> 00:12:01,030 If people came into our farm store to make a purchase 277 00:12:01,030 --> 00:12:03,130 the tours themselves, they were purchased online. 278 00:12:03,130 --> 00:12:05,170 So we didn't really have to do any contact 279 00:12:05,170 --> 00:12:06,520 in the beginning of the tour. 280 00:12:06,520 --> 00:12:07,630 But if they came in the farm store 281 00:12:07,630 --> 00:12:09,360 we would sanitize their credit card and pen 282 00:12:09,360 --> 00:12:11,650 after they purchased an item, of course 283 00:12:11,650 --> 00:12:14,050 we always encourage hand washing. 284 00:12:14,050 --> 00:12:16,240 During the bed and breakfast experience 285 00:12:16,240 --> 00:12:17,807 or even with our farm tours 286 00:12:17,807 --> 00:12:19,790 and how we set expectations, of course, 287 00:12:19,790 --> 00:12:21,830 is through a lot of communication. 288 00:12:21,830 --> 00:12:25,770 A lot of we feel it's so many extra voicemail, 289 00:12:25,770 --> 00:12:29,450 phone calls and emails, but we also try to provide 290 00:12:29,450 --> 00:12:33,330 as much information before they came, during their arrival, 291 00:12:33,330 --> 00:12:38,330 improving our signage, improving the notes 292 00:12:38,810 --> 00:12:41,980 that we gave so that they could do a self check-in. 293 00:12:41,980 --> 00:12:44,480 We wore masks, we did social distancing 294 00:12:44,480 --> 00:12:46,290 again, interacted outdoors. 295 00:12:46,290 --> 00:12:49,840 And again, trying to make it a very comfortable space. 296 00:12:49,840 --> 00:12:50,980 And then during their visit 297 00:12:50,980 --> 00:12:53,130 they could learn more while they were here. 298 00:12:54,060 --> 00:12:56,070 That is all the stuff that we would talk about 299 00:12:56,070 --> 00:12:57,010 with our visitors. 300 00:12:57,010 --> 00:12:58,670 But I think for many of the visitors, 301 00:12:58,670 --> 00:13:02,590 they came with unspoken desires 302 00:13:02,590 --> 00:13:04,720 and that related to the baggage that became, 303 00:13:04,720 --> 00:13:07,310 that was the result of the pandemic. 304 00:13:07,310 --> 00:13:09,620 So many of them, you know, 305 00:13:09,620 --> 00:13:12,000 arrived and were just so fatigued. 306 00:13:12,000 --> 00:13:13,750 They were stressed. 307 00:13:13,750 --> 00:13:15,203 Something that we kept hearing over and over again 308 00:13:15,203 --> 00:13:17,670 is that they were really wanting to retreat 309 00:13:17,670 --> 00:13:20,180 and they really wanted to feel normal again. 310 00:13:20,180 --> 00:13:21,800 And they were hoping that. 311 00:13:21,800 --> 00:13:23,010 Some people even had told me 312 00:13:23,010 --> 00:13:24,350 that they never saw sunshine 313 00:13:24,350 --> 00:13:28,170 in their apartment in New York City for many weeks 314 00:13:28,170 --> 00:13:29,980 because of the position of their apartments. 315 00:13:29,980 --> 00:13:31,430 So just even seeing the sunshine 316 00:13:31,430 --> 00:13:35,700 it was like such a warm welcome for them. 317 00:13:35,700 --> 00:13:38,160 And I feel like this is something that many of us 318 00:13:38,160 --> 00:13:41,310 that run agritourism businesses might forget 319 00:13:41,310 --> 00:13:43,130 because we're already here. 320 00:13:43,130 --> 00:13:46,600 But a farm can be, you know, such a source of stability 321 00:13:46,600 --> 00:13:48,830 because she's unchanging 322 00:13:48,830 --> 00:13:51,530 and that it can provide someone just the respite 323 00:13:51,530 --> 00:13:54,140 that they need in a time of pandemic. 324 00:13:54,140 --> 00:13:55,920 And I wonder if this is related to 325 00:13:55,920 --> 00:13:58,280 why a farm is also partly, 326 00:13:58,280 --> 00:14:01,670 why we're seeing more and more people coming. 327 00:14:01,670 --> 00:14:03,400 You know, the breath of fresh air, 328 00:14:03,400 --> 00:14:05,127 the connection to animals. 329 00:14:05,127 --> 00:14:06,700 And we all know that baby goats 330 00:14:06,700 --> 00:14:08,843 give really good animal therapy. 331 00:14:10,494 --> 00:14:13,340 You know, connection to the sunshine and plants, 332 00:14:13,340 --> 00:14:15,310 learning about sustainable practices. 333 00:14:15,310 --> 00:14:18,010 You know, as things were flying off the shelf in New York 334 00:14:18,010 --> 00:14:19,790 and there was shortages 335 00:14:19,790 --> 00:14:22,300 there were people that came here and were so happy to learn. 336 00:14:22,300 --> 00:14:24,710 Suddenly their interest was piqued 337 00:14:24,710 --> 00:14:27,240 and learning how to make their own soap 338 00:14:27,240 --> 00:14:31,420 or make their own, you know, canning or gardening. 339 00:14:31,420 --> 00:14:34,800 And again, you know, on the farm 340 00:14:34,800 --> 00:14:38,440 just the farm itself was such a welcome change 341 00:14:38,440 --> 00:14:40,010 but also the hospitality 342 00:14:40,010 --> 00:14:42,550 that they would would receive off here. 343 00:14:42,550 --> 00:14:44,480 And so to exceed our guests expectations, 344 00:14:44,480 --> 00:14:45,780 I think really it goes back to these 345 00:14:45,780 --> 00:14:47,670 more philosophical things of 346 00:14:47,670 --> 00:14:51,010 how we are able to engage with people in a safe way 347 00:14:51,010 --> 00:14:54,130 but also to make connections, to encourage that 348 00:14:54,130 --> 00:14:55,730 and to give people the space 349 00:14:55,730 --> 00:14:57,800 that they needed to feel comfortable 350 00:14:57,800 --> 00:14:59,970 and to allow them to do 351 00:14:59,970 --> 00:15:03,340 as you know they felt was best for themselves. 352 00:15:03,340 --> 00:15:05,890 And by giving them that normalcy 353 00:15:05,890 --> 00:15:07,950 they also brought normalcy back to us. 354 00:15:07,950 --> 00:15:10,520 They allowed our business to continue to operate 355 00:15:10,520 --> 00:15:12,960 and we will, of course we're ever so grateful 356 00:15:12,960 --> 00:15:14,230 that they were present. 357 00:15:14,230 --> 00:15:15,730 One of my favorite reviews as we know 358 00:15:15,730 --> 00:15:18,350 and reviews are so critical to our business, 359 00:15:18,350 --> 00:15:19,830 just touched on so many of the things 360 00:15:19,830 --> 00:15:20,950 that we've talked about. 361 00:15:20,950 --> 00:15:24,510 They loved that there was a socially distanced vacation. 362 00:15:24,510 --> 00:15:26,150 They wrote that they were so happy 363 00:15:26,150 --> 00:15:28,470 that we were masked, some were socially distance 364 00:15:28,470 --> 00:15:29,700 as much as possible. 365 00:15:29,700 --> 00:15:32,940 This review again, was written for a stay last July. 366 00:15:32,940 --> 00:15:36,630 And, you know, they felt super welcomed 367 00:15:36,630 --> 00:15:40,370 even with all of the changes that were necessary. 368 00:15:40,370 --> 00:15:41,410 Key takeaways, you know, 369 00:15:41,410 --> 00:15:44,560 agritourism has a really important role to play, you know, 370 00:15:44,560 --> 00:15:48,270 but as we pivot our operations and meet new needs, 371 00:15:48,270 --> 00:15:49,840 hopefully that our customers can know 372 00:15:49,840 --> 00:15:52,860 that it's a welcoming and safe place to be. 373 00:15:52,860 --> 00:15:54,740 And how we set expectations 374 00:15:54,740 --> 00:15:56,540 and meet people where they're comfortable 375 00:15:56,540 --> 00:15:59,450 can only improve our operations. 376 00:15:59,450 --> 00:16:02,120 And ultimately, as we try to, you know, 377 00:16:02,120 --> 00:16:03,610 encourage connections 378 00:16:03,610 --> 00:16:06,670 and build a community, hopefully that can make a change 379 00:16:06,670 --> 00:16:09,460 that is, that goes beyond our own farms. 380 00:16:09,460 --> 00:16:10,600 If you have any questions 381 00:16:10,600 --> 00:16:13,730 and you would like to contact me directly. 382 00:16:13,730 --> 00:16:15,737 My email address can be found on our website, 383 00:16:15,737 --> 00:16:18,954 that's elisa@verdantview.com 384 00:16:18,954 --> 00:16:22,253 or you can look us up at verdantview.com. 385 00:16:24,490 --> 00:16:25,363 - Thank you, Elisa. 386 00:16:25,363 --> 00:16:28,070 That was such a great overview. 387 00:16:28,070 --> 00:16:30,560 Scottie, would you like to add something 388 00:16:30,560 --> 00:16:34,210 from the more national view? 389 00:16:34,210 --> 00:16:37,683 - Elisa had asked me whether I thought this was, 390 00:16:39,520 --> 00:16:42,020 come on, this needs to go from the beginning, there we go. 391 00:16:42,020 --> 00:16:45,460 Whether I thought the fact that a lot of us are really busy 392 00:16:45,460 --> 00:16:46,500 and Elisa was saying 393 00:16:46,500 --> 00:16:51,500 how busy they have become actually now this summer as well, 394 00:16:51,940 --> 00:16:55,690 whether it was a blip or a trend. 