Farm-Based Recreation and Development
One rural development strategy offered to enhance farm and ranch income and entrepreneurial opportunities in rural areas is farm-based recreation or agritourism. Latest data (2004) estimates that over 50,000 farms and ranches in the United States obtain some income from farm-based recreation activities.
A new report has significant implications for policy options to promote agritourism and important suggestions for organizations (like the Center for Rural Affairs) and agencies seeking to assist farmers, ranchers, and rural communities in developing initiatives based on agritourism.
Farm-Based Recreation: A Statistical Profile, is the recent USDA report. It examines numerous issues surrounding agritourism, particularly the types of farmers and ranchers and types of places where it may have the greatest potential.
USDA found that nearly three-quarters of all farms receiving recreational income are in the South or Midwest. More importantly, farms and ranches involved in agritourism are more likely to be in completely rural nonmetropolitan counties and in areas dependent on recreation in general (suggesting the opportunity to develop networks connecting agritourism with other recreational amenities).
These findings suggest that agritourism efforts need to be targeted to those areas that have greater potential for, in USDA’s words, “high-quality habitat” for hunting, fishing, trails, riders, and other recreational uses. Those habitats, of course, are more likely to be in more remote rural locations.
The challenge then becomes attracting customers to places away from population centers. The USDA report finds that agritourism offerings require a “steady stream of consumers and should be located near cities.” Reconciling this need with USDA’s finding about the location of agritourism operations and the further finding that farmers and ranchers were likely to run a farm-based recreation business if they were a greater distance from a city of at least 10,000 population is the primary challenge of developing successful agritourism businesses.
Public policy that seeks to promote agritourism as a viable rural development strategy and programs that assist in developing agritourism operations need to recognize this challenge and provide resources to develop and market consumer niches, similar to the technical assistance resources offered to nonfarm small businesses.
We have written in this space many times about the need for additional resources to develop and promote rural nonfarm small businesses – there should be no difference in the resources offered to develop and promote rural small businesses built on farm-based recreation. The full report may be viewed at www.ers.usda.gov/publications/err53.
Contact: Jon Bailey, jonb@cfra.org or 402.687.2103 x 1013 for information.
A new report has significant implications for policy options to promote agritourism and important suggestions for organizations (like the Center for Rural Affairs) and agencies seeking to assist farmers, ranchers, and rural communities in developing initiatives based on agritourism.
Farm-Based Recreation: A Statistical Profile, is the recent USDA report. It examines numerous issues surrounding agritourism, particularly the types of farmers and ranchers and types of places where it may have the greatest potential.
USDA found that nearly three-quarters of all farms receiving recreational income are in the South or Midwest. More importantly, farms and ranches involved in agritourism are more likely to be in completely rural nonmetropolitan counties and in areas dependent on recreation in general (suggesting the opportunity to develop networks connecting agritourism with other recreational amenities).
These findings suggest that agritourism efforts need to be targeted to those areas that have greater potential for, in USDA’s words, “high-quality habitat” for hunting, fishing, trails, riders, and other recreational uses. Those habitats, of course, are more likely to be in more remote rural locations.
The challenge then becomes attracting customers to places away from population centers. The USDA report finds that agritourism offerings require a “steady stream of consumers and should be located near cities.” Reconciling this need with USDA’s finding about the location of agritourism operations and the further finding that farmers and ranchers were likely to run a farm-based recreation business if they were a greater distance from a city of at least 10,000 population is the primary challenge of developing successful agritourism businesses.
Public policy that seeks to promote agritourism as a viable rural development strategy and programs that assist in developing agritourism operations need to recognize this challenge and provide resources to develop and market consumer niches, similar to the technical assistance resources offered to nonfarm small businesses.
We have written in this space many times about the need for additional resources to develop and promote rural nonfarm small businesses – there should be no difference in the resources offered to develop and promote rural small businesses built on farm-based recreation. The full report may be viewed at www.ers.usda.gov/publications/err53.
Contact: Jon Bailey, jonb@cfra.org or 402.687.2103 x 1013 for information.
