AGRITOURISM Act

This Act may be cited as the “Accelerating the Growth of Rural Innovation and Tourism Opportunities to Uphold Rural Industries and Sustainable Marketplaces Act” or the “AGRITOURISM Act”.

(a) Findings.— 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; and

(E) to help farms diversify.

(b) Sense of Congress.— 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.

(a) In general.— The Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 is amended by inserting after section 216 (7 U.S.C. 6916) the following:

“217. Office of Agritourism.—

(a) Definitions.— In this section:

(1) Director.— The term Director means the Director of the Office of Agritourism described in subsection (c).

(2) State.— 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.

(b) Establishment.— The Secretary shall establish in the Department an Office of Agritourism.

(c) Director.— The Secretary shall appoint a senior official to serve as the Director of the Office of Agritourism.

(d) Duties.— The Director shall encourage and promote, in each State, 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.

(e) Means of achieving.— In carrying out subsection (d), the Director 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; and

(8) collaborate with other Federal agencies, as needed.”.

(b) Technical amendment.— 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.

(c) Conforming amendment.— 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 217.”.