Agritourism Crisis Management and Communications

Risk abounds on farms, from animals to machinery and equipment to chemical inputs and other sources. When you add visitors to the farm environment, as in agritourism operations, the risk factor increases, and extra vigilance and safety planning are necessary. Agritourism visitors unfamiliar with agriculture may not understand the hazards that exist on a farm or may not follow your instructions, which can lead to a potential accident. That said, even under the best circumstances and proper planning, accidents can occur, and it is important to be prepared to handle those situations properly.

A crisis is "a stage in a sequence of events at which the trend of all future events, especially for better or for worse, is determined" (Dictionary.com). It is important to note that the definition does not identify the type of events; it is simply that events are occurring and that there is a point that defines the course of future events. Moreover, while it may be clear that some events are a crisis, others may not so clearly fit the category.

Types of crises in the agriculture and food industries include injury, death, contamination, recalls, and negative publicity. Crises occur with more frequency than you might expect. For example, as of November 22, 2024, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reports 2,396 recall events in the U.S. for fiscal years 2020 through 2025, with the greatest number (479) occurring in fiscal year 2022 (FDA, n.d.). The AgInjuryNews database includes 59 reports for 44 incidents involving 150 individuals associated with agritourism businesses dating back to 2016. This database includes both fatal and non-fatal injuries with non-fatal incidents including hayride and horseback riding accidents and bacterial illness outbreaks.

No two agritourism businesses are the same. Therefore, the risks for one farm will differ from those for another. Crises can take many forms. For one agritourism business, it may be having a child get bitten by an animal, prompting a trip to the hospital. For another, the crisis may involve an allergen being omitted from a food product’s ingredient list. 

When a crisis does occur, how you manage it and your communications, internal and external, are critical. Your actions may have long-lasting impacts on your business. It's key to remember that crisis management is not about shifting or avoiding responsibility. Rather, it "is the overall coordination of an organization's response to a crisis" (Goh, 2019). Poor management can negatively impact your venture's profitability, reputation, or continuation.

There are three- and four-phase models for crisis management. In the three-phase system, the phases are

1. Pre-crisis
2. Crisis response
3. Post-crisis (Goh, 2019)

The four-phase system includes

1. Detection
2. Crisis
3. Repair
4. Assessment (Mitroff, Shrivastava, and Udwadia, 1987)

With either system, the core elements of crisis management include:

• Identify a team – Know who needs to, or should be, be involved. While some team members may be apparent (e.g., spokesperson, business owner/CEO, etc.), others may be less apparent and include individuals with product distribution or finance responsibilities.
• Have a plan – Don't wait until a crisis occurs to figure out how to address one. Assign roles to team members and make sure each understands their responsibilities. Having a plan also includes taking steps to prevent a crisis, which most agritourism farms already do through risk/safety assessment.
• Practice your response – Simulating various crisis types can provide teams with valuable experience that better prepares them for responding to a true crisis. Crisis drills provide a non-stressful environment for preparation and identifying aspects of the plan that need strengthening. 
• Assess the plan – Following a crisis, the team should assess the effectiveness of the response and make any needed adjustments to be better prepared for the next crisis.

It is important to note that crisis management has proactive and reactive elements. For example, if a corn maze is part of your agritourism business, you may prepare maps that can be given to visitors to show them the way out in case they get lost. This is a proactive step that can be taken to decrease the likelihood of visitors getting lost. You may also walk through the maze regularly to look for groundhog or mole holes, filling them in if you find any.  This is another proactive step to reduce the chances of visitors injuring themselves. Reactively, if multiple visitors were to get lost, you may reassess the complexity of maze designs, for instance. 

Communication is key, both during and after a crisis. Crisis communication is focused on sharing relevant information with interested parties, such as your visitors, regulatory agencies, legal entities, news organizations, and the general public. Trust and authenticity are essential components of agritourism success. Your crisis communications must demonstrate the value with which you hold visitors and recipients, and viewers must believe that you are being transparent and genuine in your communications and responses. Your goal is to be consistently transparent and accurate in your communications to maintain and reinforce the trust between you and your visitors.

Under normal operating circumstances, you probably have one individual responsible for public relations and social media. When a crisis occurs, however, depending on the type and severity, multiple people may be needed to craft communication messages.  For instance, for an event that involves serious illness, injury, or death, it may be advisable to include your lawyer in the drafting of communications.

