Progress report for ENE23-184
Project Information
Agritourism operations increasingly encounter conflict with neighbors over noise, parking, traffic, and other issues, as well as with local government regulators on issues involving zoning and land use. The definition of “agritourism” differs from state-to-state and is often unclear. Although the term implies a connection between the farming operation and tourism activities, operators increasingly employ bounce houses and other party games, haunted houses, petting zoos, hay rides, concerts, movies and other activities that lack a clear connection to the agricultural operation. Sometimes production and tourism activities take place on different parcels of land. On the other hand, local land use regulations often require a more direct connection between the activity and the production on the premises. Neighbors are increasingly complaining about the impacts of these operations.
This project gathers data this important but often overlooked aspect of agritourism, and educates producers, service providers and others on how to minimize conflicts while maximizing returns to the operator. Innovations include targeting land use planners, local government officials, and attorneys in the education efforts.
Land use planners and local government officials play a critical role in the viability of agritourism but often lack knowledge of agriculture and agritourism. Agritourism operators are critically impacted by local land use regulations but often lack knowledge of the regulations or how the regulations are formulated. This project bridges the gap by educating each of these groups on the concern of the other group.
The grant will foster collaboration and connection between ASPs and agritourism operators, multiplying the impact of the grant.
200 agricultural service providers will advise a total of 900 agritourism operators in the liability of their operation, risk management coverage and zoning issues. Of those 900 Agritourism operators, 800 will examine the risk management and zoning issues of their operations and 675 will consult with insurance agents, ag service providers or their neighbors related to these issues as a result.
The long-term impact of the program will be increasing the profitability and sustainability of agritourism operations as a lucrative farm diversification strategy as measured in a follow-up evaluation. Agritourism operators will consult with local government officials and neighbors prior to instituting new agritourism activities and at least 100 will proactively serve on local committees to collaboratively develop local rules and regulations for agritourism as measured in a follow-up survey.
This project fosters collaboration and connection between ASPs and agritourism operators by first determining the greatest perceived needs of agritourism operators and training ASPs that work with them to meet those needs. The host university delayed releasing funds but the team has met several times to form project teams and begun developing informaion related to three project areas (litigation and legal concerns, the agritourism operator survey, and site visit questions for the case studies. The project will be working with another project which has a nationwide agritourism operator survey and has submitted questions to that project. That survey will be distributed next month (February 2024) and will close in April 2024.
Cooperators
- (Educator and Researcher)
- (Educator and Researcher)
- (Educator and Researcher)
- (Educator and Researcher)
- (Educator and Researcher)
- (Educator and Researcher)
Educational approach
Investigators will first survey and assess the existing landscape for agritourism in each of the four states. Discussion occurred relating to the number of types of agritourism operations in each participating state as well as what key information is needed. The project team (along with the advisory committee) determined what questions were relevant and what information we could determine from the national agritourism survey. After that survey information is compiled and summarized the resulting data will be used to support this educational programming.
Legal and land use planning background of current and previous litigation and zoning regulations has been assessed.
Existing laws and regulations have been collected, evaluated and categorized. Frequency of conflict has been gauged by reviewing news reports and a database of court cases in each state. Definitions of agritourism and related terms was collected, analyzed and compared within and between states. These findings will be compared and combined with the results of the interviews of agritourism operators to determine existing conflicts and barriers. Professional development programs will be specifically target for land use planners and local government officials as well as the other ag service providers. The team has been interviewing the agritourism operators for case studies to support the project and highlight operator concerns and issues.
The results of this background assessment will be combined to develop a curriculum for webinars and workshops. Project will conduct webinars or workshops for at least 300 service providers including extension educators, food safety assessors, insurance agents, tourism professionals, and service providers from the Department of Ag, USDA, FSA, etc. Certified land use providers will participate through continuing education webinars. The participants will be recruited and retained by working with existing professional organizations whenever appropriate to offer continuing education for lawyers, service providers, etc.
Agritourism Operators will be able to:
- Analyze whether particular activities qualify as agritourism
- Identify potential activities that may not be covered through liability insurance and either seek coverage or, if not coverable, discontinue the practice
- Develop and implement plans for diversification and income sustainability
- Guide agritourism operators in engaging the community prior to the initiating agritourism events
- Demonstrate techniques in engaging community members in the decision-making process
Service providers will be able to:
- Identify activities are and are not considered agritourism in their state (all service providers)
- Be aware of potential land use issues and have the ability to refer agritourism operators to the correct agencies if needed (all service providers)
- Help providers identify what activities they need coverage for in their situation (insurance providers)
In addition, the workshops will focus on ways to work with local government officials, land use planners, agritourism operators, and neighbors to ensure that the agritourism operations minimize conflicts. Minimizing conflicts will allow operators to maximize profits. These and other benefits of collaboratively and cooperatively integrating agritourism into communities will be explained and discussed.
These workshops will seek to support diversity and inclusion by actively recruiting both participants that qualify as and participants that work with historically underserved and disadvantaged audiences such as minorities, females, veterans and economically disadvantaged farmers or ranchers.
