Fact Sheets for Managing Agri- and Nature-Tourism Operations

What is Agri -Tourism?

Dru Rivers and her child pick a pumpkin at the family's Full Belly Farm pumpkin patch.

Farm/ranch recreation refers to activities conducted on private agricultural lands, which might include fee-hunting and fishing, overnight stays, educational activities, etc. This category of tourism is a subset of a larger industry known as agri-tourism. Agri-tourism is "a commercial enterprise at a working farm, ranch, or agricultural plant conducted for the enjoyment of visitors that generates supplemental income for the owner."

Agritourism and nature-tourism enterprises might include:

• Outdoor recreation (fishing, hunting, wildlife study, horseback riding).
• Educational experiences (cannery tours, cooking classes, or wine tasting).
• Entertainment (harvest festivals or barn dances).
• Hospitality services (farm stays, guided tours or outfitter services).
• On-farm direct sales (u-pick operations or roadside stands).

Agri-tourism is a subset of a larger industry called rural tourism that includes resorts, off-site farmers' markets, non-profit agricultural tours, and other leisure and hospitality businesses that attract visitors to the countryside.

Rural Tourism differs from agri-tourism in two ways. First, rural tourism enterprises do not necessarily occur on a farm or ranch, or at an agricultural plant, they do not generate supplemental income for the agricultural enterprise.

Potential Enterprises:

This Fact Sheet was adapted by Desmond Jolly, Cooperative Extension agricultural economist and director, UC Small Farm Program, from the Agri-tourism Workgroup and Resources, Oregon Department of Agriculture.