Progress 10/01/13 to 09/30/16
Outputs
Target Audience:With North Carolina's small and socially-disadvantaged farmers serving as the primary target audience, agritourism was introduced as a tool for economic development. Agritourism farmers, cooperative extension agents, the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (NCDACS), policy makers, the North Carolina Agritourism Networking Association (NCANA) and farmers, all served as target audiences as well. Project efforts included presenting a project overview, along with preliminary findings from the questionnaire, to the NCDACS and the NCANA during a conference development meeting. As a result, collaborative efforts were established, resulting in the project team conducting a workshop, during the January 2016 NCANA meeting. The workshop provided the target audience with findings from the agritourism questionnaire that was developed, disseminated and analyzed by the project team. Additionally, the project team developed a case study from the aforementioned questionnaire and presented the findings at the Southern Agricultural Economics Association Meeting. Upon the completion of the analysis of the completed questionnaires, the project team was able to educate non-agritourism farmers, interested in agritourism as an alternative enterprise, by hosting a workshop in September 2016. The economics, risks, and opportunities of developing an agritourism operation were discussed from the viewpoint of a successful agritourism farmer and a financial advisor specializing in minority farms. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Project member's professional development opportunities included, the "Bridging the Informational and Resources Gap," Conference, January 2015, the agritourism farm tour, August 2015, and the Southern Agricultural Economics Association Meeting attendance and presentation, February 2016. Training activities included the North Carolina Agritourism Networking Associations annual conference, held in January 2016. Agritourism farm tours and workshops were offered as part of the conference and were attended by farmers associated with and supported by the project and the project team members. The project team conducted a workshop at the aforementioned conference, providing results of the agritourism questionnaire. The project team also participated with a display table, poster and handouts for the conference attendees. Additionally, project team members served as mentors to a research apprenticeship student. As such, the student developed a research paper focusing on agritourism in North Carolina and a poster that was displayed at the, "Let's Talk" forum of the Research Apprenticeship Program closing ceremony. Graduate and undergraduate students, that were supported by the project, submitted posters, which were presented at the Southern Agricultural Economics Association meeting in San Antonio, Texas, February 2016. Students attended various workshops at the meeting, serving as a training activity. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The results of the study have been disseminated to communities of interest through various workshops the project team has held and conferences attended. The project team conducted a workshop at The North Carolina Agritourism Networking Association Conference providing preliminary questionnaire findings to agritourism and non-agritourism farmers. The project team also provided a display table with a poster and handouts at the conference. The Agritourism workshop, developed and held in September 2016 by the project team, provided information to non-agritourism farmers interested in agritourism as an alternative enterprise. Having collaborated on the North Carolina ANA Conference, the project team has developed a close relationship with the North Carolina Department of Agriculture & Consumer services. As such, the project team has shared findings from the questionnaire analysis with the NCDACS, promoting awareness. The case study submitted, accepted and presented at the Southern Agricultural Economics Association meeting entitled, "Case Studies of Agritourism among Small Farmers in North Carolina," along with, posters presented by students, assisted with exposing agricultural leaders and other attendees, who may have been unaware, about agritourism. Additionally, the aforementioned case study was published in the Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics and the Iore Journal of Agro and Crop Science, providing national and international exposure. The project team has also submitted an article entitled, "Factors Influencing Agritourism Adoption by Small Farmers in North Carolina," to the Journal of Agricultural Extension and Rural Development. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
The purpose of this study is to understand how agritourism can serve as a strategy to promote agricultural economic development among small and socially disadvantaged farmers in North Carolina. As the case with most short-term projects, the overall impact of this research is not quantifiable. Therefore, we can access the intermediate impact through workshops and questionnaire findings. The research and outreach efforts of this project have provided small farmers and policy makers with information concerning the nature of agritourism activities which will continue to keep these farming operations productive and profitable. Through organized workshops provided by this project, for both agritourism adopters and non-adopters, minorities have been provided information that is essential to economic profitability and sustainability. Our research has shown that agritourism is a viable alternative farm enterprise, increasing revenue, as much as, 50%. By engaging in agritourism operations, farmers will provide the community with opportunities to participate in contributing to the local economy. It is hoped that potential benefits of agritourism will be disseminated widely through different communities, thereby enhancing its contribution to their development. The four objectives of the project are as follows: To identify and locate small and socially-disadvantaged producers in North Carolina that offer some form of agritourism activity.This will also involve characterizing the types and scales of agritourism activities offered by such small and socially-disadvantaged farmers. To examine agritourism operators' perceptions of the opportunities and challenges associated with agritourism, and in particular, as they pertain to socially-disadvantaged and small farm operators. Additionally, we will identify farm leaders' perceptions of the