Agritourism in Pennsylvania 2019 Update

Agritourism can be an important income diversification strategy, especially for small and medium sized farms. In recent years it has benefited from growing consumer interest in how food production and quality impact their health and the environment. However, recent census numbers show that the number of farms receiving income from agritourism in Pennsylvania has decreased slightly, from 729 in 2012 to 711 in 2017. The agricultural census defines agritourism as income received from "recreational services such as hunting, fishing, farm or wine tours, hayrides, etc."  Pennsylvania agritourism sales reached $27 million, up from $24.7 million in 2012, in nominal dollars. The average income from agritourism per operation of $38,261 in Pennsylvania was slightly higher than the U.S. average of $33,222. Pennsylvania ranks 12th in the US in the number of agritourism operators.  In comparison, Texas had 5,723; California 1,130 and Colorado 1,056 operators reporting income from agritourism in 2017.

The map below illustrates the concentration of agritourism operations in Pennsylvania. Not surprisingly, most of the farms offering agritourism activities can be found in the southeast.  Lancaster has the most operations (77), followed by Chester (40) and Bucks (36). Butler is the leading county in the west with 26 operations.  For the northeast, Wayne County leads with 21 operations.

Penn State Extension

The table below shows the top ten counties in Pennsylvania in terms of receipts from agritourism and recreational services in 2017. Bucks County received the highest revenues ($5,213,000) but had only 36 agritourism operators.  The average income per agritourism operator was $144,806. With 77 operators in Lancaster County, the average per operator income was $67,234.

Receipts from Agritourism and Recreational Services (2017)

Differences become apparent when examining how things have changed from 2012 to 2017. For example; in Butler, Susquehanna and Washington counties, the number of agritourism operators has increased by 14, 13, and 13 farms respectively from 2012 to 2017. County colors on the map below indicate the percent change in participation since the last census.  The numbers indicate the change in absolute number of businesses. For example, the number of agritourism operations in Berks county decreased by 47 percent, from 69 operations in 2012 to 36, in 2017 (the orange category indicates a decrease of 0 to 50%). The second largest decrease—decreasing from 56 in 2012 to 40 in 2017—occurred in Chester county, followed by Blair County, where participation fell from 18 in 2012 to 5 in 2017.

Penn State Extension

There are currently no laws in Pennsylvania providing operators with limited liability protection for injuries resulting from agritourism activities. Across the U.S., thirty-nine states do have such laws. However, with the potential upcoming changes in agritourism laws in Pennsylvania (House Bill 1348), it will be interesting to see changes in agritourism operator numbers and their receipts in 2022 (the next census year).

Further Reading

House Bill 1348: An Act providing for limited civil liability for agritourism activity providers, for notice of limited civil liability and for acknowledgment of limited civil liability.