395 00:16:55,690 --> 00:16:58,000 And so I think that actually, 396 00:16:58,000 --> 00:17:02,510 since I oversee farm stays 397 00:17:02,510 --> 00:17:04,730 in all 50 states, 398 00:17:04,730 --> 00:17:07,190 Farm Stay USA is a trade association 399 00:17:07,190 --> 00:17:10,020 for working farms and ranches that offer lodging. 400 00:17:10,020 --> 00:17:12,880 But what I have heard, and this is mostly anecdotal 401 00:17:12,880 --> 00:17:15,370 I haven't done a survey, but I have heard 402 00:17:15,370 --> 00:17:18,430 that most of us are totally full this summer. 403 00:17:18,430 --> 00:17:21,840 I think the silver lining of COVID 404 00:17:21,840 --> 00:17:24,520 if you wanna put it in a sort of sick way 405 00:17:24,520 --> 00:17:28,310 is that people have discovered that they wanna be outside 406 00:17:28,310 --> 00:17:30,640 and that there are benefits to being outside 407 00:17:30,640 --> 00:17:34,220 and what a perfect place to bring your kids, but to a farm. 408 00:17:34,220 --> 00:17:37,070 So I just wanted to show this right here 409 00:17:37,070 --> 00:17:39,140 because I'm gonna do a comparison. 410 00:17:39,140 --> 00:17:42,150 This is just showing the membership 411 00:17:42,150 --> 00:17:44,620 for Farm Stay USA right now. 412 00:17:44,620 --> 00:17:46,670 And you'll see where along a lot of the coasts. 413 00:17:46,670 --> 00:17:49,100 And because I know a lot of you are on the East Coast. 414 00:17:49,100 --> 00:17:50,750 I wanted to highlight a little bit 415 00:17:50,750 --> 00:17:53,050 just kind of what it looks like. 416 00:17:53,050 --> 00:17:55,400 There aren't that many of us that are members, 417 00:17:55,400 --> 00:17:58,380 maybe this is only five or 10%, 418 00:17:58,380 --> 00:18:01,950 but if you look at countries like Italy 419 00:18:01,950 --> 00:18:04,630 and you'll see that this has just identified 420 00:18:04,630 --> 00:18:07,030 what they consider their best agritourism 421 00:18:07,913 --> 00:18:11,000 or agriturismo is plural 422 00:18:11,000 --> 00:18:14,290 that Italy fits into this part of the US. 423 00:18:14,290 --> 00:18:19,290 There are actually about 20,000 agriturismos in Italy. 424 00:18:19,350 --> 00:18:21,770 There are over 10,000 in England, 425 00:18:21,770 --> 00:18:24,610 there are over 8,000 in France. 426 00:18:24,610 --> 00:18:27,960 So if you think of the size of those countries 427 00:18:27,960 --> 00:18:30,200 there's huge opportunity 428 00:18:31,220 --> 00:18:34,500 that the US has available to it. 429 00:18:34,500 --> 00:18:38,150 And we're just really behind the curve on this. 430 00:18:38,150 --> 00:18:40,690 And so the fact that 431 00:18:40,690 --> 00:18:45,110 people are now looking to nature tourism is, 432 00:18:45,110 --> 00:18:48,100 means that this is a perfect opportunity for farms 433 00:18:48,100 --> 00:18:50,040 that were maybe sitting on the fence. 434 00:18:50,040 --> 00:18:54,630 Do we want to welcome strangers onto our farm? 435 00:18:54,630 --> 00:18:58,493 I think what we've discovered with the term farm stay 436 00:18:58,493 --> 00:19:00,710 when people who want to come out to our farms, 437 00:19:00,710 --> 00:19:03,120 they tend to be very respectful 438 00:19:03,120 --> 00:19:05,870 because they're interested in what we're doing. 439 00:19:05,870 --> 00:19:07,840 They know that this is our home 440 00:19:07,840 --> 00:19:10,393 and they often will treat it like our home. 441 00:19:11,500 --> 00:19:13,480 I just wanted to show you a comparison. 442 00:19:13,480 --> 00:19:15,210 This is my farm. 443 00:19:15,210 --> 00:19:18,350 And so this is 2020 to 2021. 444 00:19:18,350 --> 00:19:20,900 And so this is what happened last June. 445 00:19:20,900 --> 00:19:23,480 We had just started to reopen. 446 00:19:23,480 --> 00:19:26,090 We only wanted to be open on weekends. 447 00:19:26,090 --> 00:19:28,520 We wanted to put lots of time 448 00:19:28,520 --> 00:19:31,210 so that we would have time to clean. 449 00:19:31,210 --> 00:19:34,380 And you'll see how kind of blank this was 450 00:19:34,380 --> 00:19:35,980 till towards the end of June 451 00:19:35,980 --> 00:19:38,270 we started to increase a little bit 452 00:19:38,270 --> 00:19:40,860 and we had always been offering farm tours 453 00:19:40,860 --> 00:19:43,080 but we offered them as group farm tours. 454 00:19:43,080 --> 00:19:44,870 So we didn't wanna do that. 455 00:19:44,870 --> 00:19:49,410 So we started to just do individual tours for families. 456 00:19:49,410 --> 00:19:52,880 And that started to pick up towards the end of June 457 00:19:52,880 --> 00:19:55,450 as people felt, maybe it was safer to do a tour 458 00:19:55,450 --> 00:19:57,600 rather than to come stay with us. 459 00:19:57,600 --> 00:19:59,160 Well, then we get to this year 460 00:19:59,160 --> 00:20:03,670 and you can see that we are booked basically solid. 461 00:20:03,670 --> 00:20:06,400 And then look at what's happened to our tours. 462 00:20:06,400 --> 00:20:08,880 And you'll see here that we had 1:00 PM tours. 463 00:20:08,880 --> 00:20:11,460 We were offering two different tours 464 00:20:11,460 --> 00:20:13,570 twice a day to people. 465 00:20:13,570 --> 00:20:16,950 And this was getting all filled in too this line here. 466 00:20:16,950 --> 00:20:20,590 In March, we had to cut out 467 00:20:20,590 --> 00:20:22,390 the afternoon tours 468 00:20:22,390 --> 00:20:24,650 because we weren't getting any of our work done. 469 00:20:24,650 --> 00:20:26,610 The tours are about an hour. 470 00:20:26,610 --> 00:20:28,570 Some of these, I will say right here 471 00:20:28,570 --> 00:20:31,260 that we developed because of COVID 472 00:20:31,260 --> 00:20:33,230 our virtual farm tours. 473 00:20:33,230 --> 00:20:37,880 So we were taking schools around on our farm 474 00:20:37,880 --> 00:20:40,550 and introducing them to our different animals. 475 00:20:40,550 --> 00:20:42,430 This may be what June looks like. 476 00:20:42,430 --> 00:20:45,060 July looks the same and August looks the same 477 00:20:45,060 --> 00:20:50,060 but all of us that have outdoor nature tourism going on 478 00:20:50,110 --> 00:20:52,833 which would be farms are totally booked this summer. 479 00:20:54,188 --> 00:20:57,850 And I wanted to show you here, the traffic comparison. 480 00:20:57,850 --> 00:21:00,280 So the orange is gonna be last year 481 00:21:00,280 --> 00:21:02,890 and you can see what happened in March, April 482 00:21:02,890 --> 00:21:04,570 when everybody was closed down. 483 00:21:04,570 --> 00:21:07,610 And then you can see what happened this year. 484 00:21:07,610 --> 00:21:11,220 So the traffic on our website is up 66% 485 00:21:11,220 --> 00:21:13,683 just from February 1st to June 14th. 486 00:21:14,710 --> 00:21:19,480 The new users are, it's up 67%. 487 00:21:19,480 --> 00:21:21,650 Sessions means the time that people come on 488 00:21:21,650 --> 00:21:24,300 and look at our site. 489 00:21:24,300 --> 00:21:27,710 So we are seeing a huge increase in business. 490 00:21:27,710 --> 00:21:29,080 And then you'll see at the very end of that 491 00:21:29,080 --> 00:21:30,640 it starts to level out a little bit. 492 00:21:30,640 --> 00:21:34,450 Well that's because all of us are booked for the summer. 493 00:21:34,450 --> 00:21:37,860 Travelers are discovering that they're gonna, 494 00:21:37,860 --> 00:21:38,720 it's interesting. 495 00:21:38,720 --> 00:21:43,080 I actually have many more bookings now in 2022 496 00:21:43,080 --> 00:21:45,960 than I've ever had this far in advance. 497 00:21:45,960 --> 00:21:48,260 So people are really starting to think ahead 498 00:21:48,260 --> 00:21:49,770 and where can they be and where can they go, 499 00:21:49,770 --> 00:21:51,270 and they don't wanna miss out. 500 00:21:52,760 --> 00:21:54,080 Is it a blip or a trend? 501 00:21:54,080 --> 00:21:56,100 'cause I really only wanted to just pop in here 502 00:21:56,100 --> 00:21:57,590 and tell you what I think. 503 00:21:57,590 --> 00:21:59,500 This is just showing one article. 504 00:21:59,500 --> 00:22:02,800 This is just from May 31st, this is USA Today. 505 00:22:02,800 --> 00:22:05,990 Best summer vacations in the US for families this year 506 00:22:05,990 --> 00:22:08,780 farm vacations stay on a farm. 507 00:22:08,780 --> 00:22:12,700 There are many more articles out this spring about 508 00:22:12,700 --> 00:22:14,120 being out in the country. 509 00:22:14,120 --> 00:22:17,130 Where can you take your family, where do you feel safe? 510 00:22:17,130 --> 00:22:22,130 And to kind of piggyback on what Elisa was saying, 511 00:22:22,670 --> 00:22:24,920 you know, that sense of relief 512 00:22:24,920 --> 00:22:27,360 that we are getting from our guests coming here 513 00:22:27,360 --> 00:22:29,930 and they're able to lower their shoulders. 