opportunities and challenges presented by agritourism. Identify factors that influence the adoption of agritourism operations in North Carolina. To this end, we will estimate the likelihood of a small farmer adopting agritourism activities given the identified characteristics in objectives 1 and 2. Develop an Outreach Program for the project to educate small and socially-disadvantagedfarmers about agritourism as an alternative farm enterprise.The economics, risks, and opportunities inherent in an agritourism enterprise will be brought to the attention of prospective farmers contemplating going into such ventures. Objectives 1 and 2 were completed during the first reporting period of the project. Small and socially disadvantaged producers in North Carolina were identified through a database provided to the project team by the North Carolina Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services. Attendance at Dr. Osei Yeboah's, "Bridging the Informational and Resources Gap," workshop consisting of small and socially disadvantaged farmers, provided the opportunity for the project team to gather information from the farmers in attendance, as well as, disseminate the questionnaire, which satisfied Objective 2. The questionnaire was designed to examine agritourism operators' perceptions of the opportunities and challenges associated with agritourism and was disseminated via e-mail, mailings and at the aforementioned conference. Objective 3 was achieved by applying a qualitative response regression model in order to identify factors that influence the adoption of agritourism operations in North Carolina based on the questionnaire findings. Research has shown that several socio-economic and geographic factors do influence farmers' participation in agritourism. However, according to our research and model, the only variables that significantly influenced agritourism participation were total acreage currently being farmed, total acreage deemed unsuitable for crop production, public access to the farm for recreational use, access to internet, income, race and educational background of the operator. The project team conducted a workshop based on the preliminary findings of the questionnaire, had a display table, poster and provided handouts at the North Carolina Agritourism Networking Association Conference. The project team also developed and held an agritourism workshop in the conference room at the Farmers Market in Raleigh, NC in September 2016, for farmers interested in agritourism as an alternative enterprise. The economics, risks, and opportunities of developing an agritourism operation were discussed from the viewpoint of a successful agritourism farmer and a financial advisor specializing in minority farms. The project team shared questionnaire findings with the attendees as well. Results have been shared with the North Carolina Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services, as well as, with experts in the field of agriculture at Conferences, such as, the Southern Agricultural Economics Association Meeting. The aforementioned activities satisfy Objective 4.
Publications
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2016
Citation:
Yeboah, A., Case Studies of Agritourism among Small Farmers in North Carolina. North Carolina Agritourism Networking Association Conference, January 14-15, 2016.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2016
Citation:
Yeboah, A., Case Studies of Agritourism among Small Farmers in North Carolina. Southern Agricultural Economics Association Annual Conference, February 6-9, 2016.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2016
Citation:
Yeboah, A., Owens, J., Bynum, J., Okafor, R. 2016. Case Studies of Agritourism among Small Farmers in North Carolina. Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics, http://purl.umn.edu/229824.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2016
Citation:
Yeboah, A., Owens, J., Bynum, J., Okafor, R. 2016. Case Studies of Agritourism among Small Farmers in North Carolina. Vol1.1Iore Journal of Agro and Crop Science. IJI
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2016
Citation:
Moffitt, J., Ransome, M., Yeboah, A., Owens, J., Bynum, J. 2016. Agritourism as an Economic Development Enterprise: An Undergraduate Research Analysis Exercise Poster Presentation Southern Agricultural Economics Association Annual Conference, San Antonio, TX.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2016
Citation:
Sarku, E., Olapeju, O., Onyeagoro, C., Yeboah, A., Owens, J., Bynum, J. 2016. Agritourism: Challenges of Small and Socially Disadvantaged Farmers in North Carolina. Poster Presentation Southern Agricultural Economics Association Annual Conference, San Antonio, TX.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2016
Citation:
Moffitt, J., Ransome, M., Yeboah, A., Owens, J., Bynum, J. 2016. Agritourism as an Economic Development Enterprise: An Undergraduate Research Analysis Exercise Poster Presentation Spring 2016 Undergraduate Research Student Showcase, Greensboro, NC.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Submitted
Year Published:
2016
Citation:
Yeboah, A., Owens, J., Bynum, J., Okafor, R. 2016. Factors Influencing Agritourism Adoption by Small Farmers in North Carolina. (Submitted to the Journal of Agricultural Extension and Rural Development)
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Progress 10/01/14 to 09/30/15
Outputs
Target Audience:North Carolina's small and socially-disadvantaged farmers serve as the primary target audience for this project. Agritourism will be introduced to these farmers as a tool for economic development. Additionally, agritourism farmers, cooperative extension agents, the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, policy makers, the Agritourism Network Association, farmers and entrepreneurs, all serve as target audiences. During this reporting period, the principal and co-principal investigators presented a project overview, along with preliminary findings from the questionnaire to the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and the Agritourism Networking Association during a conference development meeting. The meeting was successful, with collaborative efforts for the conference being established. In January 2016, the project team will conduct a workshop at the annual Agritourism Networking Association meeting, which will provide the target audience with findings from the agritourism questionnaire that was disseminated, collected and analyzed during the first 2 years of the project. Additionally, a case study that was developed from the questionnaire involving agritourism farmers, will be presented in February 2016, at the Southern Agricultural Economics Association Meeting. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Opportunities for training include the Agritourism Networking Associations annual conference, which will be held in January 2016. This conference will include farm tours of agritourism farms, as well as, workshops that will benefit small and socially disadvantaged farmers, by providing them with information on agritourism as an alternative enterprise. Farmers that are involved in our project will be in attendance. The project team will conduct a workshop at the aforementioned conference, providing results of the agritourism questionnaire. Project members professional development opportunities include, the "Bridging the Informational and Resources Gap," Conference, January 2015, the agritourism farm tour, August 2015, and the Southern Agricultural Economics Association Meeting attendance and presentation, February 2016. Additionally, project team members served as a mentor to a research apprenticeship student. As such, the student developed a research paper focusing on agritourism in North Carolina and a poster that was displayed at the, "Let's Talk" forum of the Research Apprenticeship Program closing ceremony. Graduate and undergraduate students that were supported by the project developed posters, related to agritourism, which were accepted for presentation at the 2016 Southern Agricultural Economics Association Meeting. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Project team members have been in constant collaboration with the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services discussing the project and finding areas where the project can assist farmers. As a result, team members have been actively involved in the planning of the Agritourism Networking Association Annual meeting and will be conducting a workshop. The team will provide useful information that was obtained from the analysis of the questionnaire in order to assist current agritourism farmers, small and socially disadvantaged farmers that are interested in agritourism and leaders in the agricultural field. Additionally, the case study that was accepted for presentation at the Southern Agricultural Economics Association meeting will be published in the Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics. This will provide exposure to individuals who otherwise may be unaware of agritourism as a means of an alternative farm enterprise. Furthermore, graduate and undergraduate students, supported by the project, have engaged in agritourism research, which has led to the development of posters that were presented and will be presented in various educational settings, promoting awareness in this area, as well. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?During the next reporting period, the project team will continue to complete Objectives 3 and 4. Factors that influence the adoption of agritourism operations in North Carolina will be determined through further economic analysis of the questionnaire. Focus will be placed on developing outreach activities, workshops and educational brochures and manuals.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
The four objectives of the project are as follows: (1) To identify and locate small and socially-disadvantaged producers in North Carolina that offer some form of agritourism activity. This will also involve characterizing the types and scales of agritourism activities offered by such small and socially-disadvantaged farmers. (2) To examine agritourism operators' perceptions of the opportunities and challenges associated with agritourism, and in particular, as they pertain to socially-disadvantaged and small farm operators. Additionally, we will identify farm leaders' perceptions of the opportunities and challenges presented by agritourism. (3) Identify factors that influence the adoption of agritourism operations in North Carolina. To this end, we will estimate the likelihood of a small farmer adopting agritourism activities given the identified characteristics in objectives 1 and 2. (4) Develop an Outreach Program for the project to educate small and socially-disadvantaged farmers about agritourism as an alternative farm enterprise. The economics, risks, and opportunities inherent in an agritourism enterprise will be brought to the attention of prospective farmers contemplating going into such ventures. During this phase of the project, the questionnaires that were disseminated were returned and analyzed. Using the information obtained in the questionnaire, a qualitative response regression model will be applied in order to determine the factors that influence the adoption of agritourism operations in North Carolina. Preliminary assessments of agritourism in North Carolina have been completed based on the findings of the questionnaire, which contributes to the completion of objective 3. Concerning Objective 4, outreach activities are scheduled for January 2016 and February 2016. The project team will conduct a workshop at the annual Agritourism Networking Association meeting, which will provide the target audience with findings from the agritourism questionnaire that was disseminated, collected and analyzed during the first 2 years of the project. Additionally, a case study that was developed from the questionnaire will be presented at the Southern Agricultural Economics Association Meeting. Such activities will serve to educate small and socially-disadvantaged farmers, as well as, other agricultural leaders in the field about agritourism as an alternative farm enterprise. Objectives 1 and 2 were completed during the first reporting period.
Publications
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Awaiting Publication
Year Published:
2016
Citation:
Yeboah, A., Owens, J., Bynum, J., Okafor, R. 2016. Case Studies of Agritourism among Small Farmers in North Carolina. Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2016
Citation:
Moffitt, J., Ransome, M., Yeboah, A., Owens, J., Bynum, J. 2016. Agritourism as an Economic Development Enterprise: An Undergraduate Research Analysis Exercise Poster Presentation Southern Agricultural Economics Association Annual Conference, San Antonio, TX.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2016
Citation:
Sarku, E., Olapeju, O., Onyeagoro, C., Yeboah, A., Owens, J., Bynum, J. 2016. Agritourism: Challenges of Small and Socially Disadvantaged Farmers in North Carolina. Poster Presentation Southern Agricultural Economics Association Annual Conference, San Antonio, TX.
