Social media customers eager for images with blooming sunflowers are snapping up tickets to a West Australian farm.
Key factors:
- A WA sunflower farm has reworked paddocks into an occasion house and promoting tickets to the general public
- The tickets add worth to standard farming practices
- All tickets offered out, because the neighborhood confirmed help for the farm’s area of interest idea
For the final two years, Crooked Brook farmer Casey MacGregor has marketed paid entry to her property through the farm’s Instagram web page.
She stated tickets offered out quick this yr and the enterprise had flourished.
“It was positively about worth including, which is why we thought we’d confide in most people and see if the demand was there,” she stated.
“[It was] a sold-out occasion faster than we had initially anticipated, which was wonderful.”
Ms MacGregor runs the farm together with her husband, producing a black oil seed number of sunflowers.
The prevalence of social media introduced a chance for her to rebrand the farm as an occasion house.
“It was one thing we had thought of for a good whereas after which noticed the hole out there to open up and check out one thing new,” she stated.
“It was extra for us about discovering a distinct segment market and bringing one thing to folks that I had seen on social media and Instagram of individuals actually having fun with that farm expertise.
“Whether or not or not it’s TikTok or Instagram or regardless of the platform is that they are utilizing, I feel folks prefer to share their life and their journey and issues by social media.”
Standard farming vs ticketed expertise
This yr, the workforce modified the paddock’s look to suit with the occasion house expectations.
“Moderately than it being a full crop, it was extra of a show crop this yr,” Ms MacGregor stated.
Regardless of the success of the brand new enterprise, Ms MacGregor nonetheless farms sunflowers conventionally.
“They’re two very totally different ideas [but] I feel I feel they maintain their very own,” she stated.
“I feel the alternatives are infinite for one thing like this and we simply should preserve adapting and rising with the demand from folks.”
In her view, combining the totally different enterprise fashions permits for extra sustainability in her manufacturing.
“We have performed round with utilising the entire plant this yr … we’re all about being as sustainable as we are able to and benefiting from that entire plant,” she stated.
“From harvesting the seed, we have gone into some chilly urgent for the oil, we have performed round with just a few totally different ideas of eco confetti … in addition to clearly, the recent reduce blooms.”
Ms MacGregor stated she hopes to develop the property sooner or later to cater for the occasion house demand.
“We’ll positively develop our crop subsequent yr, we are going to simply should put just a few issues in place and develop the property a bit of bit to extend our capability to develop extra,” she stated.
“The neighborhood is de facto behind the entire idea, which is wonderful.”
