 University of Illinois Extension will host a tour of Kuipers
Family Farm on Oct. 23 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m."Every year we
add a new idea and spend the fall tweaking it," said Kim Kuipers.
"We try not to set anything in concrete the first year, because
you really can't know how well it will work until you actually
see people using it."
This is only the Kuipers' second year with a giant corn maze,
so they have yet to decide how successful it will be. Kim
Kuipers said that adding homemade fudge and caramel apples is
definitely one of their successes. "We were already selling
apple cider and apple doughnuts, but adding the
made-from-scratch fudge and caramel apples has been a hit. We
make a ton of caramel apples," she said.
One challenge for the business has been the addition of
allowing people to purchase using credit cards. "People don't
realize that, like using an ATM, for every transaction we have
to pay a flat fee plus a percentage of the sale to the credit
card company. So, if a customer purchases something using
plastic for, say, only $3, we don't see any profit," said
Kuipers. She said that it's a service they feel like they need
to offer, because many times people will come out to the farm to
spend the day and not bring any cash with them.
For more information about Kuipers Family Farm, visit
www.kuipersfamilyfarm.com.
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"It's important for agritourism enterprises like the Kuipers' farm
to work with other businesses in the area to create a critical mass
of attractions that will attract more customers," said John Pike,
president of Agriculture and Tourism Partners of Illinois. "Many
times in traditional business situations, competition is viewed as a
negative, but in agritourism, no two businesses are alike and the
variety of attractions in a region can be a selling point."
A fee of $20 per person will be charged for the tour. This fee
includes lunch. Registration at least one week in advance is
required. Visit
www.extension.uiuc.edu/smallfarm/ to register and for more
details about the tour, including a map and agenda, or contact Deborah
Cavanaugh-Grant at 217-968-5512 or
cvnghgrn@uiuc.edu.
The tour is sponsored by the University of Illinois Extension,
the North Central Region Sustainable Agriculture Research and
Education Professional Development Program, the
Agriculture Tourism
Partners of Illinois, and the Agroecology/Sustainable
Agriculture Program at the University of Illinois.
This tour is being co-sponsored by
Agriculture Tourism
Partners of Illinois and the University of Illinois Extension,
Kane County.
[Text from file received from
the University of Illinois
College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences] |
