Agritourism Offers Opportunities for Farm Operators
Dennis M.
Brown and Richard
J. Reeder
In 2004, approximately 52,000 U.S. farms—2.5
percent of all farms—received income from
farm-based recreation, totaling about $955 million.
Farm-based recreation, or agritourism, refers
to a wide variety of onfarm recreational and
entertainment-related activities, including hunting,
fishing, petting zoos, horseback riding, and onfarm
rodeos. As farmers look for alternative sources
of income, farm recreation may expand to play
a more important role in the future.
Onfarm recreation offers several
potential benefits to farm operators. It can help
supplement income from farm production activities
while providing an opportunity to more fully employ
assets, including farm household members. It can
also help diversify a farmer’s income stream,
serving as a potential cushion against farm income
fluctuations due to variability in weather, prices,
and government payments.
According to USDA’s 2004
Agricultural Resource Management Survey (ARMS),
the South accounts for more than half of all U.S.
farms receiving recreational income. The Midwest
accounts for about a quarter. Recreational farm
operations also are more likely to be in nonmetropolitan
counties and in areas more dependent on recreation
in general.
ARMS data suggest that activities
such as horseback riding and dude ranches seem to
be popular among recreation customers, with nearly
60 percent of recreation farms specializing in raising
cattle and calves or horses, ponies, and mules.
Of farms involved in recreation, the largest farms—those
with at least 1,000 acres—have the highest
per farm median recreational income, $4,000 (see
chart on page 39). Medium-sized farms—those
with 250-999 acres—have the smallest recreational
income at $2,500 per farm. Among all farms reporting
recreational income, the median farm size is quite
large—about 3,100 acres.
A recent ERS study found that
both farm-based and place-based factors are associated
with farm-to-farm variation in agritourism. Among
farm-based factors, operator net worth is positively
associated with variation in farm recreation business
involvement, as well as with the amount of income
received by the farmer involved in recreation. Additionally,
farmers who work more hours in nonfarm activities
during the summer are less likely to be involved
in onfarm recreation businesses.
Among place-based variables, the
greater the farm’s distance to a city of at
least 10,000 population, the greater the likelihood
of the farm’s participation in a recreation
business. A county’s endowments of natural
amenities (water area, climate, and topography)
also are significantly related to farm involvement
in recreation, while a county’s level of overall
recreation activity (farm and nonfarm) is significantly
related to income derived from farm recreation.
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