514 00:22:29,930 --> 00:22:32,450 I've been told so many times, you know, 515 00:22:32,450 --> 00:22:35,660 I walked onto your farm and I just felt relief 516 00:22:36,580 --> 00:22:39,020 or else I've been getting guests to spring apologizing 517 00:22:39,020 --> 00:22:40,820 for all the naps who've been taking it. 518 00:22:40,820 --> 00:22:42,010 They're just overwhelmed. 519 00:22:42,010 --> 00:22:43,220 We've all been overwhelmed. 520 00:22:43,220 --> 00:22:45,740 But what I enjoy the most about 521 00:22:46,880 --> 00:22:48,680 inviting guests onto my farm 522 00:22:48,680 --> 00:22:50,950 is I don't see them as strangers. 523 00:22:50,950 --> 00:22:53,230 I do see that I can provide something for them. 524 00:22:53,230 --> 00:22:56,600 I do feel that I can educate them about what we do. 525 00:22:56,600 --> 00:22:59,870 I do feel that they leave as friends. 526 00:22:59,870 --> 00:23:02,660 What I see both as a farmer and a farm stay host 527 00:23:02,660 --> 00:23:04,490 but also through Farm Stay USA. 528 00:23:04,490 --> 00:23:06,240 And I'm happy to chat with anybody 529 00:23:06,240 --> 00:23:09,610 who wants to know about the opportunities and the challenges 530 00:23:09,610 --> 00:23:11,993 of being a farm stay here in the US. 531 00:23:13,040 --> 00:23:13,923 So thank you. 532 00:23:14,910 --> 00:23:15,830 - Thanks Scottie. 533 00:23:15,830 --> 00:23:18,560 That was also really interesting. 534 00:23:18,560 --> 00:23:22,270 And everyone else, please feel free to type your questions 535 00:23:22,270 --> 00:23:25,990 into the chat box, or we can also unmute you 536 00:23:25,990 --> 00:23:28,163 if you would like to ask some questions. 537 00:23:29,600 --> 00:23:34,140 So I'm wondering what about the type of customers 538 00:23:34,140 --> 00:23:36,160 you have been seeing. 539 00:23:36,160 --> 00:23:38,840 I mean, from last year to this year 540 00:23:38,840 --> 00:23:40,980 and then even like pre COVID, 541 00:23:40,980 --> 00:23:43,860 I know it's very family focused, but I've 542 00:23:43,860 --> 00:23:45,980 we had another webinar too 543 00:23:45,980 --> 00:23:48,670 with people that are running corn mazes 544 00:23:48,670 --> 00:23:51,870 and they said, you know, it's not the families anymore. 545 00:23:51,870 --> 00:23:54,730 And now it's the couples that are coming out. 546 00:23:54,730 --> 00:23:57,600 So have you seen any changes over, you know 547 00:23:57,600 --> 00:24:00,040 pre COVID during COVID and now that we're moving 548 00:24:00,040 --> 00:24:01,670 into a different phase. 549 00:24:01,670 --> 00:24:04,180 Elisa, I'll start with you. 550 00:24:04,180 --> 00:24:05,150 - Yeah, we did see, 551 00:24:05,150 --> 00:24:07,480 of course we lost our international visitors. 552 00:24:07,480 --> 00:24:10,480 We often get a lot of international visitors 553 00:24:10,480 --> 00:24:11,940 because they're intrigued by the Amish. 554 00:24:11,940 --> 00:24:13,780 It draws them to Lancaster. 555 00:24:13,780 --> 00:24:15,480 And so we were really sad 556 00:24:15,480 --> 00:24:18,370 because I, you know, personally really love 557 00:24:18,370 --> 00:24:19,950 meeting people from all over the world 558 00:24:19,950 --> 00:24:22,130 and learning from, learning with them. 559 00:24:22,130 --> 00:24:24,370 So I'd say more regional, 560 00:24:24,370 --> 00:24:26,950 even having visitors from across, you know, 561 00:24:26,950 --> 00:24:30,620 from California or from Florida even was pretty rare. 562 00:24:30,620 --> 00:24:33,780 It was many more people that were from the Northeast 563 00:24:33,780 --> 00:24:34,613 for us 564 00:24:35,870 --> 00:24:37,820 - But it's still families? 565 00:24:37,820 --> 00:24:39,490 - Yeah, primarily families, 566 00:24:39,490 --> 00:24:42,040 a lot of grandparents with grandchildren. 567 00:24:42,040 --> 00:24:45,260 Parents might be working or having other commitments. 568 00:24:45,260 --> 00:24:47,130 - Or just being exhausted, yeah. 569 00:24:47,130 --> 00:24:48,730 - Yeah, or just being exhausted. 570 00:24:50,120 --> 00:24:52,420 But I think that was probably the main demographic 571 00:24:52,420 --> 00:24:53,253 that we saw. 572 00:24:54,180 --> 00:24:56,930 - And I would reiterate that in that 573 00:24:56,930 --> 00:24:59,520 it was much more local traffic. 574 00:24:59,520 --> 00:25:01,100 I mean, I had people coming to stay 575 00:25:01,100 --> 00:25:03,230 who only lived 30 miles away, 576 00:25:03,230 --> 00:25:05,310 who only live 50 miles away. 577 00:25:05,310 --> 00:25:07,470 Yes, we didn't get our California visitors 578 00:25:07,470 --> 00:25:08,970 the way we had before, 579 00:25:08,970 --> 00:25:10,850 they're coming back slowly 580 00:25:10,850 --> 00:25:13,230 and Washington north of us, 581 00:25:13,230 --> 00:25:17,150 but many, much, much more local. 582 00:25:17,150 --> 00:25:20,610 But also some of the visitors we got in the last year 583 00:25:20,610 --> 00:25:25,610 were pods of kids in their parents who came 584 00:25:25,840 --> 00:25:28,850 because like Elisa said, we have pretty good wifi. 585 00:25:28,850 --> 00:25:30,450 I mean, we made sure we did. 586 00:25:30,450 --> 00:25:32,680 The kids were doing their Zoom classes in the morning 587 00:25:32,680 --> 00:25:35,260 and the parents were doing their work 588 00:25:35,260 --> 00:25:36,330 that they needed to do. 589 00:25:36,330 --> 00:25:38,920 And then everyone would take the afternoon off or whatever. 590 00:25:38,920 --> 00:25:43,920 So we were also hosting kind of class groups really, 591 00:25:44,340 --> 00:25:47,873 which was different, we've never done that before. 592 00:25:49,530 --> 00:25:51,470 - Right, thanks. 593 00:25:51,470 --> 00:25:54,090 And Courtney is asking how much structure do you need 594 00:25:54,090 --> 00:25:55,243 to provide visitors? 595 00:25:55,243 --> 00:25:57,790 Have they just been happy to be out on the farm 596 00:25:57,790 --> 00:25:59,720 or would they, that they need 597 00:25:59,720 --> 00:26:02,520 some more scheduled activities? 598 00:26:02,520 --> 00:26:03,353 Elisa. 599 00:26:04,507 --> 00:26:07,110 - I think our customers always would like more 600 00:26:07,110 --> 00:26:08,700 than what I can offer. 601 00:26:08,700 --> 00:26:12,880 But as Scottie mentioned, it's hard to get your work done 602 00:26:12,880 --> 00:26:15,050 if you're constantly hosting. 603 00:26:15,050 --> 00:26:17,570 And so I just set it up where 604 00:26:17,570 --> 00:26:19,370 the morning is our structured time. 605 00:26:19,370 --> 00:26:21,670 We have morning tours followed by breakfast 606 00:26:21,670 --> 00:26:22,720 which we eat together. 607 00:26:22,720 --> 00:26:25,820 And so I answer and field a lot of questions during that. 608 00:26:25,820 --> 00:26:28,020 In the afternoon I tell them that that's when, 609 00:26:28,020 --> 00:26:29,140 and I encourage them, 610 00:26:29,140 --> 00:26:32,970 I even like try to post like notes from like study, 611 00:26:32,970 --> 00:26:34,300 research studies of showing 612 00:26:34,300 --> 00:26:36,910 how important unstructured play is. 613 00:26:36,910 --> 00:26:39,120 I think a lot of people coming, 614 00:26:39,120 --> 00:26:41,140 wanting us to entertain their children 615 00:26:41,140 --> 00:26:43,070 and keep them occupied 616 00:26:43,070 --> 00:26:45,770 but I try to encourage them to think about it 617 00:26:45,770 --> 00:26:48,642 as an opportunity to just to figure it out 618 00:26:48,642 --> 00:26:51,750 and to enjoy the unstructured time together. 619 00:26:51,750 --> 00:26:53,450 So we gave them ideas of what they can do. 620 00:26:53,450 --> 00:26:55,940 They can fish, they can take a walk, 621 00:26:55,940 --> 00:26:57,930 they can read a book, they can look for a worm. 622 00:26:57,930 --> 00:26:59,743 They can play with the animals. 623 00:27:00,820 --> 00:27:02,100 We do have to give it to the guidance, 624 00:27:02,100 --> 00:27:05,670 but I try to make, set expectations 625 00:27:05,670 --> 00:27:07,570 that they will have time on their own. 626 00:27:08,839 --> 00:27:10,450 - And similarly 627 00:27:10,450 --> 00:27:14,070 I let people know upfront that we are unstructured 628 00:27:14,070 --> 00:27:15,820 that they can accompany us for tours 629 00:27:15,820 --> 00:27:17,860 but the rest of the time they're on their own. 630 00:27:17,860 --> 00:27:19,910 And there is sometimes that question will 631 00:27:19,910 --> 00:27:21,030 are we gonna be bored? 632 00:27:21,030 --> 00:27:22,160 You know, what are we gonna do? 633 00:27:22,160 --> 00:27:24,320 Well, the kids take that out of their hands. 