Project Overview
Commodities
- Fruits: apples
- Animals: sheep
- Animal Products: dairy
Practices
- Education and Training: demonstration, networking, on-farm/ranch research, participatory research
- Farm Business Management: agritourism
Proposal abstract:
Project Focus
Maryland's agritourism sector is growing rapidly, but both farmers and service providers face ongoing challenges that limit profitability and long-term sustainability. Beginning and small farmers struggle with unclear county-level agritourism definitions, inconsistent permitting rules, limited business management skills, and a lack of methods to identify operational bottlenecks. Even experienced agritourism farmers lack the tools to pinpoint bottlenecks or optimize their operations to improve profitability. Extension educators lack resources to turn research into practical training. These issues result in missed revenue opportunities, underperforming agritourism businesses.
The service providers involved in this project, including personnels from University of Maryland Extension (UME), the Maryland Department of Agriculture (MDA), the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES), county agricultural marketing offices, an agritourism nonprofit organization, and experienced agritourism farmers, perform essential but often separate roles. UME provides technical assistance and business development training; MDA manages regulatory guidance and market development programs; UMES supports farmers through research and outreach; and local agencies and nonprofits help with promotion, zoning interpretation, and community partnerships. Most of these activities fall under the value-addition to Maryland's food system. Despite their dedication, these providers lack coordinated, research-based tools to diagnose farm-level challenges, guide farmers effectively, and understand the institutional actors influencing profitability.
Solution and Approach
This project offers an innovative, research-based solution to help Maryland's service providers better support agritourism farmers by incorporating a high-impact, formative evaluation and action research into their professional development. The approach builds on two tools already developed and tested by the University of Maryland: (1) a feedback survey toolkit co-created with agritourism farmers in Maryland to identify bottlenecks and improve both primary revenue-generating activities (core farm operations) and secondary agritourism activities (such as visitor services), and (2) a Net-Map of institutional actors that highlights the key organizations, policies, and market players that influence farm profitability.
The solution involves training agricultural service providers across Maryland's 23 counties, including UME, MDA, UMES, local agricultural marketing offices, and nonprofit partners, on how to understand, develop, and implement these tools and methods within their advisory work. Using a formative evaluation approach, trainees will learn to gather ongoing feedback from farmers, identify operational pain points, and adjust their tools and support strategies in real time, rather than relying on one-time assessments. This process ensures continuous learning and improvement for both the service providers and the farmers.
Simultaneously, the project uses action research to engage service providers as active investigators of their local agritourism landscapes. Providers will apply the feedback toolkit and Net-Map method with selected farms in their counties, reflect on what works, refine strategies, and generate locally grounded insights. They will understand, develop tailored toolkits, and implement them in their own training sessions.
Performance targets from proposal:
Service Provider Performance Target
By the end of the project, at least 25 service providers, including extension educators, agency staff, nonprofit practitioners, and agricultural professionals across Maryland, will have verified a change in how they work with agritourism and beginning farmers as a result of this initiative.
Specifically, participating service providers will adopt formative evaluation and action research practices by regularly using (1) a structured agritourism visitor feedback survey toolkit to identify farm-level operational and revenue bottlenecks, and (2) Net-Map institutional actor mapping to help farmers navigate regulatory, marketing, and partnership environments.
These changes will shift service providers from providing advisory-based help to data-informed, participatory coaching. This approach allows farmers to diagnose issues, prioritize actions, and make better-informed decisions. Each provider is expected to work with 2 farmers (at least 50) across the state.
Optional Farmer Performance Target
By the end of the project, at least 35 farmers supported by trained service providers will implement at least one operational, marketing, or institutional change based on feedback survey results or institutional mapping (e.g., adjusting agritourism activities, pricing, visitor services, or institutional engagement). Farmers will report increased confidence in decision-making and clearer paths to profitability.