Does Agritourism Enhance Farm Profitability?

Abstract

The impacts of agritourism on farm profitability are poorly understood. Using Census of Agriculture records, we employ propensity score matching to estimate the effects of agritourism on the net cash income per acre of New Jersey farms. We find that agritourism has statistically significant and positive effects on farm profitability. Profit impacts are highest among small farms operated by individuals primarily engaged in farming. Positive but smaller effects are observed for lifestyle farms. Profit effects among larger farms are not statistically significant.

Keywords

• agritourism
• direct-to-consumer marketing
• farm profitability
• propensity score matching