Growing California Agritourism Communities

View the project final report

Commodities

Practices

• Education and Training: decision support system, demonstration, display, extension, farmer to farmer, mentoring, networking, technical assistance, workshop
• Farm Business Management: agritourism, budgets/cost and returns, business planning, farmers' markets/farm stands, financial management, labor/employment, marketing management, new enterprise development, risk management, value added, whole farm planning
• Sustainable Communities: analysis of personal/family life, community development, community planning, employment opportunities, infrastructure analysis, leadership development, new business opportunities, partnerships, public participation, public policy, quality of life, social capital, social networks, urban/rural integration

California small-scale agricultural producers, due to lack of economies of scale, need to add value to their production activities to maintain
the economic viability of their farms and ranches. As public interest in local food and sustainable farming practices increases, a growing
number of producers are considering diversifying with agritourism operations. Agritourism operations are most successful as part of a
supportive community that includes tourism professionals, county regulators, agricultural educators and other agritourism operators. This
project will provide training, resources and peer support to committed agricultural educators (including NRCS and RCD), government staff,
agritourism association leaders and tourism professionals as they train producers in agritourism and develop supportive agritourism
communities. Fifty participants, including 24 selected agricultural educators (12 in each region) who commit to offering workshops or other
agritourism education for producers, will be invited to participate in the intensive two-day workshops, and will be provided curricula and
follow-up support as they share the knowledge, skills and tools with their clients and communities. The workshops and farm tours will
feature intimate discussions with experienced agritourism operators and agritourism trainers. Tools and resources created through this
project will include activity-specific agritourism planning guides, California-oriented issue presentations for educators adapted from the
Training Modules of the Extension Training for Agritourism Development project published online by Rutgers University Extension, and a
directory of California agritourism support resources and organizations. The project will result in increased agritourism training
opportunities and resources for California producers and an increase in the number of agritourism supportive communities.

California small-scale agricultural producers, due to lack of economies of scale, need to add value to their production activities to maintain
the economic viability of their farms and ranches. As public interest in local food and sustainable farming practices increases, a growing
number of producers are considering diversifying with agritourism operations. (USDA, 2012) Agritourism has strong potential to be
profitable (Hardesty, 2016), but entering the agritourism industry requires that producers learn new skills and develop new partnerships.
Agritourism operations are most successful as part of a supportive community that includes tourism professionals, county regulators,
agricultural educators and other agritourism operators (UC Small Farm Program, 2015). In many communities, these professionals are not
familiar with the potential for agritourism or the challenges faced by agritourism operators. This project will provide training, resources
and peer support to committed agricultural educators, tourism professionals, city and county staff and agritourism association leaders as
they train producers in agritourism and develop supportive agritourism communities.
Major challenges cited by California agritourism operators include permitting, regulations, marketing and management (George, et al.,
2011). Project workshops will be offered in communities that have demonstrated commitment to overcoming these challenges. In these
communities, county regulators, who will be workshop presenters, have recently coordinated easing of permitting and regulatory barriers.
These communities also include clusters of agritourism operators who market their operations together, and tourism professionals who
amplify this marketing through internet marketing and their connections with the marketing and hospitality communities. Tourism
professionals, agritourism association leaders, business planning educators and agritourism development professionals will be presenters.
Agricultural educators, although respected by producers and well-positioned to provide agritourism training, have multiple demands on
their time and small travel budgets. This project will select participants through an application process that asks participants to explain
their intentions for sharing knowledge learned with their clients. Twenty-four selected agricultural educators (12 in each region) who
commit to offering workshops or other agritourism education for producers will be invited to participate in the intensive two-day
workshops, provided curricula and follow-up support, and reimbursed for travel expenses incurred in attending.
Previously funded SARE projects related to this proposal include EW10-004, EW07-008 and ENNE11-121. The first two projects offered
educational agritourism workshops to larger groups including producers, agricultural educators and others, whereas the current proposed
project will offer comprehensive training to smaller groups of professionals specifically tailored toward the objective of these professionals
organizing agritourism training for producers. The third project created excellent training materials directed toward Northeast agricultural
educators. The proposed project will use the Northeast materials as a model for creating similar training materials for Western educators,
and will develop planning guides and budget templates for agritourism activities most popular with California producers.

The long-term goal of this project is the development of twenty clusters of profitable California agritourism operations that sustain
producers and educate visitors about sustainable agriculture, are supported by the local agricultural and tourism communities, and
contribute to the economic development of their communities.
Specific short-term project objectives are:
1. Increased confidence among 45 project participants in their ability to train and support producers in developing and promoting
profitable agritourism operations by the end of the workshops.
2. At least seven project participants will begin organizing agritourism planning workshops for producers in their communities by the end of
the project.
3. At least 20 project participants will participate in organizing agritourism development, support or promotional activities in their
communities by the end of the project timeline.
4. At least 50 agricultural educators will increase their understanding of the opportunities and challenges of agritourism by downloading
California agritourism issues presentations by the end of the project.
5. At least 150 agricultural producers will download agritourism activity-specific planning guides and budget templates by the end of the
project.
Medium-term objectives (one year after the end of the project) are:
1. 200 California agricultural producers will participate in agritourism planning workshops organized by project participants
2. At least twenty project participants will report being involved in ongoing agritourism development, support or promotional activities in
their communities.
3. At least eight additional California agricultural educators or support professionals will begin organizing agritourism planning workshops
for producers, using project-produced materials.
4. At least 200 agricultural producers will download agritourism activity-specific planning guides and budget templates.
Long-term objectives (two to four years after the end of the project) are:
1. 12 California counties, within the past four years, will have revised zoning ordinances to ease entry by agricultural producers into the
agritourism industry.
2. 150 California farmers or ranchers will have started agritourism operations within the past four years
3. 15 California visitors bureaus will have increased promotion of regional agritourism operations and report increased public interest in
agritourism activities.
4. 8 new producer-based agritourism associations will be thriving, each with at least seven farmers or ranchers offering profitable
agritourism activities, an internet marketing program, and support from local economic development and tourism professionals
5. California agritourism operators will report average annual growth rates of five percent in both agritourism revenues and numbers of
visitors.
6. Agritourism will be commonly understood among the California public to mean pleasurable and educational activities on California
farms and ranches that helps sustain agricultural communities.