634 00:27:24,320 --> 00:27:27,730 I mean, kids can find plenty of stuff to do unstructured. 635 00:27:27,730 --> 00:27:29,640 We do have a creek, we do have trails. 636 00:27:29,640 --> 00:27:32,820 We do have goats that you can hang out with. 637 00:27:32,820 --> 00:27:35,280 And so we introduce everybody 638 00:27:35,280 --> 00:27:37,400 to the animals they can be with, 639 00:27:37,400 --> 00:27:39,090 show them how they need to be around them. 640 00:27:39,090 --> 00:27:41,630 And then we go off and do our own stuff. 641 00:27:41,630 --> 00:27:43,540 If they need to stop us halfway through the day 642 00:27:43,540 --> 00:27:44,373 and ask a question. 643 00:27:44,373 --> 00:27:47,400 But for the most part, people seem very, very happy 644 00:27:47,400 --> 00:27:51,440 to just be able to relax and play, 645 00:27:51,440 --> 00:27:53,163 let their kids run in the grass. 646 00:27:54,040 --> 00:27:56,500 You know, what I found is there is a connection that happens 647 00:27:56,500 --> 00:27:58,860 not just with nature, but they all connect with each other. 648 00:27:58,860 --> 00:28:01,080 So I've had parents say to me at the end 649 00:28:01,080 --> 00:28:02,840 you know what surprised me the most 650 00:28:02,840 --> 00:28:04,900 was how much we connected as a family. 651 00:28:04,900 --> 00:28:07,910 We ate meals together 'cause we don't provide food. 652 00:28:07,910 --> 00:28:10,530 We ate meals together, we played together. 653 00:28:10,530 --> 00:28:13,170 You know, it's just seems like once they get here, 654 00:28:13,170 --> 00:28:14,711 they find out that it's not that hard 655 00:28:14,711 --> 00:28:17,443 to make it exciting. 656 00:28:18,520 --> 00:28:20,380 - That sounds great. 657 00:28:20,380 --> 00:28:23,950 I just have, Michael Luciano could you please mute yourself 658 00:28:23,950 --> 00:28:27,080 because we can hear you typing. 659 00:28:27,080 --> 00:28:30,020 That's what you get to in a German organizes the webinar. 660 00:28:30,020 --> 00:28:32,910 I have one, I have another question. 661 00:28:32,910 --> 00:28:36,790 That's something we've heard a lot from farmer's markets, 662 00:28:36,790 --> 00:28:37,670 farmers in general. 663 00:28:37,670 --> 00:28:39,620 What about staff availability? 664 00:28:39,620 --> 00:28:41,093 Did you have issues? 665 00:28:42,420 --> 00:28:43,910 Just people to work on your farm 666 00:28:43,910 --> 00:28:46,063 to help you with everything? 667 00:28:47,370 --> 00:28:49,010 - So we are fortunate 668 00:28:49,010 --> 00:28:51,950 because we have many of our neighbors are Amish 669 00:28:51,950 --> 00:28:55,030 and we'd have, you know, multiple generations 670 00:28:55,030 --> 00:28:57,730 worth of neighborhood relationships with them 671 00:28:57,730 --> 00:28:59,520 and so we're very close with many families. 672 00:28:59,520 --> 00:29:04,520 And so I am able to employ several young adults 673 00:29:04,730 --> 00:29:07,800 from our neighborhood that I know their parents 674 00:29:07,800 --> 00:29:09,660 and know them already. 675 00:29:09,660 --> 00:29:12,380 And then we also have several apprentices. 676 00:29:12,380 --> 00:29:15,140 This year we actually have like an all women teams 677 00:29:15,140 --> 00:29:16,520 which is really exciting. 678 00:29:16,520 --> 00:29:17,890 And so we're just fortunate 679 00:29:17,890 --> 00:29:20,390 that we through networks that we already had 680 00:29:20,390 --> 00:29:22,120 that we were able to find some apprentices 681 00:29:22,120 --> 00:29:26,320 and some tour guides as well. 682 00:29:26,320 --> 00:29:28,800 So we have not had an issue, 683 00:29:28,800 --> 00:29:31,353 but it's a big team of us several, 684 00:29:32,810 --> 00:29:36,620 some are full-time many are seasonal and part-time 685 00:29:36,620 --> 00:29:38,810 so, but I know many places in the area 686 00:29:38,810 --> 00:29:40,783 are struggling to find employees. 687 00:29:42,150 --> 00:29:43,451 - Good for you. 688 00:29:43,451 --> 00:29:44,810 Do you have anything Scottie? 689 00:29:44,810 --> 00:29:47,630 - Well, I'm gonna say we're much smaller than Elisa is 690 00:29:47,630 --> 00:29:50,680 but what we did is we made sure that we kept the, 691 00:29:50,680 --> 00:29:52,870 I have a full-time farm manager 692 00:29:52,870 --> 00:29:56,500 that we kept him fully employed and his wife 693 00:29:56,500 --> 00:29:59,950 and that our part-time person who helps clean 694 00:29:59,950 --> 00:30:01,020 we kept her employed. 695 00:30:01,020 --> 00:30:02,650 If we weren't, if she wasn't cleaning 696 00:30:02,650 --> 00:30:04,840 we had her doing other farm chores for us. 697 00:30:04,840 --> 00:30:07,360 She lives out here in the community, kind of like Elisa 698 00:30:07,360 --> 00:30:11,270 we have some connections with, these are gonna be teenagers 699 00:30:11,270 --> 00:30:13,240 that wouldn't otherwise have a job anyway, 700 00:30:13,240 --> 00:30:14,530 she brought in her friend with her. 701 00:30:14,530 --> 00:30:16,990 So we haven't had issues 702 00:30:16,990 --> 00:30:18,940 but we're a much, much smaller operation. 703 00:30:18,940 --> 00:30:21,520 And I think by being able to keep people employed 704 00:30:21,520 --> 00:30:23,513 and we got PPP money, 705 00:30:24,550 --> 00:30:27,833 that kind of helped bridge that issue. 706 00:30:29,240 --> 00:30:30,743 - Okay, that's good. 707 00:30:31,790 --> 00:30:33,470 Elisa you talked about 708 00:30:33,470 --> 00:30:38,040 the different set of customer expectation, right? 709 00:30:38,040 --> 00:30:40,930 Like before the pandemic, everyone was just glued to you. 710 00:30:40,930 --> 00:30:42,510 They wanted to experience everything. 711 00:30:42,510 --> 00:30:46,110 Then during the pandemic is like, oh, stay away from me 712 00:30:46,110 --> 00:30:47,740 you and your drums. 713 00:30:47,740 --> 00:30:50,160 How long do you think this will last? 714 00:30:50,160 --> 00:30:54,280 Do you think like this expectation we'll just go back, 715 00:30:54,280 --> 00:30:56,210 you know, to how it was before 716 00:30:56,210 --> 00:30:58,730 or do you think that kind of this independence 717 00:30:59,583 --> 00:31:01,660 will continue? 718 00:31:01,660 --> 00:31:03,260 - That's a great question. 719 00:31:03,260 --> 00:31:04,720 You know, I think it's, 720 00:31:04,720 --> 00:31:07,220 for this summer it's family by family 721 00:31:08,300 --> 00:31:11,500 with each, you know, a return visitor is a little bit easier 722 00:31:11,500 --> 00:31:12,700 to know what to expect 723 00:31:12,700 --> 00:31:15,870 but as people come on to the farm 724 00:31:15,870 --> 00:31:17,510 I just try to take cues from them. 725 00:31:17,510 --> 00:31:20,850 I just asked them, or if I remember a phone call, 726 00:31:20,850 --> 00:31:22,500 when they make a booking, if they, 727 00:31:22,500 --> 00:31:24,210 most people make bookings online 728 00:31:24,210 --> 00:31:27,000 and I might not even talk to them before they arrive. 729 00:31:27,000 --> 00:31:29,710 If I do have a conversation or have notes into their stays 730 00:31:29,710 --> 00:31:30,570 that I remember like, 731 00:31:30,570 --> 00:31:33,550 oh yeah, they're very concerned about this aspect. 732 00:31:33,550 --> 00:31:34,870 And so that I can address that. 733 00:31:34,870 --> 00:31:39,010 But you know, just as it's evolving 734 00:31:39,010 --> 00:31:41,380 people are definitely feeling more comfortable. 735 00:31:41,380 --> 00:31:43,480 Breakfast, we arrange the tables now 736 00:31:43,480 --> 00:31:45,140 so that we can still all see each other 737 00:31:45,140 --> 00:31:48,360 and we look inward so that we can have a conversation 738 00:31:48,360 --> 00:31:49,840 even though we're sitting apart. 739 00:31:49,840 --> 00:31:52,040 I think fewer and fewer people are, 740 00:31:52,040 --> 00:31:56,090 the conversation is shifting, less is about COVID 741 00:31:56,090 --> 00:31:57,603 and we're about, you know, 742 00:31:59,040 --> 00:32:00,230 how we're returning to work 743 00:32:00,230 --> 00:32:02,820 and, you know, political conversations 744 00:32:02,820 --> 00:32:06,650 or social social issues or, you know, whatever it might be. 745 00:32:06,650 --> 00:32:08,610 I think it is returning to a normalcy, 746 00:32:08,610 --> 00:32:11,910 but each family is somewhat different 747 00:32:11,910 --> 00:32:13,160 with their comfort level. 748 00:32:14,010 --> 00:32:15,150 How about you Scottie? 749 00:32:15,150 --> 00:32:16,730 - Yeah, and I would say, you know, 750 00:32:16,730 --> 00:32:19,040 we always ask when people show up, first of all 751 00:32:19,040 --> 00:32:21,520 we let them know that we're all vaccinated. 