‘Haycations’ provide boost in revenue for ranches, farms in state

Fifty miles from the nearest telephone line and far beyond cell-phone coverage, Soldier Meadows Ranch north of Gerlach appeals to visitors grown weary of bright lights and big cities. But as the snowpack begins its retreat up the Black Rock Mountain Range to the east of the ranch, owners Jim and Kathy Kudrna hold their breath as they wait to see what the summer tourism season will bring. For a growing number of farms and ranches in Nevada and nationwide, visits by rural vacationers — folks taking haycations, in other words — are important part of their annual revenues. A survey by Scottie Jones, a farmer in Alsea, Ore., who developed FarmStayUS.com as a centralized listing for farm-vacation listings, found that nearly half the responding farms and ranches reported that they generate more than $10,000 a year by hosting visitors. About 16 percent, Jones says, reported that they generated revenues of $50,000 to $150,000 annually. “Agri-tourism is increasingly important to small farmers competing with industrial agriculture,” she says...more