Agritourism - Washington State University

types of vegetables, and nearly thirty types of fruit (USDA NASS, 2007). Much of the grain
production occurs on relatively large acreages, while products like specialty crops are more
likely grown on relatively smaller operations. Agritourism and direct marketing may be
associated with crops that are produced on smaller farms.
The total on and off farm income of households operating in the agritourism or direct
marketing sector vary widely, as can be seen in Table 7. More than 18% of the operations report
incomes between $75,001 and $100,000, and 9% earn between $100,000 and $200,000.
Additionally, 9% of the agritourism operations earn more than one million dollars. However,
nearly 55% of the agritourism operations earn gross revenues less than $25,000. Approximately
9% earn between $25,000 and $50,000. These farms may be hobby operations, in the
development stage of production, or may simply generate relatively low levels of income. The
ERS (2010B) reports that the mean net farm income per operation in Washington State in 2008
topped $49,700.
Direct marketers earn much more than agritourism operations on average. Only 7% of
direct marketing operations earn less than $25,000. Approximately 20% earn between $50,000
and $100,000. Nearly 33% of these operations earn between $400,000 and $750,000. And more
than 25% of direct marketing households earn more than one million dollars in gross revenue.
The gross incomes of operations providing both direct marketing and agritourism are
more evenly distributed between the income levels. Approximately 22% earn less than $25,000,
and 7% garner more than one million dollars. A significant number of farms earn incomes in
each income levels.
Agritourism and direct marketing operations often employ non-family member
employees. We present the employee information in Table 8. Nearly 27% of the agritourism
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