Empowering Agritourism Service Providers to Strengthen Agritourism Programs as a Farm Diversification Strategy
On October 9, 2024, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced the funding of 46 projects funded by the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program (BFRDP) at $23.7 million. A single Education Team (ET) grant was funded titled “Empowering Agritourism Service Providers to Strengthen Agritourism Programs as a Farm Diversification Strategy to Enhance Beginning Farmers and Ranchers Success” by Dr. Doolarie Singh-Knights of West Virginia University funded at $748,140 (9/15/2024-9/14/2027). ET BFRDP projects are designed to identify gaps in beginning farmer and rancher training by evaluating existing programs, and by developing and conducting train-the-trainer projects to address these gaps.
In keeping with the intent of ET BFRDP grants, this project’s long-term goal is to provide support to agritourism service providers to empower agritourism operators to implement sustainable agritourism diversification strategies to complement viable agricultural operations, earn a livable wage, and address the opportunities and challenges of farming in the 21st century. To this end, this project will develop a “National Holistic Agritourism Training Toolbox”, provide professional development, and organize an Agritourism Community of Practice to help agritourism service providers be better prepared to guide and support agritourism operators to develop sustainable farm diversification practices. For beginning farms, this could mean laying the groundwork for sustainable agricultural production and operations for agritourism; for established farms, this could mean developing agritourism products and experiences, and better linking their offerings to customers and the entrepreneurial support ecosystem. The “National Holistic Agritourism Training Toolbox” will create a unified agritourism curriculum to help elevate the effectiveness of state and regional agritourism training programs, while still allowing for states to adjust the curriculum for regional fit and credibility.
The project assembles some of the most prolific agritourism experts across the US including Claudia Gil Arroya (Rutgers University), Rachel Callahan (University of California, Davis), Lisa Chase (University of Vermont), Kelli Hepler (Alaska Native Tourism Association – AIANTA), Patrick Holladay (Troy University), Chadley Hollas (Cultivating Tourism), Scottie Jones (FarmStay USA), Dave Lamie (Clemson University), Lindsey Pashow (Cornell University), and Claudia Schmidt (Penn State University). Additionally, there is a 16 member advisory committee representing diverse agritourism educators, agriculture service providers, agritourism operators and other stakeholders across the agritourism entrepreneurial ecosystem, including representatives from NGOs/CBOs/SBOs, and national networks including the Global Agritourism Network and the National Extension Tourism (NET) Agritourism Working Group.
If you are an agritourism service provider or are interested in working to support agritourism operators in your state or region, and would like to learn more about this project, please reach out to Dee Singh-Knights at dosingh-knights@mail.wvu.edu or Lindsey Pashow at lep67@cornell.ed