752 00:32:21,520 --> 00:32:23,080 You know, that we will wear masks 753 00:32:23,080 --> 00:32:25,380 if they want us to wear masks if they aren't. 754 00:32:25,380 --> 00:32:27,910 But we've discovered that all of our guests 755 00:32:27,910 --> 00:32:29,360 are vaccinated as well. 756 00:32:29,360 --> 00:32:30,850 It's only the kids that aren't 757 00:32:30,850 --> 00:32:33,670 but I do find that things are getting, 758 00:32:33,670 --> 00:32:36,900 whereas we all used to stand 10 feet away from each other. 759 00:32:36,900 --> 00:32:38,370 It's much, much closer now. 760 00:32:38,370 --> 00:32:39,710 We get a lot of repeat guests. 761 00:32:39,710 --> 00:32:43,730 So we're still not doing the hugs and the handshakes as much 762 00:32:43,730 --> 00:32:45,860 as we used to do a lot. 763 00:32:45,860 --> 00:32:48,060 I think everybody's trying to be totally respectful 764 00:32:48,060 --> 00:32:50,410 'cause we do have two different lodgings. 765 00:32:50,410 --> 00:32:51,720 The guests in this place 766 00:32:51,720 --> 00:32:53,090 will ask the guests in this place 767 00:32:53,090 --> 00:32:54,460 what are they comfortable with. 768 00:32:54,460 --> 00:32:56,170 And so everybody just seems 769 00:32:56,170 --> 00:32:58,560 to be very respectful of space 770 00:32:58,560 --> 00:33:00,800 and what people wanna do. 771 00:33:00,800 --> 00:33:05,040 So, but it does seem to be returning to normal 772 00:33:05,040 --> 00:33:06,773 and people are smiling more. 773 00:33:07,970 --> 00:33:11,000 - And I do wanna add that I get a lot of emails saying, 774 00:33:11,000 --> 00:33:12,400 what's your mask policy, 775 00:33:12,400 --> 00:33:14,570 and this is more, so I get it less now 776 00:33:14,570 --> 00:33:17,240 but especially last year, what's your mass policy. 777 00:33:17,240 --> 00:33:20,460 And I found that people were often not frustrated with us 778 00:33:20,460 --> 00:33:23,360 but with other visitors, we have seven units. 779 00:33:23,360 --> 00:33:24,750 So I could have seven, 780 00:33:24,750 --> 00:33:27,750 potentially seven different families here. 781 00:33:27,750 --> 00:33:30,610 Usually it's like one extended family rents one half, 782 00:33:30,610 --> 00:33:32,310 all the rooms in one house, 783 00:33:32,310 --> 00:33:35,270 another family or to rent rooms in the other house. 784 00:33:35,270 --> 00:33:38,420 So in any case, you know, 785 00:33:38,420 --> 00:33:39,910 the tension was often between them. 786 00:33:39,910 --> 00:33:42,460 So I almost always had to remind people that, you know 787 00:33:42,460 --> 00:33:45,360 no matter what there is space for everyone in the world 788 00:33:45,360 --> 00:33:48,440 and that even if you find somebody that's an anti masker 789 00:33:48,440 --> 00:33:49,580 or if you find someone that thinks 790 00:33:49,580 --> 00:33:53,070 the mask is absolutely necessary every minute of the day 791 00:33:53,070 --> 00:33:54,740 that we have to get along. 792 00:33:54,740 --> 00:33:58,390 So I felt like I had to just be a mediator 793 00:33:58,390 --> 00:34:00,283 between people at all times. 794 00:34:02,010 --> 00:34:04,140 - Wow, I didn't have to do that. 795 00:34:04,140 --> 00:34:05,950 I think I'm lucky to be on the West Coast. 796 00:34:05,950 --> 00:34:08,333 I hear more stories of that on the East Coast. 797 00:34:10,230 --> 00:34:11,833 - Regional differences, okay. 798 00:34:12,770 --> 00:34:14,100 What about costs? 799 00:34:14,100 --> 00:34:15,720 We've heard that a lot from other people. 800 00:34:15,720 --> 00:34:18,200 So even like farmer's markets or whatnot, you know 801 00:34:18,200 --> 00:34:19,670 like demand has increased. 802 00:34:19,670 --> 00:34:22,060 You also said like your demand has gone up. 803 00:34:22,060 --> 00:34:23,490 People have been booking, 804 00:34:23,490 --> 00:34:25,730 but your costs increased too, right? 805 00:34:25,730 --> 00:34:28,780 I mean, you've had some more, yeah, you know, 806 00:34:28,780 --> 00:34:31,090 a totally different arrangement for the table. 807 00:34:31,090 --> 00:34:33,820 It's like your outdoor setting looks so beautiful. 808 00:34:33,820 --> 00:34:36,290 Did you just had to buy all of this to just, you know, 809 00:34:36,290 --> 00:34:39,410 like adjust to this new situation. 810 00:34:39,410 --> 00:34:42,433 Are there a lot of changes you had to make just for this? 811 00:34:43,810 --> 00:34:46,210 - Yeah, for us with breakfast, that was, 812 00:34:46,210 --> 00:34:49,223 I had to buy some new, you know, more of everything. 813 00:34:50,110 --> 00:34:53,620 Fortunately, we were able to continue using, 814 00:34:53,620 --> 00:34:57,350 well, we stopped using silverware because we felt like, 815 00:34:57,350 --> 00:35:00,250 cups we often use, we don't use like using disposable 816 00:35:00,250 --> 00:35:03,420 but in a way it gave people assurance 817 00:35:03,420 --> 00:35:05,410 that it wasn't touched before. 818 00:35:05,410 --> 00:35:08,110 And so we did use that, but then plates 819 00:35:08,110 --> 00:35:10,460 and everything else we already had. 820 00:35:10,460 --> 00:35:12,660 The table settings we had to purchase more. 821 00:35:12,660 --> 00:35:14,840 It wasn't a very significant increase. 822 00:35:14,840 --> 00:35:17,610 What was actually most, what increased the most was 823 00:35:17,610 --> 00:35:21,340 before we can set a table and people could pass plates. 824 00:35:21,340 --> 00:35:23,190 And so there's a lot less plates 825 00:35:23,190 --> 00:35:27,220 so the amount of hand-washing, the amount of prepping. 826 00:35:27,220 --> 00:35:31,260 And if there's a table of five and there's a table of two, 827 00:35:31,260 --> 00:35:32,600 how much creamer do you put, 828 00:35:32,600 --> 00:35:35,140 you know, like there's a lot of logistics of like, 829 00:35:35,140 --> 00:35:38,840 so that you're not, we run a lot between the kitchen 830 00:35:38,840 --> 00:35:41,910 and the outside, but we were busier than usual. 831 00:35:41,910 --> 00:35:45,663 I would just take time to get everything out on the table 832 00:35:45,663 --> 00:35:49,120 and then try to host, but also accommodate people 833 00:35:49,120 --> 00:35:50,590 as they're needing new things. 834 00:35:50,590 --> 00:35:54,280 So I think the cost was probably more in labor 835 00:35:54,280 --> 00:35:57,570 and it was thoughtfulness that many of my teammates have, 836 00:35:57,570 --> 00:36:00,670 had to use to make sure that dietary restrictions 837 00:36:00,670 --> 00:36:03,591 that this plate is for the gluten free family. 838 00:36:03,591 --> 00:36:05,141 And this plate is for vegans. 839 00:36:05,141 --> 00:36:08,113 And this is for the vegetarians, not mixing them up. 840 00:36:10,410 --> 00:36:11,710 - What about you, Scottie? 841 00:36:11,710 --> 00:36:14,640 - Well, so I would say our costs didn't go up that much. 842 00:36:14,640 --> 00:36:16,610 I mean, we were buying hand sanitizer 843 00:36:16,610 --> 00:36:19,120 which we always had some at the barn 844 00:36:19,120 --> 00:36:20,560 but now we were buying a lot more. 845 00:36:20,560 --> 00:36:24,000 We bought masks for guests who might not have them. 846 00:36:24,000 --> 00:36:26,100 The change, I guess, would have been in the food 847 00:36:26,100 --> 00:36:28,760 'cause we do provide the makings for breakfast. 848 00:36:28,760 --> 00:36:30,870 And we used to make bread for our guests. 849 00:36:30,870 --> 00:36:33,570 And we used to take the milk that we bought from the store 850 00:36:33,570 --> 00:36:35,210 and pour it into a glass jar 851 00:36:35,210 --> 00:36:37,920 because cold milk taste so much better. 852 00:36:37,920 --> 00:36:40,220 We stopped doing, everything we started providing 853 00:36:40,220 --> 00:36:42,230 was just pre-packaged. 854 00:36:42,230 --> 00:36:44,970 So we were throwing out more milk, for instance. 855 00:36:44,970 --> 00:36:48,290 Throwing out more things that people hadn't used. 856 00:36:48,290 --> 00:36:52,360 So it wasn't significant though, in terms of that. 857 00:36:52,360 --> 00:36:54,700 What was interesting is that 858 00:36:54,700 --> 00:36:59,340 we actually started selling more meat off of our farm. 859 00:36:59,340 --> 00:37:03,310 So we do have a USDA lamb in our freezer. 860 00:37:03,310 --> 00:37:06,070 We sold out of that by like mid summer. 861 00:37:06,070 --> 00:37:10,680 And then my farm manager had started doing pasture chickens. 862 00:37:10,680 --> 00:37:14,220 He ended up doing three times that, 863 00:37:14,220 --> 00:37:15,980 and we sold out through all those too, 864 00:37:15,980 --> 00:37:18,570 because people just wanted to buy the food 865 00:37:18,570 --> 00:37:20,410 from the farm that was right there. 