When beef farmers Sally and Mark Dent destocked their property after several gruelling years of drought they were forced to look at other income streams.
Sally picked up more work as a teacher, while her husband started up at an agri-business in the nearby town of Dunedoo in Central Western NSW.
By 2017 they had sold all but 50 of the 650 beef cattle, and life on the farm was grim.
"We were getting up at six in the morning, feeding what cattle we had left, going into town working getting back at six at night feeding again, so it was a very monotonous few years," said Ms Dent.
As she sipped a morning cuppa she decided to convert the farm's unused workers quarters into paid accommodation, and soon Cobbora Station began farming tourists.
"We had lots of positive feedback and they were mainly city families... they can go on walks, and go down to the river, and feed poddy calves, I think it does give them an idea of the day to day operation," said the NSW beef producer.
Ms Dent told AAP the extra income stream allowed her family to slowly restock.
Agritourism is something Damen Wells discovered early on in his farming career.
The carpenter turned farmer is one of a handful of people who farms bison in Australia.
While he sells his non-breeding bulls for meat, he quickly turned to agritourism when he realised the interest in the native American animal.
"Just to keep money coming in while the bison are growing in the paddock, I sort of only get a pay cheque once or twice a year when we sell live animals," said Mr Wells.
Today, he welcomes around 700 overnight visitors a year to his 1180 hectare property near Casino in Northern NSW.
According to Tourism Research Australia there were about 7.6 million domestic tourists visiting a farm gate or winery in 2020-21 spending about $6.4 billion on their trip.
That compares to 2019, before COVID and the Black Summer bushfires hit, when 9.9 million domestic and international visitors spent $11.8 billion.
But while the numbers of visitors are down by as much as 24 per cent some operators are reporting that business is turning around.
Rose Wright is a consultant whose been helping Australian farmers enter the agritourism market for the past 20 years.
"We've never been busier - there's an enormous demand in consumers trying to connect... between farm and the consumer," said Ms Wr
Farmers cash in on agritourism
by Ernesto Annunziata (2026-05-14)
When beef farmers Sally and Mark Dent destocked their property after several gruelling years of drought they were forced to look at other income streams.
Sally picked up more work as a teacher, while her husband started up at an agri-business in the nearby town of Dunedoo in Central Western NSW.
By 2017 they had sold all but 50 of the 650 beef cattle, and life on the farm was grim.
"We were getting up at six in the morning, feeding what cattle we had left, going into town working getting back at six at night feeding again, so it was a very monotonous few years," said Ms Dent.
As she sipped a morning cuppa she decided to convert the farm's unused workers quarters into paid accommodation, and soon Cobbora Station began farming tourists.
"We had lots of positive feedback and they were mainly city families... they can go on walks, and go down to the river, and feed poddy calves, I think it does give them an idea of the day to day operation," said the NSW beef producer.
Ms Dent told AAP the extra income stream allowed her family to slowly restock.
Agritourism is something Damen Wells discovered early on in his farming career.
The carpenter turned farmer is one of a handful of people who farms bison in Australia.
While he sells his non-breeding bulls for meat, he quickly turned to agritourism when he realised the interest in the native American animal.
"Just to keep money coming in while the bison are growing in the paddock, I sort of only get a pay cheque once or twice a year when we sell live animals," said Mr Wells.
Today, he welcomes around 700 overnight visitors a year to his 1180 hectare property near Casino in Northern NSW.
According to Tourism Research Australia there were about 7.6 million domestic tourists visiting a farm gate or winery in 2020-21 spending about $6.4 billion on their trip.
That compares to 2019, before COVID and the Black Summer bushfires hit, when 9.9 million domestic and international visitors spent $11.8 billion.
But while the numbers of visitors are down by as much as 24 per cent some operators are reporting that business is turning around.
Rose Wright is a consultant whose been helping Australian farmers enter the agritourism market for the past 20 years.
"We've never been busier - there's an enormous demand in consumers trying to connect... between farm and the consumer," said Ms Wr