Pennsylvania Agritourism Grew as Direct Sales Declined

A newly released Penn State factsheet provides an updated look at Pennsylvania farms that offer agritourism, sell food directly to consumers, or combine both strategies. The factsheet draws on a special tabulation of the 2022 Census of Agriculture requested by researchers at Penn State and is part of a new set of state and national factsheets. Comparing the new factsheet with the earlier version, based on the 2017 Census, shows two distinct trends. The number of farms involved in direct sales fell, while the number earning income from agritourism increased.

Direct sales and agritourism moved in different directions

Pennsylvania had 49,053 farms in 2022, down from 53,157 in 2017, a decline of 4,104 farms, or 7.7 percent. USDA also reported a 3 percent reduction in the amount of Pennsylvania land in farms over the period, while the average farm size increased 5 percent. The number of farms offering direct sales or agritourism declined from 6,936 in 2017 to 6,141 in 2022, an 11.5 percent decrease. Because the number participating in these activities fell faster than the number of farms overall, their share of all Pennsylvania farms edged down from 13.0 percent to 12.5 percent.

That combined total, however, masks contrasting changes within the sector:

The categories in the table are mutually exclusive. Adding the "agritourism only" and "both" groups shows that farms reporting agritourism income increased from 711 to 821, a 15.5 percent increase. Adding "direct sales only" and "both" shows that farms reporting direct sales decreased from 6,403 to 5,525, or 13.7 percent.

These numbers do not show that individual farms necessarily shifted from direct sales into agritourism. The two censuses provide snapshots of Pennsylvania agriculture five years apart, but the factsheets do not track the same farms over time. Still, the statewide pattern points to growing participation in visitor-oriented farm activities alongside a reduction in direct food sales.

Smaller farms remained prominent

Farms with fewer than 50 acres represented a larger share of every group in 2022. Among direct-sales-only farms, this share rose from 51.8 percent to 57.3 percent. The category increased from 42.0 percent to 46.1 percent among agritourism-only farms and from 40.4 percent to 47.8 percent among farms offering both. These changes do not mean that farm operations have become smaller, as the difference may also reflect which farms entered or left each category. However, the results emphasize the importance of direct marketing and agritourism to small-acreage farms. Experience and age patterns changed little. In all three groups, most farmers had more than 10 years of experience in 2022, and farmers aged 55 to 64 continued to constitute the largest age group. This continuity suggests that business transition and succession planning remain relevant alongside support for new enterprise development.

Operator representation shifted modestly

Women made up 38.7 percent of operators on direct-sales-only farms in 2022, compared with 37.9 percent in 2017. Their share declined slightly among agritourism-only farms, from 40.6 percent to 39.3 percent, but rose among farms doing both activities, from 38.7 percent to 42.6 percent. The increase for farms combining agritourism and direct sales is notable, but operator percentages should not be confused with farm percentages. The Census of Agriculture collects information for up to four producers per farm, so producer counts exceed the number of farm operations.

The commodity mix changed

The types of agricultural production associated with these enterprises also shifted. Diversified crops remained the most frequently reported category among direct-sales-only farms, although its share declined from 17.5 percent to 14.6 percent. Fruit and tree nut operations rose from 10.4 percent to 14.4 percent, moving from fourth to second among the leading categories in 2022. Agritourism-only farms showed greater continuity. Diversified livestock remained the leading category, accounting for 28.5 percent in 2017 and 26.8 percent in 2022, followed by diversified crops. Floriculture and oilseed-and-grain farms also remained among the four largest categories.

The greatest change occurred among farms that combined agritourism and direct sales. Vegetable and melon farms led this group in 2017 at 26.4 percent, followed by diversified crops, floriculture, and oilseed and grain. By 2022, fruit and tree nut farms ranked first at 20.5 percent, diversified crops remained second at 18.5 percent, vegetable and melon farms ranked third at 14.1 percent, and diversified livestock entered the top four at 13.7 percent. These shifts should not, however, be interpreted as evidence that a particular commodity caused growth in agritourism.

Most reported less than $10,000 in sales

The share of farms receiving less than $10,000 annually from activity declined slightly in every group. It moved from 43.5 percent to 42.9 percent among direct-sales-only farms and from 42.2 percent to 40.4 percent among agritourism-only farms. Among farms doing both, it declined from 16.3 percent to 12.2 percent. The lower percentage for farms offering both activities indicates that these farms were less concentrated in the lowest income category than farms specializing in either direct sales or agritourism. It does not establish profitability: the census questions report gross receipts before taxes and expenses, not net income. The $10,000 threshold is also stated in nominal dollars in both years, which means that the comparison is not adjusted for inflation.

Connection between agritourism and direct-to-consumer sales

These findings also add context to earlier research on the relationship between agritourism and direct-to-consumer sales, where we found that the two strategies tend to reinforce one another within the same county: counties with a higher share of farms engaged in direct sales were more likely to have a higher share engaged in agritourism, and vice versa. Pennsylvania’s statewide comparison shows a more nuanced pattern. Although the total number of farms reporting direct sales declined between 2017 and 2022, the number of farms combining direct sales with agritourism increased, while overall agritourism participation increased. These statewide descriptive changes reinforce the value of considering agritourism and direct sales together. The findings suggest that efforts to expand farm visitation may also create opportunities to strengthen direct marketing by giving visitors additional reasons to purchase farm products during and after their visits.

For Pennsylvania farmers and the organizations that support them, the updated factsheet highlights distinct needs in a changing direct-to-consumer economy. Growth in agritourism strengthens the case for assistance with pricing experiences, visitor management, risk and liability, zoning, accessibility, and collaboration with tourism organizations.

One more note: understanding the measures

In the Census of Agriculture, agritourism and recreational services include activities such as farm tours, hayrides, hunting, and fishing. Direct sales cover edible agricultural products sold directly to consumers through outlets such as farmers markets, farm stores and stands, pick-your-own operations, community-supported agriculture programs, and online marketplaces. The direct-sales measure excludes non-edible products such as cut flowers, Christmas trees, nursery products, and hay, as well as products bought for resale.   Because the three factsheet groups are mutually exclusive, a farm offering both direct sales and agritourism appears only in the "both" category. This structure allows the factsheets to show how farms combining the two strategies differ from those using only one, while avoiding double-counting in the combined total. For more information on how the census measures these diversification strategies, see Insights and Oversights -Behind the data on agritourism and direct sales in the United States.

References

Entsminger, Jason S., and Claudia Schmidt. 2024. "Direct-to-Consumer Sales of Agrifood Products by US Farms: Data from the 2022 Census of Agriculture." NERCRD Data Brief 2024–2.

Entsminger, Jason S., and Claudia Schmidt. 2024. "Agritourism and Recreational Services on US Farms: Data from the 2022 Census of Agriculture." NERCRD Data Brief 2024–1. 

Hollas, C., Schmidt, C., Tian, Z., Goetz, S., & Chase, L. (2024). Insights and oversights: Behind the data on agritourism and direct sales in the United States. Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development, 13(4), 187-197.

Schmidt, C., Tian, Z., Goetz, S. J., Hollas, C. R., & Chase, L. (2023). Agritourism and direct sales clusters in the United States. Agricultural and Resource Economics Review, 52(1), 168-188.

U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Agricultural Statistics Service. (2024). 2022 Census of Agriculture: Pennsylvania state and county profile. [PDF]