Heads of the Tomsk Region Department of Social and Economic Development of Rural Areas visited farms developing agritourism.

Department HEAD Evgeniya Bulkina conducted a working visit to the Tomsk District. The expert visited two farms: Alexander Danchev, a recipient of an Agritourism grant, and the farm of Artem and Natalia Semenov, who plan to develop rural tourism. Alexander Danchev's farm has been successfully operating under an Agrostartup grant
since 2019. In 2023, the farmer received a grant for agritourism development. The entrepreneur is focusing on promoting goat MILK products. With the help of the first grant, he purchased forage harvesting equipment—a tractor and trailer, a seeding system, a mower, and a baler. Currently, the farmer owns 70 hectares of land and 950 square meters of covered space for keeping goats. The total goat population is approximately 230, including 70 breeding goats. The cultivated area covers 237 hectares. The farm grows wheat, oats, vegetables, and potatoes . Goat's milk is used to make yogurts and cheeses using signature recipes. The farm operates a unique underground cheese storage facility, which operates without air conditioning, using natural refrigeration, like an Alpine cave. One of the walls is enclosed in glass for tourists to witness the cheese aging process. Tours of the farm are regularly organized. The entrepreneur plans to use the new agritourism grant to build guest houses and purchase additional machinery and equipment. He also plans to expand his cheese line by producing products from cow's milk, a feat the farm's production capacity allows for. "We plan to develop the area to make it comfortable for guests of all ages. We are already mastering the production of cheeses using new recipes from cow's milk," explains the farmer's wife, Maria Dancheva. The Semenov farm, located in the village of Ovrazhnoye, was registered in 2009 by Viktor Semenov Sr. They breed cows and process milk. They also produce cream and kefir .


Cottage cheese , butter . Back in 2015, Viktor Semenov won a grant to develop his family farm. He built a cowshed and increased his cattle herd from 50 to 155 head. In 2018, the entrepreneur received another grant and increased production. The farmer has received awards from the Russian Ministry of Agriculture for his achievements. Last year, the young married couple, Artem and Natalia Semenov, completed training at the Farmer's School in agritourism. The farm is already welcoming guests, organizing master classes and product tastings. The young owners plan to improve the grounds and develop a tourism industry.
"We plan to start making cheese; our equipment has the capacity to do so. We've already mastered the production process—we make cheese in small quantities. We likely won't be able to accommodate guests at the farm, but we do plan to offer one-day tours and expand our master class offerings," says Natalia Semenova.
As Evgenia Bulkina explained, these are two promising farms: one is successfully developing agritourism, while the other is just taking its first steps. It's important to offer advice to farmers and share other entrepreneurs' successful experiences running farms with a focus on agritourism.
"This is a new grant support program launched by the Russian Ministry of Agriculture in 2022, so agritourism grants raise many questions among agricultural producers. Any practical experience is interesting and important for farmers planning to develop in this area," Evgenia Anatolyevna noted.