866 00:37:20,410 --> 00:37:25,100 So where we were not making it in as many bookings 867 00:37:25,100 --> 00:37:27,590 we were making some, a little bit more 868 00:37:27,590 --> 00:37:29,440 in what we were selling off the farm. 869 00:37:30,400 --> 00:37:31,670 - That's really interesting. 870 00:37:31,670 --> 00:37:33,830 It goes right into my next question. 871 00:37:33,830 --> 00:37:36,840 So there's interest for local food 872 00:37:36,840 --> 00:37:38,740 and you know, how your own food is made 873 00:37:38,740 --> 00:37:40,810 and you know, the canning and everything. 874 00:37:40,810 --> 00:37:43,930 Do you think that will continue after white, 875 00:37:43,930 --> 00:37:46,060 I mean a little bit after I could see, 876 00:37:46,060 --> 00:37:47,580 but like, you know, people really 877 00:37:47,580 --> 00:37:49,240 changed their way of living, 878 00:37:49,240 --> 00:37:51,610 having their little kitchen gardens and whatnot. 879 00:37:51,610 --> 00:37:53,210 Do you think that will continue? 880 00:37:54,470 --> 00:37:55,820 - I've heard so many people say 881 00:37:55,820 --> 00:37:58,700 that last year gave him the opportunity to slow down 882 00:37:58,700 --> 00:38:00,360 and have time with family 883 00:38:00,360 --> 00:38:02,713 and to start a project that Bailey's dreamed about doing 884 00:38:02,713 --> 00:38:04,640 especially like gardening, I think, 885 00:38:04,640 --> 00:38:07,000 you know, some other skill. 886 00:38:07,000 --> 00:38:08,690 And it seems like they're continuing on. 887 00:38:08,690 --> 00:38:10,190 If they're like, yeah, I learnt so much last year. 888 00:38:10,190 --> 00:38:11,940 I can't wait to learn something new this year, 889 00:38:11,940 --> 00:38:13,460 you know, or to expand my garden 890 00:38:13,460 --> 00:38:15,610 or to, you know, whatever it might be. 891 00:38:15,610 --> 00:38:18,010 And so I do think that, you know, 892 00:38:18,010 --> 00:38:20,870 it kinda piqued people's interest and they'll continue. 893 00:38:20,870 --> 00:38:23,160 I also had the similar experience where our beef 894 00:38:23,160 --> 00:38:26,270 we sell USDA inspected grass fed beef 895 00:38:26,270 --> 00:38:29,540 and our farm store as well as pasture chicken is sold out 896 00:38:29,540 --> 00:38:32,850 as people were nervous about supply chain issues. 897 00:38:32,850 --> 00:38:33,920 So I think, you know, 898 00:38:33,920 --> 00:38:36,480 again, if you're reducing contamination, 899 00:38:36,480 --> 00:38:38,680 they love the idea of coming to the farm 900 00:38:38,680 --> 00:38:40,590 and getting it right from the source 901 00:38:40,590 --> 00:38:42,210 and that they didn't have to go to a grocery store 902 00:38:42,210 --> 00:38:43,920 where there were other people they could just, 903 00:38:43,920 --> 00:38:46,699 you know, we could have it in a bag outside the store 904 00:38:46,699 --> 00:38:47,532 and they could pick it up 905 00:38:47,532 --> 00:38:48,623 and we didn't even have to talk, you know, 906 00:38:48,623 --> 00:38:51,710 like they wouldn't have to come in the store. 907 00:38:51,710 --> 00:38:54,110 So I do think there's interest 908 00:38:54,110 --> 00:38:56,440 and there's continuing interest. 909 00:38:56,440 --> 00:38:58,190 - And I also, yeah, I agree with that. 910 00:38:58,190 --> 00:39:01,410 And I also think that more people adopted 911 00:39:01,410 --> 00:39:03,580 or brought on chickens into their backyard 912 00:39:03,580 --> 00:39:06,230 if they had the possibility of doing that 913 00:39:06,230 --> 00:39:07,660 because of farm fresh eggs. 914 00:39:07,660 --> 00:39:10,770 And because it seems like everybody got a pet last year 915 00:39:10,770 --> 00:39:12,660 it could be chickens as well. 916 00:39:12,660 --> 00:39:14,350 In Portland you can have chickens 917 00:39:14,350 --> 00:39:16,170 as long as you don't have a rooster. 918 00:39:16,170 --> 00:39:18,990 So we are having guests now who are coming, 919 00:39:18,990 --> 00:39:21,970 love our farm fresh eggs, but tell us also 920 00:39:21,970 --> 00:39:24,520 they know all about this cause they have their own. 921 00:39:25,630 --> 00:39:27,590 - Yeah, I've heard that too about the chickens. 922 00:39:27,590 --> 00:39:29,950 And then you get the food safety issues as well, right? 923 00:39:29,950 --> 00:39:31,370 There are now articles out there 924 00:39:31,370 --> 00:39:34,464 don't kiss your chicken and whatnot. 925 00:39:34,464 --> 00:39:36,730 You know, lots of stuff to learn. 926 00:39:36,730 --> 00:39:38,200 Lincoln had a question. 927 00:39:38,200 --> 00:39:39,550 Have you experienced many guests 928 00:39:39,550 --> 00:39:42,250 who want to work remotely from the farm? 929 00:39:42,250 --> 00:39:45,080 We are a farm stay that offers co-living co-working 930 00:39:45,080 --> 00:39:46,300 with longer-term stays 931 00:39:46,300 --> 00:39:49,003 and curious if others are doing the same. 932 00:39:50,180 --> 00:39:51,570 - Yeah, there's definitely an increase. 933 00:39:51,570 --> 00:39:53,800 People often ask me is there wifi. 934 00:39:53,800 --> 00:39:54,980 You know, I have to do some work. 935 00:39:54,980 --> 00:39:57,540 And so we've always offered it. 936 00:39:57,540 --> 00:39:59,540 And so, but now I think more, 937 00:39:59,540 --> 00:40:01,590 I'm hearing more people that are actually working 938 00:40:01,590 --> 00:40:04,180 while they're on there farm stay. 939 00:40:04,180 --> 00:40:08,000 I don't do any long-term arrangements like that 940 00:40:08,000 --> 00:40:09,200 but it's a great option. 941 00:40:10,590 --> 00:40:11,550 - And that would be similar. 942 00:40:11,550 --> 00:40:14,150 We don't, we're so, we don't have the opportunity 943 00:40:14,150 --> 00:40:17,113 to do long-term 'cause we're so booked for short term. 944 00:40:17,960 --> 00:40:21,913 And, but yeah, people wanna know what kind of wifi we have. 945 00:40:22,780 --> 00:40:23,980 So. 946 00:40:23,980 --> 00:40:25,240 - That's the common thing. 947 00:40:25,240 --> 00:40:27,560 I know, and if nobody else has any more questions 948 00:40:27,560 --> 00:40:30,870 I'm just gonna ask the last question, like the final one, 949 00:40:30,870 --> 00:40:33,050 because we probably have a couple of people on 950 00:40:33,050 --> 00:40:36,450 that would like to get into offering farm stays. 951 00:40:36,450 --> 00:40:40,610 Do you have any recommendations for any operator 952 00:40:40,610 --> 00:40:42,410 who would like to start? 953 00:40:42,410 --> 00:40:45,353 Like, what are your final thoughts on it? 954 00:40:46,260 --> 00:40:48,930 - Elisa, so you can go first. 955 00:40:48,930 --> 00:40:50,280 - So I guess for me 956 00:40:50,280 --> 00:40:52,400 there's a lot of different aspects of, 957 00:40:52,400 --> 00:40:53,940 one, I would say go shadow, 958 00:40:53,940 --> 00:40:56,003 go visit several different farm stays. 959 00:40:56,003 --> 00:40:59,700 Like I even myself being third generation farm stay owner 960 00:40:59,700 --> 00:41:02,480 I learned so much from our peers. 961 00:41:02,480 --> 00:41:04,760 So visiting them and seeing their operations 962 00:41:04,760 --> 00:41:07,570 and then utilizing the resources that are available online 963 00:41:07,570 --> 00:41:10,070 to understand about liability, to understand about 964 00:41:11,240 --> 00:41:12,770 a lot of the different aspects 965 00:41:12,770 --> 00:41:17,030 that are critical for running an agritourism business. 966 00:41:17,030 --> 00:41:18,930 Putting together a team around you 967 00:41:18,930 --> 00:41:20,600 to help you ask good questions, you know 968 00:41:20,600 --> 00:41:21,980 to like formulate questions 969 00:41:21,980 --> 00:41:24,720 and to like develop your business plan. 970 00:41:24,720 --> 00:41:26,720 Kind of putting a lot of thought into it 971 00:41:27,920 --> 00:41:29,680 before jumping right in. 972 00:41:29,680 --> 00:41:31,593 That's kinda my thinking. 973 00:41:32,880 --> 00:41:35,290 I think for a lot of people that I see 974 00:41:35,290 --> 00:41:37,470 and I'm on the younger generation 975 00:41:37,470 --> 00:41:39,900 for a lot of farm B&B owners. 976 00:41:39,900 --> 00:41:41,950 What I see is a lot of romantic views 977 00:41:41,950 --> 00:41:43,270 about owning a bed and breakfast. 978 00:41:43,270 --> 00:41:44,630 So even the people that come here they're like 979 00:41:44,630 --> 00:41:46,260 I have always dreams about owning a B&B 980 00:41:46,260 --> 00:41:48,020 and you know, being a farmer 981 00:41:48,020 --> 00:41:49,640 you already understand where the hard work is. 982 00:41:49,640 --> 00:41:50,490 And then the bed and breakfast 983 00:41:50,490 --> 00:41:51,850 just adds another layer to it. 984 00:41:51,850 --> 00:41:55,010 And so I'm trying to like demystify it 985 00:41:55,010 --> 00:41:57,600 and seeing the reality by visiting others 986 00:41:57,600 --> 00:41:59,970 and trying to develop that business plan 987 00:41:59,970 --> 00:42:04,583 I think will help you give a great path forward. 