Presentation Title
Critical Success Factors for Agritourism on Small and Medium Farms: A Multi-state Lens
Abstract
Rural communities nationwide are losing agricultural jobs, productive farmland, and access to local food as farms struggle to stay in business with decreasing commodity prices and global competition. Agritourism and direct sales, some of the most promising sectors of the agricultural economy for small and mid-sized farms, can directly supplement farm income while indirectly benefiting the larger rural community through economic diversification. Agritourism is often combined with food, tying into the demand for local food products and experiences.
Although agritourism and direct sales are growing areas of agricultural diversification, in many states support for these farm enterprises is underdeveloped and lacking technical assistance, infrastructure, and active networks of farmers and service providers to ensure best practices. In addition, few studies exist that examine the breadth of these opportunities available for farms that engage in agritourism. There is a need for exploring best management practices so that additional small and medium-sized farms can engage in agritourism and direct marketing and enhance financial outcomes as well as quality of life.
Our project investigates critical success factors for small and medium farms engaged in agritourism in 5 states—Vermont, California, Oregon, West Virginia and Minnesota. Using key informant interviews that will help inform a larger survey, the end result of this three-year project will be a toolkit that translates these critical success factors into best practices with decision aids and tools that can be readily adopted by farmers. My presentation will be the preliminary results from the 30 key informant interviews.
Primary Faculty Mentor Name
David Conner
Secondary Mentor Name
Lisa Chase
Faculty/Staff Collaborators
Lisa Chase (principal investigator); Weiwei Wang; Doolarie Singh-Knights; Penny Leff; Mary Stewart; Cynthia Messer
Status
Graduate
Student College
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
Program/Major
Community Development and Applied Economics
Primary Research Category
Social Sciences
Secondary Research Category
Food & Environment Studies
Critical Success Factors for Agritourism on Small and Medium Farms: A Multi-state Lens
Rural communities nationwide are losing agricultural jobs, productive farmland, and access to local food as farms struggle to stay in business with decreasing commodity prices and global competition. Agritourism and direct sales, some of the most promising sectors of the agricultural economy for small and mid-sized farms, can directly supplement farm income while indirectly benefiting the larger rural community through economic diversification. Agritourism is often combined with food, tying into the demand for local food products and experiences.
Although agritourism and direct sales are growing areas of agricultural diversification, in many states support for these farm enterprises is underdeveloped and lacking technical assistance, infrastructure, and active networks of farmers and service providers to ensure best practices. In addition, few studies exist that examine the breadth of these opportunities available for farms that engage in agritourism. There is a need for exploring best management practices so that additional small and medium-sized farms can engage in agritourism and direct marketing and enhance financial outcomes as well as quality of life.
Our project investigates critical success factors for small and medium farms engaged in agritourism in 5 states—Vermont, California, Oregon, West Virginia and Minnesota. Using key informant interviews that will help inform a larger survey, the end result of this three-year project will be a toolkit that translates these critical success factors into best practices with decision aids and tools that can be readily adopted by farmers. My presentation will be the preliminary results from the 30 key informant interviews.