An Alberta family figured out how to better connect non-farmers who wanted to visit a farm with interested producers
FERINTOSH, Alta. — The creators of the website Farmzy hope the site will make it easy for farmers and farm visitors to connect.
Two years ago, brothers and farmers Matt and Graham Graff launched their website after realizing people want to visit farms, but don’t know how to reach out to farmers.
Farmzy is now the official booking platform for Alberta’s Open Farm Days, the weekend event which encourages farmers to open their farmgates to visitors once a year.
“We wanted to create something that could take this further and make it easier for farmers to create their offerings and showcase it, but also make it easier for consumers to access a lot of these farms that are out there,” said Matt from his central Alberta farm.
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It was while at the University of Alberta that the brothers saw the growing interest in agriculture and local food. Many of their friends and classmates wanted to come out and see their farm, said Graham.
“We realized there was a disconnect. People were curious where their food comes from. They wanted to come and meet farmers, but most people wouldn’t know how to meet a farmer. Having them out, we saw how much they enjoyed being out here and learning about agriculture and we thought this could be a neat idea where farms could open their farmgates for people and make a business out of it,” said Graham.
In 2019, their family opened their farm to visitors for Open Farm Days, which confirmed the growing interest to visit farms. After this, the brothers began investigating the best way to match farms and visitors.
When COVID-19 halted most large gatherings, farmers with Open Farm Days used the Farmzy platform to help plan orderly visits. By limiting visitors through registration on the website, the event could still take place and conform to pandemic rules.
“The farm would create a listing on the Farmzy platform of when they were open and for how many people in each time slot. Then guests could see if there was an available booking with any time slots left,” said Matt.
In previous years, sometimes more than 1,200 visitors would turn up at the farm at once, overwhelming the farm and sometimes creating a poor experience for visitors.
“This way farms have the ability to set their guest limits to a manageable number. They can facilitate the whole day that wasn’t available before,” said Graham.
After two years of success with the Open Farm Days platform, the brothers believed there was a need to expand the platform to encourage year-round farm visits, farm stays and food experiences.
Now, more than 20 farms use the site to promote their business and help manage farm tours throughout the year.
“You know of people who drive by and want to check things out but they’re not just going to stop by at the door. Now that they know there are tour times they can make a booking and have a tour and it is acceptable,” said Matt.
The next step is to encourage more farms to register with the Farmzy platform, they said.
“We are certainly at a stage where we simply need farmers on there selling experiences. Our focus has to be more farms than visitors,” said Graham.
The brothers have been in contact with counties who are interested in creating county-wide farm tours, similar to Open Farm Days but on a smaller county scale to showcase the farms in their area.
It is free for the farms to register on the site. Farmzy takes in money if there is a transaction through the platform for a farm visit.
“Any service fees that come in are put back (into) marketing and website development. We are very passionate about getting people out to the farms. For us it is getting more and more farms on. The platform could be used for any farm across Canada. We know we need to be successful in an area before reaching out to the other areas,” said Graham.
While farms with animals are always a hit, especially with children, visitors are interested in a variety of farming operations.
“As a grain farm we were surprised how far people were coming on Open Farm Days to come to our grain farm. We really think any farm that has something unique to show people could be on the platform,” said Matt.
“What is day to day and mundane for some people could have a huge wow factor for others. You forget it is pretty rare and a unique experience for others.”