988 00:42:05,770 --> 00:42:08,690 - I would also say you need to start off by making sure 989 00:42:08,690 --> 00:42:13,210 that everybody on your farm is, likes the idea. 990 00:42:13,210 --> 00:42:16,490 There has to be one person who is willing to be that host 991 00:42:16,490 --> 00:42:19,220 and willing to talk to strangers 992 00:42:19,220 --> 00:42:22,340 and likes to do that and wants to be the educator. 993 00:42:22,340 --> 00:42:24,010 And if you don't have that person 994 00:42:24,010 --> 00:42:27,280 then it's probably not a good idea. 995 00:42:27,280 --> 00:42:30,810 You know, we have a lot of training through Farm Stay USA 996 00:42:30,810 --> 00:42:32,270 that gets you started there. 997 00:42:32,270 --> 00:42:34,920 That first 10 questions you should ask yourself. 998 00:42:34,920 --> 00:42:36,470 That's one of them. 999 00:42:36,470 --> 00:42:38,430 I think you need to understand liability. 1000 00:42:38,430 --> 00:42:39,810 You need to understand insurance. 1001 00:42:39,810 --> 00:42:43,080 You need to understand hospitality 1002 00:42:43,080 --> 00:42:45,823 which may or may not be in your background. 1003 00:42:46,810 --> 00:42:49,600 And you need to understand marketing, you know, 1004 00:42:49,600 --> 00:42:50,620 'cause just 'cause you build it 1005 00:42:50,620 --> 00:42:52,740 doesn't mean people will come, right? 1006 00:42:52,740 --> 00:42:54,030 So you need to understand 1007 00:42:54,030 --> 00:42:55,550 there's so many different parts of it. 1008 00:42:55,550 --> 00:42:58,810 And like Elisa said, it's good to have a team around you. 1009 00:42:58,810 --> 00:43:01,900 If you think you're going to do every single job 1010 00:43:01,900 --> 00:43:03,470 you are going to burn out. 1011 00:43:03,470 --> 00:43:06,320 If you think you're gonna be cleaning and cooking 1012 00:43:06,320 --> 00:43:09,210 and hosting and farming, 1013 00:43:09,210 --> 00:43:11,190 it just isn't gonna work. 1014 00:43:11,190 --> 00:43:13,550 You know, we're more than happy to share all of our training 1015 00:43:13,550 --> 00:43:15,800 with anybody who thinks they might be interested. 1016 00:43:15,800 --> 00:43:18,270 It's not something you have to pay for. 1017 00:43:18,270 --> 00:43:21,080 And it's basically built out of my experience 1018 00:43:21,080 --> 00:43:22,060 as a farm stay host. 1019 00:43:22,060 --> 00:43:24,210 I started back in 2007 1020 00:43:24,210 --> 00:43:26,310 and some of it I learned by the seat of my pants. 1021 00:43:26,310 --> 00:43:28,580 Some of it I brought with me, I was not, 1022 00:43:28,580 --> 00:43:31,440 I'm not a multi-generation farmer. 1023 00:43:31,440 --> 00:43:32,763 This was a second career. 1024 00:43:33,990 --> 00:43:35,800 And then it's also put together 1025 00:43:35,800 --> 00:43:37,290 by some of our farm stay hosts 1026 00:43:37,290 --> 00:43:39,040 and things that they've learned 1027 00:43:39,040 --> 00:43:41,630 how to take a good photograph would be one. 1028 00:43:41,630 --> 00:43:43,130 There's lots of questions to ask. 1029 00:43:43,130 --> 00:43:45,760 Business plan is a good idea. 1030 00:43:45,760 --> 00:43:48,410 And then you at least have asked all those questions. 1031 00:43:49,640 --> 00:43:52,840 - Or get to know a really good photographer, right? 1032 00:43:52,840 --> 00:43:54,430 Elisa, and we've talked about that too. 1033 00:43:54,430 --> 00:43:55,770 Your pictures are amazing. 1034 00:43:55,770 --> 00:43:59,400 - She has gorgeous photographs, gorgeous photographs. 1035 00:43:59,400 --> 00:44:01,683 - Okay, Lisa, you have one more question. 1036 00:44:02,810 --> 00:44:05,930 - Yes, I have a question about booking sites 1037 00:44:05,930 --> 00:44:07,210 and I'm asking this 1038 00:44:07,210 --> 00:44:11,440 because I feel like with the increase in demand, 1039 00:44:11,440 --> 00:44:14,560 I'm seeing more and more farms in Vermont, 1040 00:44:14,560 --> 00:44:17,020 but really all over the place who are saying, wait, 1041 00:44:17,020 --> 00:44:18,490 should I be thinking about this, 1042 00:44:18,490 --> 00:44:20,030 should I be getting into it? 1043 00:44:20,030 --> 00:44:23,660 And it's, you know, from someone with a sugar bush 1044 00:44:23,660 --> 00:44:27,440 who's building tree houses for people to stay in 1045 00:44:27,440 --> 00:44:30,250 or people who are thinking of, you know, 1046 00:44:30,250 --> 00:44:33,880 putting up a yert or even just letting people 1047 00:44:33,880 --> 00:44:37,290 come onto their land and camp 1048 00:44:37,290 --> 00:44:39,000 or letting RVs come on. 1049 00:44:39,000 --> 00:44:40,750 And it feels like there's more and more 1050 00:44:40,750 --> 00:44:42,360 booking sites out there. 1051 00:44:42,360 --> 00:44:45,490 And so I've been trying to do a little digging into, 1052 00:44:45,490 --> 00:44:47,090 you know, what are the pros and cons 1053 00:44:47,090 --> 00:44:49,790 and what are the different sites out there from Airbnb, 1054 00:44:49,790 --> 00:44:54,420 VRBO, Yonder, Tenter, Hipcamp 1055 00:44:54,420 --> 00:44:56,220 or Harvest Host, the list goes on and on. 1056 00:44:56,220 --> 00:44:58,870 So I'd love to hear from you folks 1057 00:44:58,870 --> 00:45:02,660 what you're working with currently, why you chose that, 1058 00:45:02,660 --> 00:45:03,790 how it's working for you. 1059 00:45:03,790 --> 00:45:06,220 And I also wanna invite other folks 1060 00:45:06,220 --> 00:45:08,470 who are here with us today 1061 00:45:08,470 --> 00:45:10,260 to type into the chat, or, you know 1062 00:45:10,260 --> 00:45:11,960 raise your hand and unmute yourselves 1063 00:45:11,960 --> 00:45:14,220 and share your experiences with booking sites 1064 00:45:14,220 --> 00:45:17,610 because I'm getting a lot of questions from farms 1065 00:45:17,610 --> 00:45:18,900 that are thinking about this 1066 00:45:18,900 --> 00:45:20,780 and I'm not really sure what to tell them. 1067 00:45:20,780 --> 00:45:23,760 So I'd love to hear about your experiences. 1068 00:45:23,760 --> 00:45:25,960 Do you wanna start, Elisa? 1069 00:45:25,960 --> 00:45:29,250 - Sure, I currently use, I've been using since 2000, 1070 00:45:29,250 --> 00:45:32,963 my parents began using them, I think in 2009, 1071 00:45:33,890 --> 00:45:35,750 a site called ResNexus. 1072 00:45:35,750 --> 00:45:40,290 It is a booking site for traditional bed and breakfasts 1073 00:45:40,290 --> 00:45:42,503 and we use, we've been using it. 1074 00:45:42,503 --> 00:45:45,070 And the big reason why I haven't, 1075 00:45:45,070 --> 00:45:49,590 I looked multiple times about finding a different system 1076 00:45:49,590 --> 00:45:51,260 but I just love the database. 1077 00:45:51,260 --> 00:45:52,880 The fact that I have all these numbers 1078 00:45:52,880 --> 00:45:53,940 like go all the way back. 1079 00:45:53,940 --> 00:45:57,760 And so it's hard to separate myself from that data, 1080 00:45:57,760 --> 00:45:58,720 the archive,. 1081 00:45:58,720 --> 00:46:01,800 I know many other farm stays here in Lancaster are having, 1082 00:46:01,800 --> 00:46:05,920 are shifting maybe from a booking site and going to Airbnb 1083 00:46:05,920 --> 00:46:10,920 or VRBO and shifting their business model. 1084 00:46:11,480 --> 00:46:13,570 Instead of renting two rooms or three rooms, 1085 00:46:13,570 --> 00:46:17,040 they only rent now one unit, but the whole house. 1086 00:46:17,040 --> 00:46:19,503 And so there are a lot of options out there. 1087 00:46:20,434 --> 00:46:23,280 I'm choosing to stick with more of a traditional 1088 00:46:23,280 --> 00:46:25,590 I'm not having to build brand awareness. 1089 00:46:25,590 --> 00:46:29,040 I'm in a location that already brings many people to it. 1090 00:46:29,040 --> 00:46:30,790 We're not having to try to find people 1091 00:46:30,790 --> 00:46:32,790 that are already coming to the area. 1092 00:46:32,790 --> 00:46:34,950 So I'm in a position that might be a little bit different 1093 00:46:34,950 --> 00:46:39,090 than other locations across the country 1094 00:46:40,770 --> 00:46:42,470 but that's what I've chosen to do. 1095 00:46:43,410 --> 00:46:44,500 - And it's interesting. 1096 00:46:44,500 --> 00:46:46,340 So I use ResNexus as well 1097 00:46:46,340 --> 00:46:49,160 and I've been using them since 2008. 1098 00:46:49,160 --> 00:46:52,140 They are a booking software. 