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brochure, quiz, etc.) that are part of each tour package.

• Timing for each component of each tour so staff know how long they can spend at any activity. This becomes important as you become busier; you don’t want the 9:30 a.m. tour leader who was scheduled to meet the 11 a.m. tour still doing the frst tour because she didn’t follow the timing schedule.

The tour script needs to include facts about your farm and tie into the school’s core curriculum. Ask a retired teacher to help you with the script. You know the agricultural content but the teacher knows how that content should be presented to the students and tailored to meet the needs of the school.

Tour programs must be practiced before being used. Have instructors present the information to test audiences such as your family and other instructors. That way, everyone gets a feel for how the material should be delivered, and can ensure that the content is correct and the tour fun.

Making a tour fun is your leader’s responsibility. You want the children

to enjoy themselves so they tell their parents what a great time they had, and recommend the whole family go back to that fun farm on the weekend. Once you have been in the school tour business for a couple of years establish a mentoring program where new staff shadow experienced staff for a day so they understand the content and can handle questions students and teachers might ask.

Websites for some groups that can help you with content and handouts are listed on page 13 and 14.

Guest safety is your paramount concern. Children are not familiar with farms and the hazards that are instinctively understood by the farm family.

There should be no gopher/prairie dog holes, thistles, nettles, poison ivy, etc. where the children tour.

Implements or sharp objects must not be left around where children can get at them.

All pesticides need to be locked up and equipment used to apply

Some children are allergic to bees and other farm items. In the information package given to teachers prior to the tour, remind them that if they have children with allergies there are potential hazards, such as bees (bee stings), pollen, livestock hair, dogs, cats, etc. on the farm. Make sure you have taken all precautions to reduce the risk for all of these potential hazards. Print off and read the factsheet (link on page 15) called

It is a good policy to have children walk in straight lines from one activity to the next so it is easy to see anyone wandering off. Having each activity area enclosed by fencing can help to avoid potential problems.

One critical policy you need is a procedure for a lost child. Who on the farm should be contacted to start the search? The person leading a tour of 30 children is not likely the right person to start searching. Often the child was distracted by something on the farm and fell behind the tour group. To reduce the risk of losing a child, begin the tour with a headcount. The tour guide or teacher should do periodic child counts throughout the tour, so you can ascertain if someone is missing and start the search early.

Another important issue is hand washing. Germs are everywhere on every farm where animals are housed and touched, so it is very important that children be taught how to, and reminded to, wash their hands thoroughly. Children often put their hands in their mouth which can transfer germs like E. coli to their digestive system. Many children do not have suffcient immunity to fght off germs. Frequent and thorough hand