WSU alumni found AgRooted to support family farms

Growing up on an 80-acre farm, Washington State University alums and siblings Jessica and Sean Murray were acutely aware of the challenges facing small family operations like theirs and wanted to be part of the solution.

In 2022, the Murrays and their small team founded AgRooted with support from WSU entrepreneurial programs at the Carson College of Business that helped the duo get started. The online platform will allow guests to find and book visits to orchards, vineyards, u-pick pumpkin patches, flower gardens, and other agriculture adventures such as farm stays.

The AgRooted team hopes to launch and start signing up farms by the end of 2024. Jessica, who recently joined the School of Hospitality Business Management as an assistant professor after finishing a postdoc in 2022, said they wouldn't be nearly as far along without WSU support.

"There's always a lot of opportunity if you're willing to say 'yes,' and try new things, and that's what I've always found especially powerful about WSU," she said. "I have connections and opportunities I never would have had if I had not said 'yes' to something unfamiliar."

Small family farms face significant challenges, including escalating production costs and fierce competition from large agribusinesses. These small farms have increasingly turned toward the burgeoning industry of agritourism to shore up profits.

Jessica said AgRooted's potential competitors, such as Airbnb and Viator, don't prominently showcase agricultural experiences, limiting their visibility. These platforms also do not accommodate the wide variety of stays, experiences, or the unique complexities of the offerings available in agritourism. An estimated 62 million people a year in the US visit farms, according to the National Tour Association. However, there is no centralized website if people want to look for a farm experience, Jessica said.

The team entered the WSU Business Plan Competition in spring 2022, and while they didn't make it very far in the competition, they agree it was a good learning experience. That summer, they completed the Jones Milestone Accelerator program offered by WSU's Center for Entrepreneurship, which provided $20,000 in seed funding with additional financial support for legal resources.

"We wanted to fill the gap between farmers and consumers," said Margaret Bader, AgRooted's chief marketing officer and the third member of the Murrays' team. "A lot of farmers will use Facebook, word of mouth, or local bulletin boards, but they don't have a single, commonly used platform for connecting with customers."

According to the US Department of Agriculture, around 97% of farms in the US are family-owned. Small farms make up about 88% of that total, but while they occupy 46% of agricultural land, they only account for about 19% of the total economic value produced. These factors have driven many family farms to seek alternative sources of revenue through agritourism, such as offering farm stays, hosting seasonal events, and running farm-to-table dining experiences.

"There're tons of experiences these farms take for granted that are really unique, especially things like seeing a calf being born, milking cows, or hatching chickens," Sean said. "Even something as simple as collecting the eggs can be really cool and fascinating for kids and adults."

Sean said these kinds of trips have broad appeal and can often be a low-cost, close-to-home alternative to vacations with long travel times.

"Even if you grew up in downtown Manhattan, there's something about going to a farm, touching the dirt, and seeing where your food comes from," Jessica said. "It's a very emotional connection, even if you have never been there before."

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