Abstract

The study estimates a logit model to identify factors influencing adoption of agritourism by small farmers in North Carolina using a survey. All variables included in the model were dummies and of these having at least a college education has the greatest impact on participating in agritourism, followed by race, public access to the farm for recreation, farms with more than 50 acres of land deemed unsuitable for crop production, and the total amount of land owned. Other factors such as farms near cities, willingness to pay for farm management advice, and before-tax household income also significantly influenced the adoption of this enterprise.

Key words: Agritourism, public access for recreation, farm location, logit model, odds ratios, operator characteristics.