Making A Living Off The Land

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What do you need to do to become an agritourist attraction? Rules vary from country to country, and regimes can be highly bureaucratic. In the Veneto region of Italy, farmers providing holidays are limited to hosting 30 overnight guests per night for a maximum of 160 days per year and must produce over 50% of the food they sell to tourists. In Britain, Germany and elsewhere, there are stringent health and safety controls, including fire regulations and rules governing contact with farm animals.

That might scare off a laid-back farmer, but in other places, especially poorer regions, including Poland, farmers are undeterred. Slawomir Bojar, a Polish electronics specialist, got into the agritourism business last year because he was looking for a change of pace after heart surgery. He and his wife bought a 100-year-old property near the shore of Lake Sarag in the Mazurian district in the north. After making some renovations, they now rent out rooms with full board for $25 per day. They're hoping to receive an E.U. subsidy later this year. "This farm became my life," Bojar says.

	It used to be farmers' wives offering rooms on the side, but now for many [agritourism is] a full-time business — NIGEL EMBRY,head of Farm Stay UK

"I just keep asking, Why so late?" The Bojars have plenty of company. Since last year, when E.U. money became available, more than 4,500 applications for farm diversification subsidies worth $109 million have been approved.

Others are trying to cash in, too — even if they don't run a working farm. In Tuscany, hundreds of old stone houses have been restored, often with state aid, and turned into hotels or restaurants. "Very often, agritourism is the only way to maintain and restore the old villas and ancient structures that would otherwise be abandoned," says Livia Pianelli, director of Terranostra, an agency linked to the Italian farmers' union.

Even with rising demand, not all agritourism destinations will survive. Willard Biemans, an E.U. official in Poland who deals with rural development, says that, given high start-up costs, "It's a big risk, especially if you take into account that everybody is doing it, and everybody thinks this is the future."

Still, back in Germany, farmer Winkelmann is enjoying the boom. His farm, called Flottwedel, offers guests a hay bed plus a sumptuous breakfast for €12 per adult and €9 for kids between 6 and 12 (j7 for 2- to 6-year-olds). You have to bring a sleeping bag, but there are two newly installed showers. That comes in handy for the kids, says holiday farmhand Ast. "They throw themselves into the hay and roll around to get down and dirty. It's any child's dream come true!" And maybe a few farmers' dreams, too.