Authors: Chrystol Thomas, Assistant Professor and Extension Specialist, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension, and Rachel Carter, Extension Specialist II, Center for Government and Community Development, Mississippi State University Extension
In a 2025 Southern Ag Today article, Britwum and Thomas (2025) highlighted that agritourism creates new economic opportunities for rural communities by connecting consumers with agriculture. According to the Global Agritourism Network, “Agritourism is an agricultural diversification activity that results from the synergistic intersection of agriculture and tourism. Agritourism offers authentic experiences related to agricultural production that showcase the tangible and intangible resources of the region or locality.”
Agritourism presents unique experiences and business models with its blending of agriculture, a more production focused industry with tourism, an experience-based industry. Agritourism is also a broad concept that can incorporate value added products, outdoor recreation, education, and entertainment. With this blending of industries and continued high public interest in understanding the origin of the food they consume, agritourism presents an opportunity for producers to increase farm revenue, potentially put into production marginal land, create employment opportunities, and build appreciation for agriculture.
However, it is not as easy as 1, 2, 3. Adding another component to an existing farm operation requires a lot of insights and business development knowledge and concepts. Therefore, though agritourism sounds like a lot of fun, and it can be, the industry is complex, and at times challenging for producers. To be successful in agritourism producers must determine how to create authentic experiences that fit their operations, meet visitor demand, abide by regulations, maintain safety, and generate a profitable revenue stream. This article highlights some of the challenges associated with agritourism and strategies for success.
Agritourism operators face a combination of financial, labor, marketing, liability, and infrastructure challenges, although the relative importance of these barriers varies by region. Hollas et al. (2022) found that Southern operators were 1.3 times more likely than Northeastern operators to report liability challenges and 1.6 times more likely to report e-connectivity challenges. Southern operators were less likely than Northeastern operators to report state and local regulatory challenges. These findings suggest that policy responses should reflect regional differences, with improved rural broadband access and affordable liability insurance among the priorities for the South (Hollas et al., 2022).
Findings from the national study by Whitehouse et al. (2026) reinforce the importance of labor and financial constraints. Labor, time management, and having adequate time for marketing were among the challenges most frequently rated at least somewhat challenging, while insurance costs and availability, labor, and the monetary cost of marketing were among those most frequently rated very challenging. Respondents also identified grants and other financial resources, social media marketing and management, and legal and liability information as important forms of support (Whitehouse et al., 2026). These findings are consistent with Connolly et al. (2024), whose study of agritourism and direct-marketing farms in the Northeast documented labor shortages and the operational adjustments farmers made in response.
The 2024 National Agritourism Producer Survey, published by the Northeast Regional Center for Rural Development, identified financial resources and regulatory compliance as important challenges for agritourism operators. Among regulatory issues, civil liability was the most challenging: 53.1% of respondents rated it a moderate or greater challenge. Designation of agritourism operations as retail sites ranked second (45.7%), followed by food safety requirements (39.4%) and building codes (38.9%). Retail-site designation may create additional costs by requiring investments in facilities and infrastructure. These findings highlight the need for accessible liability guidance, affordable insurance, clear regulatory information, and financial and technical assistance to help operators meet safety and infrastructure requirements (Schmidt et al., 2025).
Taken together, these studies point to several policy and extension priorities: expanding reliable rural broadband, improving access to affordable liability insurance and clear legal guidance, developing grant programs for agritourism businesses and visitor infrastructure, and providing practical training in marketing, business planning, financial management, food safety, and regulatory compliance. Multiple states in the southern region have been working to address some of these challenges to reduce the risks associated with agritourism such as regulations to address liability and education programs to address financial risks through workshops on financial management, food safety, and marketing. Cooperative Extension, agricultural agencies, and tourism organizations are well positioned to coordinate these forms of technical assistance.
References
Britwum, K. & Thomas, C. (2025). “Developing Rural Economic Opportunities Through Agritourism.” Southern Ag Today 5(12.5). https://southernagtoday.org/2025/03/21/developing-rural-economic-opportunities-through-agritourism/
Connolly, C., Cusack, C., Morzillo, A. T., & Towe, C. (2024). Challenges facing agritourism: How are producers coping? Choices, 39(3), 1-9. https://doi.org/10.22004/ag.econ.344742
Global Agritourism Network. (2025). Agritourism definition and values. https://globalagritourismnetwork.org/definition-and-values/
Hollas, C. R., Wang, W., Chase, L., Conner, D., & Kolodinsky, J. (2022). Challenges for the agritourism sector in the United States: Regional comparisons of access. Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development, 11(4), 61-76. https://doi.org/10.5304/jafscd.2022.114.003.
Schmidt, C., Entsminger, J.S., Cornelisse, S. and Schweichler, J. (2025) “Insights on Agritourism Among U.S. Producers: Evidence from the 2024 National Agritourism Producer Survey.” Data Brief 2025-1. Northeast Regional Center for Rural Development.
Whitehouse, C., LaBonte, K., Straw, A., Solorzano, G., Vega-Labiosa, A., & Chase, L. (2026). “Agritourism across the United States: Findings from a national study of agritourism operators.” University of Vermont. https://www.uvm.edu/extension/national-agritourism-study.
Recommended citation format: Thomas, Chrystol, and Rachel Carter. “Agritourism Sounds Like Fun: Challenges and Strategies for Success.” Southern Ag Today 6(44.5). October 30, 2026. Permalink