Curriculum will be developed to outline best practices for agritourism operators and communities to balance operator and community concerns and needs. Definitions of agritourism and related terms will be collected, assessed and compared in the workbook. Factsheets related to key areas will also be developed. The publications will be broadly available on the internet.
Four workshops will train ag service providers such as extension agents, government officials, and insurance agents. These ASPs will conduct work with the grant team to conduct at least ten workshops for agritourism operators. Additional virtual workshops will be held for both ASPs and agritourism operators.
Milestones
January 2024 update: The host university delayed releasing funds but the team has met several times to form project teams and begun developing information related to three project areas (litigation and legal concerns, the agritourism operator survey, and site visit questions for the case studies. The project will be working with another project which has a nationwide agritourism operator survey and has submitted questions to that project. That survey will be distributed next month (February 2024) and will close in April 2024.
Timeline
- May 2023: Meet with advisory committee to lay out plan (minimum of 13 people). Identify possible under served populations. Determine suitable agritourism operations for tours (20 sites).
- Status: Complete
- Accomplishments: Project team met, identified and recruited advisory committee members then compiled a list of possible agritourism operations to use as case studies, discussing what each information and unique characteristics they could bring to the project. All state contacts completed CITI and other necessary training.
- June 2023: Apply for IRB exemption or approval. Begin researching definitions of agritourism in each state. Compile a list of agritourism operators in West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Vermont including mail and email addresses. Develop case study questionnaire and have it reviewed by advisory committee.
- Status: Complete
- Accomplishments: Advisory committee was recruited and 2 of the 3 meetings have been held, providing feedback and suggestions for program development. Agritourism definitions, appropriate law or regulations, and current/recent litigation issues have been compiled for curriculum development.
- Aug. 2023: Determine schedule and assignment of farm tours and begin tours (Farm tours August 2023 – July 2024)
- Status:
- Accomplishments:
- Sept. 2023: Develop draft of questionnaire and have it reviewed by advisory committee. Begin development of workbook, curriculum, and fact sheets related to agritourism zoning and legal definitions.
- Status: Complete
- Accomplishments:
- Questionnaire: Case study questions were reviewed by advisory committee then updated with committee feedback. Data collection is still in progress for the case studies and their contribution to the project.
- Fact sheets: Legal related information is complete (below). Educational content that will be disseminated includes factsheets, workbook, and educational meetings.
- Curriculum: Work groups have been compiled for the educational curriculum development including: relevant information from national agritourism study, legal and litigation content, case study information, and evaluation component.
- Jan. 2024: Meet with pilot group of agritourism operators to test questionnaire. Discuss issues they are facing related to land use regulations and insurance liability. Compile case studies.
- Status: In progress
- Accomplishments: Case study questionnaire and goals were finalized. Appropriate agritourism operators were evaluated and selected for 20 case studies (5 in each participating state). 13 of the 20 case study interviews have been conducted as of April 28, 2025.
- Aug. 2024-Nov. 2024: Contact 1030+ service providers with recruitment announcements about educational programming (350+ land use planners, 40+ food safety assessors, 60+ extension educators, 50+ department of ag representatives, 30+ tourism professionals, 200+ insurance providers, 100+ tax preparers, 100+ other ag service providers, 100+ community development board members)
- Status:
- Accomplishments:
- Sept.- Dec. 2024: Conduct six state and regional educational programs with 300 service providers
- Status: In progress
- Accomplishments: List has been compiled with possible locations but workshops are not scheduled yet.
- March 2025: Revise agritourism operator questionnaire
- Status:
- Accomplishments:
- May 2025: Send questionnaire to 600+ agritourism operators via email and mail
- Status:
- Accomplishments:
- June 2025: Re-send questionnaire to agritourism operators. Send follow-up survey to service providers to determine the number of agritourism operators they consulted with.
- Status:
- Accomplishments:
- July - Dec. 2025: Data analysis
- Status:
- Accomplishments:
- May- Dec 2026: Reporting and fact sheet development related to agritourism operator data
- Status:
- Accomplishments:
VERIFICATION of LEARNING OUTCOMES
All participants of the educational programs (ag service providers, city planners, etc.) will receive an initial questionnaire to assess their current baseline attitudes, knowledge, skills and confidence, and particular learning interests related to the project area. Post-training (4-6 months) follow-up assessment will be conducted to determine stakeholders’ contacts with agritourism operators, feedback, and assess learning outcomes. These surveys will also assess additional learning needs and interests.
Milestone activities and participation summary
Participants in the project’s educational activities:
Performance Target Outcomes
Performance Target Outcomes - Service Providers
Target #1
200
200 agricultural service providers will advise a total of 900 agritourism operators in the liability of their operation, risk management coverage and zoning issues.
900
Performance Target Outcomes - Farmers
Target #1
800
800 farmers will examine the risk management and zoning issues of their operations.
Target #2
675
675 farmers will consult with insurance agents, ag service providers or their neighbors related to these issues as a result.
Target #3
100
Agritourism operators will consult with local government officials and neighbors prior to instituting new agritourism activities and at least 100 will proactively serve on local committees to collaboratively develop local rules and regulations for agritourism as measured in a follow-up survey.