Finding ways to diversify in a bid to boost their income is something many farmers have started doing in recent years. A popular way to achieve this is to open up the farm to visitors. This could be in the form of guided tours, starting a farm shop, or making your farm an attraction with animal feeding or petting are all ways to do this. There’s no doubt that welcoming families and schools for days out on your farm can certainly be profitable. However, before you start allowing visitors to your farm, it’s essential that you carry out proper preparations first. Here are some of the steps to take when preparing to open your farm to the public:
Order Signage
Keeping yourself and your workers safe on your farm is always a top priority. But when you’re preparing to allow extra visitors to your site, including people who may be unaware of the potential dangers that occur on a working farm, it’s especially vital to make safety a top priority.
It’s wise to order farm safety signs as part of your preparations for welcoming visitors to the farm. These signs can be used to alert visitors to potential hazards and help to keep everyone safe on site. Examples of useful signs to display on your farm, include ‘slow down’ signs in parking areas, and ‘bulls in field’ signs to stop visitors wandering into areas that contain potentially dangerous livestock.
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Add Hand Washing Facilities
Having hand washing facilities readily available for visitors to your farm is a must, especially if you plan to offer hands-on experiences, such as feeding calves and lambs or animal petting. Providing hand sanitiser at points around the farm can be a beneficial way to boost hygiene on site. However, using anti-bacterial hand gel isn’t a substitute for hand washing, especially when it comes to preventing the spread of potentially infectious diseases.
There are many infectious diseases that can potentially be passed on from farm animals to your visitors. Cryptosporidium infection is an example of this, and can be especially dangerous if contracted by young children, the elderly, pregnant women, and vulnerable groups who may be visiting your farm and in contact with your animals.
Providing hand washing stations with hot water and an appropriate soap is crucial. It’s also important to add signage to remind visitors of the need to wash their hands after being in contact with the animals.
Check Your Insurance
Finally, it’s crucial to check your insurance policy before you even consider allowing members of the public to enter your farm property. Hopefully, no one will ever be injured on your premises during a farm visit, and you will never have a need to make a claim. However, ensuring you are properly protected in the event of an incident on the farm is a must to protect yourself and your livelihood.
Having appropriate levels of public liability insurance is vital. So, you will need to discuss your planned events with your insurance company.
