Find information about employment regulations, farmers' markets, food safety, health, safety and disability guidelines, organic certification, permits, registering your business, taxes, TODS from the Iowa DOT and Zoning on the Producer Regulations page

Insurance

When inviting visitors on your property or selling product to the public it is critical to have proper insurance coverage and a good working relationship with your insurance provider. The listing below may not include all insurance providers who provide coverage for agritourism operations in Iowa. We strongly encourage each farm to do their research to find which provider is best fit for their farms needs.

• Farm Bureau Financial Services
• Midwest Heritage
• Nationwide
• Town & Country Insurance – farm
• Town & Country Insurance - crop

Agritourism Checklists

• Getting Started in Agritourism Checklist
• Iowa Agritourism Business Start-up and Licensing Guide
• Agritourism Bio-security Checklist
• Agritourism Emergency Preparedness Checklist
• Agritourism Food Safety Checklist
• Agritourism Negligence Mitigation Suggestions
• Agritourism Pesticide Safety Checklist
• Agritourism Play Area Checklist

Additional Resources

• Agritourism Best Management Practices (PDF), Louisiana State University Ag Center
• Farm Safety Walkthroughs, National Children's Center for Rural and Agricultural Health and Safety
• Integrating Safety into Agritourism, Safeagritourism.org
• Top 10 Ways to Limit your Liability (PDF), Kerr Center for Sustainable Agriculture
• Improving Handwashing Stations, UVM Extension

• Specialty Crop Enterprise Budgets, Ag Decision Maker
• Business Planning, AgPlan, by the University of Minnesota. 
• Agritourism Emergency Preparedness, The Ohio State University
• How to Start a Business – The Definitive Guide - Chamber of Commerce 

Grant & Loan Opportunities

• SARE Farmer Rancher
• Value Added Producer Grant Program
• FSA Beginning Farmer Loan

• National Agriculture Law Center, Agritourism 
• State of Iowa Recreational Statues, National Agriculture Law Center
• Iowa Landowner’s Legal Guide, Drake University Agriculture Law Center
• Center for Agricultural Law and Taxation, Iowa State University 

Iowa Law Limits Liability of Agricultural Tourism Farms

On May 19th, 2021, Governor Reynolds signed SF 356 into law establishing the “Iowa Agricultural Tourism Promotion Act.” Because many of the inherent risks of farming cannot be removed, the Act promotes agricultural tourism by limiting the potential liability of agricultural tourism farms in certain circumstances.

Iowa Law Limits Liability of Agricultural Tourism Farms

• Marketing Your Farm, Hobby Farms.com

CPR and First Aid, Available through the American Red Cross. Locate your local Red Cross Chapter. 

Background on food safety related programs

• ServSafe Food Safety - The ServSafe Food Protection Manager Certification is accredited and addresses the most urgent food safety training challenges. Training covers the dangers of food borne illness, safe food handling, and components for good personal hygiene. It also includes information on safe food receiving, storage preparation and serving and cooling and reheating.
• ServSafe Alcohol - This program is responsible alcohol service training development with input from experts in the restaurant, legal, regulatory, academic, insurance, medical and law enforcement fields. Training covers alcohol laws, evaluating intoxication levels, dealing with difficult situations and checking identification.

Iowa-based educational food safety programs

• Iowa Restaurant Association
• Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point Information (HACCP) - Iowa State University.
• Apple Cider HACCP - Iowa State University
• Iowa Smokefree Air Act (effective July 1, 2008) - Iowa Department of Public Health.