Agritourism

What is agritourism?

The definition of agritourism is different from country, state, and county. Agritourism focuses on activities that attract customers to the farm which will lead to farm product sales. There are many activities that are considered agritourism including u-pick, hayrides, petting zoo, educational tours, farm stay, workshops, and more.

The New York State Agriculture and Markets define “agricultural tourism” as “activities conducted by a farmer on-farm for the enjoyment and/or education of the public, which primarily promote the sale, marketing, production, harvesting or use of the products of the farm and enhance the public's understanding and awareness of farming and farm life” in the NYS Safety and Agritourism Act.

Agritourism in New York

In New York, the agritourism industry has evolved over the past twenty years. Agritourism has been a market diversification opportunity for many agricultural operations. Allowing these operations to offer an additional experience for customers and capture more sales dollars.

525

farms that exclusively operate agritourism business

According to the 2017 Ag Census

301

farms with both direct sales and agritourism

According to the 2017 Ag Census

More resources

Agritourism resources

CCE Agritourism Team

Throughout Cornell Cooperative Extension we have many educators/specialists available to support agritourism operations in New York. You’ll want to start with your local extension office or lep67 [at] cornell.edu (email Lindsey Pashow) to be connected with support in your area.

Agritourism Program Work Team

The Agritourism PWT consists of around 50 Cornell Cooperative Extension educators/specialists who help support agritourism across NY. This group works together to update each other on agritourism activities happening in NY, and create programming and educational materials for agritourism operations.

E-mail: cceagritourism [at] cornell.edu (cceagritourism[at]cornell[dot]edu)