You have several communication channel options, including social media platforms (e.g., Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), Reddit, TikTok, and YouTube) and traditional media such as newspapers, radio, or television. Remember that social media users have different expectations regarding openness and transparency for those with whom they interact, whether individuals or businesses. 

When considering the role of social media in crisis management, there are benefits, including:

• Real-time communication and information dissemination
• Monitoring and tracking emerging issues
• Engaging with stakeholders and the public
• Conveying transparency and building trust

To read more about the benefits and additional considerations regarding social media crisis communications, see the article Tips for Using Social Media in Crisis Management and Communications.

Your choice of communication channel(s) will impact the amount and level of detail for information shared and the regularity of communications. You will likely use multiple channels to reach your entire audience and share the most information.

Keys to successful communications include:

• Responding quickly
• Prioritizing the victim(s)
• Not blaming others
• Leveraging supporters
• Being transparent (Joubert, 2018)

It is important to accompany crisis communications requiring you to share information with visitors or consumers (such as a product recall) with an expression of care, and possibly further supplemented with an offer of compensation and/or an apology (The Institute for PR, 2007).

Your communication strategy should be consistent with the type of crisis, with the emotional reactions of visitors and the public considered. For example, a study of the 2012 Costa Concordia shipwreck found that when there was a preventable crisis type, confession (admitting fault) was the best strategy to prevent anger and evoke sympathy (Grappi & Romani, 2015).  

Consider a situation where a child falls several feet from a hay bale tunnel maze attraction, breaking an arm. You will want to communicate with the parents as soon as appropriate, expressing your concern for the child's well-being. In addition, it may be appropriate to make a public statement on your social media, again sharing your concern for the child and reassuring other visitors who may have been at your farm at the same time and who may have witnessed the accident, as well as members of the public who may have heard about the incident.

Poor crisis communications may result in:

• A breakdown in operational response
• Confusion, anger, and negative reactions from visitors, consumers, and/or the public
• Perception that you/your operations is incompetent and responsible
• Increased time to resolution
• Greater financial and reputational damage (Goh, 2019)

To illustrate, a 2017 study found that consumer intent to purchase from a business that poorly handled a crisis significantly decreased, while consumer purchase intent post-crisis was positively impacted when the business engaged in a responsible recall, a voluntary recall not initiated by a government organization, and crisis communication (Mansor & KaderAli, 2017). This means that visitors are less likely to return to your agritourism operation following a crisis that you handle poorly, leading to negative perceptions about your operations and also a decrease in your income.

Times of crisis are challenging and stressful. You will be faced with managing additional responsibilities in addition to existing farm operations. The nature of the crisis may bring additional external scrutiny to your farm and agritourism venture. How well you are prepared to face any crisis and the professionalism with which you carry out your actions and communications will determine how your agritourism business weathers the storm.

References

Ag Injury News. n.d.

Goh, Moh Heng. (August 20, 2019).  What is Crisis Management and Crisis Communication? Are They Similar? Business Continuity Management Institute.

Crisis. 2024. In Dictionary.com. Retrieved November 22, 2024.

Grappi, S., & Romani, S. (2015). Company Post-Crisis Communication Strategies and the Psychological Mechanism Underlying Consumer Reactions. Journal of Public Relations Research, 27(1), 22–45. doi.org/10.1080/1062726X.2014.924839.

Institute for PR. (October 30, 2007). Crisis Management and Communications. Institute for Public Relations.

Joubert, S. (January 9, 2018). 7 Crisis Communication Tips Every Organization Should Master. Accessed November 22, 2024.

Mansor, F., & KaderAli, N. N. (2017). Crisis Management, Crisis Communication, and Consumer Purchase Intention Post-crisis. Global Business and Management Research, Suppl.Special Issue, 9(4), 60-79. Accessed November 22, 2024.

Mitroff, I. I., Shrivastava, P., & Udwadia, F. E. (1987). Effective Crisis Management. The Academy of Management Executive, 1(4), 283. doi.org/10.5465/ame.1987.4275639

Siomkos, G. J., & Malliaris, P. G. (1992). Consumer Response to Company Communications During a Product Harm Crisis. Journal of Applied Business Research, 8(4), 59.

U.S. Food and Drug Administration. n.d. Recall Dashboard.

Xu, J. 2020. Does the medium matter? A meta-analysis on using social media vs. traditional media in crisis communication. Public Relations Review. 46(4): doi.org/10.1016/j.pubrev.2020.101947.

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. For specific legal guidance, please consult an attorney.

This work was supported in part by the United States Department of Agriculture, National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) under project # 2020-68006-31683.