AGRITOURISM Act

Congress finds that—

(1) agritourism provides a range of unique experiences to the public, including—

(A) education, such as school tours, garden and nursery tours, winery tours, historical agricultural exhibits, hops and microbrewery tours, and distillery tours;

(B) outdoor recreation, such as river activities, mountain biking, horseback riding, wildlife viewing and photography, fee fishing and hunting, wagon and sleigh rides, cross-country skiing, game preserves, and clay bird shooting;

(C) entertainment, such as concerts and special events, culinary experiences, festivals, fairs, interaction with farm animals, and weddings;

(D) direct sales, such as on-farm sales, farm stands, agriculture-related crafts and gifts, u-pick operations, u-cut tree farms, wineries, breweries, cideries, distilleries, and cut flowers;

(E) accommodations, such as bed-and-breakfast inns, farm and ranch vacations, yurts, sheep wagons, and guest ranches; and

(F) dining on a farm;

(2) agritourism has financial, educational, and social benefits to communities; and

(3) agritourism continues—

(A) to offer educational opportunities for children and families;

(B) to generate supplemental income for owners of agricultural enterprises, which are often small or family-run businesses;

(C) to spur economic development in rural communities;

(D) to preserve agricultural heritage;

(E) to help farms diversify; and

(F) to provide alternative revenue opportunities to keep working farms in production.

It is the sense of Congress that, to further realize the benefits of agritourism to communities, the Secretary of Agriculture should incorporate agritourism into the Department of Agriculture comprehensively.

Subtitle C of the Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 (7 U.S.C. 6941 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:

In this section:

The term Advisor means the Agritourism Advisor described in subsection (b).

The term State means—

(A) each of the several States of the United States;

(B) the District of Columbia; and

(C) any territory of the United States.

The Secretary shall designate a senior official in the Office of the Under Secretary for Rural Development to serve as the Agritourism Advisor.

The Advisor shall encourage and promote, in each State and on land under the jurisdiction of Indian Tribes (as defined in section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304)), agritourism activities and agritourism businesses, including—

(1) educational experiences;

(2) outdoor recreation;

(3) entertainment and special events;

(4) direct sales;

(5) accommodations; and

(6) any other activity or business relating to agritourism, as determined by the Secretary.

In carrying out subsection (c), the Advisor shall—

(1) coordinate with the agencies and officials of the Department;

(2) advise the Secretary on issues relating to agritourism;

(3) ensure that the programs of the Department are updated to address best agritourism practices;

(4) conduct outreach to stakeholders and coordinate external partnerships to share best practices, provide mentorship, and offer technical assistance to agritourism businesses;

(5) facilitate interagency program coordination and develop interagency tools for the promotion of agritourism programs and resources;

(6) review and improve farm enterprise development programs that provide information about financial literacy, business planning, and marketing for agritourism;

(7) coordinate networks of agritourism businesses;

(8) consolidate access to Federal resources to help agritourism businesses effectively navigate available programs and assistance; and

(9) collaborate with other Federal agencies, as needed.

The Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 is amended by redesignating the first section 225 (7 U.S.C. 6925) (relating to the Food Access Liaison) as section 224A.

Section 296(b) of the Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 (7 U.S.C. 7014(b)) is amended by adding at the end the following:

(11) The authority of the Secretary to carry out section 237.