Start Here First for a Real Farm Experience

Here’s what to know about Farm Stay USA (aka Farmstay) and why you might want to start with this site if you are looking to experience a real working farm or ranch, with the farmers and ranchers to go along with it and the promise of a focused and immersive rural adventure.

1) Since its launch in 2010, the Farm Stay USA site has identified and promoted working farms and ranches offering lodging for guests around the country. Back then the term ‘farm stay’ wasn’t an identifiable travel niche within the U.S. and only referred to farm lodging in Europe. It took a global pandemic for the larger, more popular booking sites (OTAs) to catch on to what we’ve known all along: farm stays offer the perfect blend of safety, space, and authenticity. Practically overnight, online booking agencies everywhere embraced the term ‘farm stay’ and ran with it.

2) Again, at its launch with USDA funding and then through the following years, Farm Stay USA has focused as much on educating farmers and ranchers about hosting overnight guests as it has on educating travelers about this unique experience, often an easy drive but a world away. While farmers are great at reading the weather, hospitality is not farming and our members know that. They have the expertise (and a dedicated farmer host) to make sure your stay is warm and inviting.

3) It’s hard to use the word ‘authentic’ if it’s not qualified by something. Farm Stay USA came up with Accreditation Standards for the farms promoted on the site. The standards incorporate four areas we think are important to be an authentic operation: a working farm or ranch with the owners/farm managers on-site; visitor friendly – often with hands-on activities; attention to safety and cleanliness; seasonal production from the farm and/or local food. Full transparency – the farms self-accredit satisfaction of all four standards.

4) Searches are offered by experiences and offerings, not just by location. As an example, you would like to help with chores on a farm stay or maybe bring your dog. The filters help to isolate those farms that qualify for your specific interests or needs. There are filters for Activities, Animals, Amenities, Food, Events, Lodging, Capacity, Accessibility and Pricing. Thus if you desire to milk a cow, you can make sure the farm a) has cows, b) has a dairy (which means they are milk cows), and c) offers the experience (some large dairies are fully automated).

5) We keep you from going down too many rabbit holes on your search for a farming or ranching experience. The OTAs added Farm and Farm Stay categories when the idea of a stay in the country began to trend. The issue for travelers in search of a true farm experience, though, was that anyone, property managers included, could use the tag in their listing without proof that they were offering anything more than a house in the countryside with nary a cow in sight. You could call Farmstay a curated site for the real thing.

6) Back to the Accreditation Standards, the farms and ranches on Farmstay have passionate people growing your food and oftentimes (if they have time), they are happy to educate their guests about what they do, sharing their way of life and speaking to the challenges and rewards of running a farm. This creates a deep cultural exchange that goes beyond a typical vacation. In a survey of members, when asked why they host overnight guests, 70% ranked education as a driver that made them proud to be the face of farming in the 21st century.

7) Finally, because Farm Stay USA is not a booking site, farm members are free to choose where the Book Now button on their profile leads. It might be to their listing on Airbnb. Just as easily, it might be reservation software on their own website that doesn’t charge booking or additional fees to their guests. Then again, we do have some farms that would just prefer you call them!

Do you dream of a countryside vacation away from an increasingly chaotic world? Does collecting eggs from the chicken coop sounds like more fun than pulling them off the refrigerated shelf at the grocery store? When have you ever had the chance for an inside look at farm life and the people who grow food for your table, other than a conversation at the farmers market? The experience will either have you changing careers or conjuring more weekends in the country.

So, start here first to find just the right farm or ranch stay. Go home with stories to tell for years to come of the farmers you met and the lifestyle you experienced.

(Header photo credit: Sister Grove Farm, Van Alstyne, TX)