Agritourism gets a boost in the digital, pandemic age

 Ellen Barry reported for the New York Times a few days ago out of Peacham, Vermont, population 732.  The headline is, "In a Wistful Age, Farmers Find a New Angle:  Chore TV."  The subhead is: "It's hard for small farmers to earn a living selling their products.  Enter the 'farmer-influencer' who can earn more by streaming farm life, with its comforting monotony, to a growing online audience."

Here's the lede:

The sweet smell of hay rose off the earth on a recent evening, as Morgan Gold strode across his farmyard in heavy boots. He crossed the paddock, scanning for new eggs, water levels, infected peck wounds, rips in the fence line.

But mainly — let’s be honest — he was looking for content.

Though Mr. Gold sells poultry and eggs from his duck farm in Vermont’s northeast corner, most of what he produces as a farmer is, well, entertainment.

* * * 

Then, twice a week, like clockwork, he posts a short video on YouTube about his exploits as a neophyte farmer, often highlighting failures or pratfalls. Keeping a close eye on analytics, he has boosted his YouTube audiences high enough to provide a steady advertising revenue of around $2,500 to $4,000 a month, about eight times what he earns from selling farm products.