...A New and Unique Opportunity for Farm Diversification

Farmers: If you have a working farm in a beautiful location, partnering with Feather Down Farms could provide you with a unique and satisfying opportunity for diversification that blends in well with your current farming activities.

Feather Down Farms is a "natural fit" for farmers who want to engage in a passionate and prosperous role in maintaining the quality and integrity of our rural countryside.

Feather Down Farms is agritourism (or the opportunity to stay on a working farm) in its purest form. Farming is the focus on Feather Down Farms, where urban families get the opportunity to sink into the natural rhythm of the countryside.

Feather Down Farms can be found only at working agricultural businesses (not hobby farms), where the farmer plays a passionate, involved role in growing sustainable food and maintaining the beauty of the surrounding countryside.

There are three main considerations concerning “The Feather Down Farm.”

1. As anyone who follows the business of agriculture knows, there is a very real threat regarding the maintenance and preservation of rural farmland. In regions across the US, areas that were rich in working farms are now scarce in them. The traditional role of the farmer, especially the small family farm, is endangered due to the challenging economy and the competition provided by subsidized industrial farming. If the "Farmer" disappears, the cost of maintaining and preserving the countryside will be prohibitive, and the rural area will be at risk. (Anyone who has witnessed encroaching suburbia knows this all too well!)

2. Across the USA and Europe there is a growing, urgent need in the small and mid-scale agricultural sector to earn additional income through a diversification of activities. (An income of less than $25,000 per year, per farm is common rather than the exception.) That’s where agritourism comes in.

3. There is a growing need from well-educated, double-income families with children for an “authentic” small-scale vacation with true experiences and genuine educational value. On one hand, this need is a reaction to the more pervasive large-scale "mass and fun-packed" holiday breaks. But the desire to reconnect with nature and a simpler time also stems from the growing need of parents to teach their children the importance of conscious and responsible living, as well as to deepen their connections with farm life and their food sources.

Based on these considerations, Feather Down Farms creates a completely new and appealing formula for high-quality, family-style vacations:

• Feather Down Farms is aimed at the target group of affluent urban families with children between 2 and 15. This target audience is very conscious of the responsibilities of their consumption. They are aware of the environment and the quality of their surroundings and are committed to educating their children in the norms and values that fit with conscious and responsible living.
• Feather Down Farms offers the possibility for generating a serious additional income for the farmers on top of their principal agricultural activities. In many cases, there is the potential to equal or better their agricultural income.
• Feather Down Farms provides a continuing source of income for the farm and therefore helps secure the ongoing maintenance and preservation of the farm and countryside on a long-term basis.

The Feather Down Farm is identified by offering qualitative small-scale tourism to a target group that deliberately seeks quality in a rural environment in ready-for-use and comfortable accommodation.

The Feather Down Farm will be found only on small and mid-scale family farms where Farmers want to play an active and involved role in a positive future for their farms and the rural environment.

The Feather Down Farm is characterized by honoring the principle of "less is more." Offering new experiences and new encounters instead of the more common fun-forced, artificial, packaged holiday.

And you'll only ever find Feather Down Farms on working farms where the farmers and their families are passionate guardians of the countryside.

Feather Down Farms is a collection of unique and diverse farms, each offering its own specialty and expertise. There are family-owned dairy operations, farmers that specialize in organic produce, herbs, and flowers, and even ranchers that combine cattle with horses or sheep. Every Feather Down Farm is unique in character and geographic beauty, and that is exactly the point!

If you are a farmer and this opportunity piques your interest, send an email with a brief description of your farm, location, and yourselves to info@featherdown.com.

Feather Down Farm Days is a successful Farmers' Alliance in the United Kingdom, Holland, Belgium, and Germany.