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Progress 10/01/13 to 09/30/14
Outputs
Target Audience: North Carolina's small and socially-disadvantaged farmers will serve as the primary target audience of this project. Additionally, agritourism farmers, Cooperative Extension agents, the North Carolina Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services, policy makers, the Agritourism Network Association and farmers in general all serve as target audiences of this project. The information obtained through questionnaires and interviews will serve to provide a better understanding of the economics of agritourism, opportunities and challenges of developing agritourism in North Carolina, efficient marketing and branding strategies for agritourism and effective communication and networking for success in agritourism to all of the aforementioned groups. Through outreach programs, agritourism educational tools, such as brochures and manuals, will be developed to assist Extension agents in delivering training to small and socially-disadvantaged farmers. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Currently, the project is on task to develop a profile of North Carolina's agritourism industry, particularly those of small and socially-disadvantaged farmers. The types and characteristics of agritourism activities in the state, as well as, the opportunities, challenges and threats will all be identified through the analysis of the questionnaire that was disseminated during this reporting period. The end of Year 2 and throughout Year 3, the project is on task to develop and provide agritourism workshops to farmers who are interested in adding agritourism to their farms. The project team members will attend and participate in The Southern Agricultural Economics Association Meeting and the Bridging the Informational and Resources Gap Conference in January 2015. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Questionnaire results have not yet been analyzed and therefore have not been disseminated. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? During the next reporting period, an additional 300 questionnaires will be mailed to farmers and the resulting questionnaire data will be analyzed in order to determine opportunities, threats and challenges of agritourism operations. Results should provide recommendations for addressing the needs of small and socially-disadvantaged farmers in North Carolina who are either involved with agritourism or have an interest in adding this enterprise to their farm operations. Additionally, the research team will continue to work with Cooperative Extension personnel and other experts in the field in order to recruit small and socially disadvantaged farmers. Educational tools, such as agritourism development brochures and manuals will be made available for extension agents and other field agents. Agritourism workshops will also be conducted during the next reporting period. The project team will also update the agritourism farmer database based upon the returned questionnaires due to incomplete addresses.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
During this reporting period, several major activities were completed and a number of objectives were met. The four objectives of the project are as follows: (1) To identify and locate small and socially-disadvantaged producers in North Carolina that offer some form of agritourism activity. This will also involve characterizing the types and scales of agritourism activities offered by such small and socially-disadvantaged farmers. (2) To examine agritourism operators' perceptions of the opportunities and challenges associated with agritourism, and in particular, as they pertain to socially-disadvantaged and small farm operators. Additionally, we will identify farm leaders' perceptions of the opportunities and challenges presented by agritourism. (3) Identify factors that influence the adoption of agritourism operations in North Carolina. To this end, we will estimate the likelihood of a small farmer adopting agritourism activities given the identified characteristics in objectives 1 and 2. (4) Develop an Outreach Program for the project to educate small and socially-disadvantaged farmers about agritourism as an alternative farm enterprise. The economics, risks, and opportunities inherent in an agritourism enterprise will be brought to the attention of prospective farmers contemplating going into such ventures. The questionnaire, which will assess the contribution of agritourism to community development, was pretested among agritourism farmers who have been identified as being successful based on interviews from experts in the field. These "successful" farmers were interviewed as case studies and a typology of success was developed. The typology employed various objective measures such as farm income, sales, profit, as well as, farmer self-report. The results were incorporated into the final design of the questionnaire, which was mailed to over 300 farmers. Completed questionnaires are currently in the process of being returned. The aforementioned case study and tentative questionnaire results and analysis will concentrate on Objective 3, which will identify factors that influence the adoption of agritourism operations in North Carolina. Objectives 1 and 2 were met during the first reporting period. Objective 4 will be addressed forthcoming after the results of the questionnaire are analyzed. Additionally, the project team will be actively disseminating and collecting questionnaires at the "Bridging the Informational and Resources Gap," Conference in Rocky Mount, NC in January 2015. The principal investigator and co-principal investigators served as mentors to The Department of Agribusiness and Applied Economics assigned Research Apprenticeship student and assisted her with the collection and analysis of agritourism data. The Research Apprenticeship student developed a research paper and a poster. The undergraduate students that were supported by this research project completed a poster, based on research findings, which was accepted to be presented at the Southern Agricultural Economics Association Annual meeting in January 2015.
Publications
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