1099 00:46:52,140 --> 00:46:53,610 What I would say for anybody 1100 00:46:53,610 --> 00:46:55,250 who's looking to get into this. 1101 00:46:55,250 --> 00:46:58,610 If you think you're just gonna do this on email and calls 1102 00:46:58,610 --> 00:47:02,290 and keep your own calendar, that's all well and good 1103 00:47:02,290 --> 00:47:04,190 but you're gonna spend a lot of time doing it. 1104 00:47:04,190 --> 00:47:06,040 And it took ResNexus a little while 1105 00:47:06,040 --> 00:47:08,170 to get me to join up with them. 1106 00:47:08,170 --> 00:47:09,690 And then once I did that, you know, 1107 00:47:09,690 --> 00:47:12,010 people like to book at one in the morning 1108 00:47:12,010 --> 00:47:13,370 and seven in the morning 1109 00:47:13,370 --> 00:47:15,870 and they like to book it all sorts of times. 1110 00:47:15,870 --> 00:47:20,650 But reservation software has calendars 1111 00:47:20,650 --> 00:47:21,810 where you can't double book. 1112 00:47:21,810 --> 00:47:24,040 And the biggest fear in my life is that 1113 00:47:24,040 --> 00:47:26,270 I would double book and have two different sets of guests 1114 00:47:26,270 --> 00:47:28,230 show up on the same day. 1115 00:47:28,230 --> 00:47:30,180 So that's reservation software 1116 00:47:30,180 --> 00:47:32,190 then there's reservation platforms. 1117 00:47:32,190 --> 00:47:36,568 So that would be Airbnb, Yonder, VRBO. 1118 00:47:36,568 --> 00:47:39,820 Elisa didn't say it, but ResNexus it doesn't play 1119 00:47:39,820 --> 00:47:43,290 with these other opportunities. 1120 00:47:43,290 --> 00:47:46,070 So that means the calendar doesn't sync 1121 00:47:46,070 --> 00:47:49,640 and you don't wanna have a calendar that doesn't sync 1122 00:47:49,640 --> 00:47:51,880 'cause it means you have to fill in your Airbnb calendar 1123 00:47:51,880 --> 00:47:53,913 by hand and maybe you'll make a mistake. 1124 00:47:54,790 --> 00:47:58,120 So some of us that are more mature businesses 1125 00:47:58,120 --> 00:48:00,200 we already have our guests, 1126 00:48:00,200 --> 00:48:02,540 as Elisa was saying, people already know us. 1127 00:48:02,540 --> 00:48:04,610 We've already got that marketing out there. 1128 00:48:04,610 --> 00:48:07,410 I personally, don't like to pay a percentage of sales 1129 00:48:07,410 --> 00:48:10,350 to anybody because I can get the reservations myself 1130 00:48:10,350 --> 00:48:13,250 and I pay a flat fee for booking software. 1131 00:48:13,250 --> 00:48:14,560 If you're new into the business, 1132 00:48:14,560 --> 00:48:19,560 yes, jumping into Airbnb, Yonder, VRBO 1133 00:48:19,600 --> 00:48:22,390 all of those kind of bigger booking platforms 1134 00:48:22,390 --> 00:48:23,223 makes life easy. 1135 00:48:23,223 --> 00:48:25,810 You don't have to set up a credit card system. 1136 00:48:25,810 --> 00:48:26,730 They do it all. 1137 00:48:26,730 --> 00:48:28,920 They just give you a check at the end of the month 1138 00:48:28,920 --> 00:48:33,650 or the end of a reservation based on bookings online. 1139 00:48:33,650 --> 00:48:35,090 So we've mentioned Yonder. 1140 00:48:35,090 --> 00:48:36,580 Elisa knows that I like Yonder. 1141 00:48:36,580 --> 00:48:40,190 They're a new booking platform that came in March, 2020. 1142 00:48:40,190 --> 00:48:41,810 What a great time to launch. 1143 00:48:41,810 --> 00:48:43,840 They are all about nature tourism. 1144 00:48:43,840 --> 00:48:46,940 So they speak more our language as farm stays. 1145 00:48:46,940 --> 00:48:49,730 If you want to be in a place 1146 00:48:49,730 --> 00:48:52,720 where you are with other nature tourism sites 1147 00:48:52,720 --> 00:48:55,000 Airbnb does, takes everybody. 1148 00:48:55,000 --> 00:48:58,470 And so you won't necessarily get the best customers 1149 00:48:58,470 --> 00:48:59,303 off of there. 1150 00:48:59,303 --> 00:49:00,136 You might get the customer 1151 00:49:00,136 --> 00:49:02,250 that's looking for the cheapest place to stay. 1152 00:49:03,377 --> 00:49:05,290 Hipcamp, yeah, Hipcamp is great. 1153 00:49:05,290 --> 00:49:07,850 That will bring you the right kind of customers as well. 1154 00:49:07,850 --> 00:49:11,000 Hipcamp, so talking about calendar syncing, 1155 00:49:11,000 --> 00:49:15,443 calendar sync between Airbnb, Yonder, Hipcamp, yes. 1156 00:49:16,660 --> 00:49:19,580 RVs with Harvest Host you don't get to charge anything 1157 00:49:19,580 --> 00:49:20,690 for people coming. 1158 00:49:20,690 --> 00:49:22,090 So it's something to look into 1159 00:49:22,090 --> 00:49:23,850 and we're trying to work with Lisa 1160 00:49:23,850 --> 00:49:27,270 to come up with kind of a chart 1161 00:49:27,270 --> 00:49:29,970 to show you the benefits of what is it costing you 1162 00:49:29,970 --> 00:49:31,760 'cause as far as booking platforms 1163 00:49:31,760 --> 00:49:34,430 you're paying a percentage of the reservation. 1164 00:49:34,430 --> 00:49:36,900 So just say you know, it can vary Booking.com 1165 00:49:36,900 --> 00:49:39,300 you're probably paying up to 20%. 1166 00:49:39,300 --> 00:49:41,020 Hipcamp you're paying 10% 1167 00:49:41,020 --> 00:49:42,590 and then there's everything in between. 1168 00:49:42,590 --> 00:49:45,430 So they just have to think about what's it worth to you 1169 00:49:45,430 --> 00:49:47,330 and worth your time and your calendar. 1170 00:49:48,251 --> 00:49:50,070 - Thank you, that's a food for thought. 1171 00:49:50,070 --> 00:49:51,980 And Sharon was typing in the chat 1172 00:49:51,980 --> 00:49:55,380 that she uses ownerreservations.com as a booking platform. 1173 00:49:55,380 --> 00:49:56,930 She loves it because it can sync 1174 00:49:56,930 --> 00:49:59,860 all of her calendars on it automatically. 1175 00:49:59,860 --> 00:50:02,520 Then she owns two homes. 1176 00:50:02,520 --> 00:50:06,150 She uses her own website, Airbnb, verbal, 1177 00:50:06,150 --> 00:50:09,980 Booking.com, booking and Farm Stay USA. 1178 00:50:09,980 --> 00:50:12,900 And now some advertisement for Farm Stay USA. 1179 00:50:12,900 --> 00:50:14,990 She gets the most reservations from folks 1180 00:50:14,990 --> 00:50:19,347 that find her on Farm Stay US and then Airbnb. 1181 00:50:21,040 --> 00:50:23,160 And then another Lisa. 1182 00:50:23,160 --> 00:50:26,420 She was saying that she uses ownerres for her bookings 1183 00:50:26,420 --> 00:50:28,283 and calendars. 1184 00:50:29,120 --> 00:50:30,500 And then Jada is saying that 1185 00:50:30,500 --> 00:50:32,100 visitors from different countries 1186 00:50:32,100 --> 00:50:34,750 maybe used to using different booker sites, 1187 00:50:34,750 --> 00:50:37,260 for example, Booking.com 1188 00:50:37,260 --> 00:50:39,820 used to be way more common in Europe than the US 1189 00:50:39,820 --> 00:50:41,320 but is becoming more widespread 1190 00:50:41,320 --> 00:50:44,920 and features of wide variety of property types. 1191 00:50:44,920 --> 00:50:46,110 That's right. 1192 00:50:46,110 --> 00:50:47,360 But really check out Yonder 1193 00:50:47,360 --> 00:50:50,373 because it's a, it is kind of new, right? 1194 00:50:52,150 --> 00:50:53,650 - Yeah. - All right. 1195 00:50:53,650 --> 00:50:56,420 If we don't have any other questions and comments 1196 00:50:56,420 --> 00:51:01,183 I'm just gonna turn it back to Lisa for the final words. 1197 00:51:03,320 --> 00:51:04,153 - Well, thank you. 1198 00:51:04,153 --> 00:51:06,290 Do you see my screen again? 1199 00:51:06,290 --> 00:51:08,070 - Yes. - All right. 1200 00:51:08,070 --> 00:51:12,450 I wanna thank everyone who spoke today 1201 00:51:12,450 --> 00:51:13,940 and everyone who put in questions. 1202 00:51:13,940 --> 00:51:15,290 This was a great conversation 1203 00:51:15,290 --> 00:51:18,400 and one that we definitely wanna continue. 1204 00:51:18,400 --> 00:51:23,080 You should see a link in the chat to a survey. 1205 00:51:23,080 --> 00:51:25,500 If you wouldn't mind clicking on that link 1206 00:51:25,500 --> 00:51:27,050 and spending a couple minutes, 1207 00:51:27,050 --> 00:51:29,010 just answering some questions about 1208 00:51:29,010 --> 00:51:32,040 how this conversation today work for you 1209 00:51:32,040 --> 00:51:35,710 and what you might be interested in going forward. 1210 00:51:35,710 --> 00:51:39,190 And I will let you know that this session has been recorded. 1211 00:51:39,190 --> 00:51:41,760 And in a few days, once it gets posted 1212 00:51:41,760 --> 00:51:45,620 I'll send an email out and we'll include in that email 1213 00:51:45,620 --> 00:51:47,590 a link to many of the resources 1214 00:51:47,590 --> 00:51:50,970 as well as contact information that was talked about today. 1215 00:51:50,970 --> 00:51:52,923 And it will be on the website here, 1216 00:51:54,190 --> 00:51:57,180 gouvm.edu/farm-safety-COVID-19 1217 00:51:58,030 --> 00:51:59,860 and that's about it from me. 1218 00:51:59,860 --> 00:52:04,613 So just wanna really thank all of you for joining us today.