Recreational multifunctionality and its implications for agroforestry

Paper presented at the 11th North American Agroforesty Conference, which was held May 31-June 3, 2009 in Columbia, Missouri.In Gold, M.A. and M.M. Hall, eds. Agroforestry Comes of Age: Putting Science into Practice. Proceedings, 11th North American Agroforestry Conference, Columbia, Mo., May 31-June 3, 2009.Multifunctionality occurs when farms provide different services along with food production including recreation and agroforestry. Multifunctional farms simultaneously offer several services suggesting synergies among them that are not yet understood. This study aims to fill this gap, examining the relationships between recreational multifunctionality and agroforestry. In 2006, 353 randomly selected landowners from four Missouri counties were interviewed about their farm characteristics, recreational services and agroforestry perceptions. Statistical tests include cluster analysis followed by ANOVA and chi-square tests. Responding landowners are preponderantly middle age and male. The majority provide at least one recreational service and on average more than four. The most frequently provided services are hunting, gathering wild edibles and nature contemplation, showing a blend of consumptive/ extractive and non-consumptive recreational uses. Cluster analysis performed over the recreational services revealed two groups of recreational multifunctionals: Farming Lifestyle Landowners - FLL (n=122) and Rural Lifestyle Landowners - RLL (n=199). Both types of recreational multifunctionals differ in their engagement in agricultural production, types and amount of recreational services provided, socio-demographic and farming attributes. Overall, FLL are not as multifunctional and their farm has a production function. RLL are highly multifunctional and mainly non-farmers who appear to own a farm for non-extractive values. Clusters also differ in their understanding of agroforestry. RLL are more knowledgeable and interested in most agroforestry practices than FLL. Differences between groups on their awareness and perceptions of agroforestry suggest that different strategies should be applied to inform them about the values of agroforestry.Carla Barbieri (1) and Corinne Valdivia (2) ; 1 Dept. of Parks, Recreation & Tourism, University of Missouri, 105 Anheuser Busch Natural Resources Building, Columbia, MO 65211. 2. Dept. of Agricultural Economics, University of Missouri, 214 D Mumford Hall, Columbia, MO 65211.Includes bibliographical references

The Emergence of Craft Distilling Tourism: The Role of Community Capitals

This study examines which Community Capitals have aided in the establishment of a craft distilling tourism product in North Carolina. Qualitative data collected from in depth interviews with distillers revealed that Social, Human, Political, Financial, Cultural, and Natural Capital played a role in creating a craft distilling tourism product. The presentation offers discussion of how these Capitals were manifest in this context and managerial implications for investing in these Capitals to sustain the development of the craft distilling tourism product in North Carolina

Perceived Impact of Agritourism on Farm Economic Standing, Sales and Profits

A survey was conducted in 2008 to examine the economic performance of Agritourism in Missouri. Responses from 164 agritourism farms show that although the majority of agritourism operators do not receive direct sales from this activity, they perceive it as important for the continued operation of their farm. Agritourism is also perceived as having a positive impact on farm profits. Multiple linear regressions show that physical, agritourism, and managerial farm resources are associated with the perceived economic situation of the farm business and with the percentage of farm sales derived from agritourism

Incentives to Join Associations: The Case of Agritourism

Agritourism is a rapidly growing tourism sector due to the farmers’ need to increase their revenues and the public desire to reconnect with local food systems. Yet, agritourism development posits an additional burden to farmers who may not possess the business skills and resources required to serve visitors. In this scenario, associations emerged to provide business or technical assistance to agritourism farmers. However, these associations have been experiencing a decline of their membership body over the last decade, which is affecting the quality of their services. Although explanations on such decline are not available, it is plausible due to a change of incentives farmers seek when joining their associations. To elucidate about the reasons behind declined membership, members of two agritourism associations were surveyed. Results show members seek 11 different incentives when joining their agritourism association, which were reduced into four categories (educational, networking, policy and advocacy, economic). Based on the incentives sought, respondents were clustered into three groups (Maximizer, Progressist, Indifferent), which had statistically significant different socio-demographic, agricultural, and membership profiles. Groups also reported different levels of satisfaction with their associations and information needs. Study results contribute to the scholarly advancement of the Logic of Membership and provide marketing and management intelligence to associations, which can help to strengthen the agritourism sector

CONSUMERS’ ATTRIBUTES ASSOCIATED WITH LANDSCAPE PREFERENCES FOR AGRITOURISM PARTICIPATION

Agricultural landscapes are the visible outcomes derived from the interaction between agriculture, natural resources, and the environment. Given that agricultural landscapes are suggested to enhance the aesthetic appeal of rural destinations, this study examined consumers’ preferences for fifteen landscape features when participating in agritourism activities. Relationships between landscape preferences and socio-demographics and levels of agritourism participation were also examined. Results showed that the most preferred features were seeing wildlife (e.g., deer), water resources (e.g., creeks), heritage resources (e.g., antique tractors), and farm animals (e.g., cattle) when visiting a farm for recreation. Results also indicated that socio-demographic characteristics and levels of agritourism experience are associated with landscape preferences

Social Network Analysis: An Application to Agritourism Associations

Agritourism has grown steadily since the 1980s. However, many farmers lack of entrepreneurial skills and business competencies to deal with the increasing demand. In response, agritourism associations have emerged to provide their members a diverse range of resources and information to increase their entrepreneurial preparedness. These associations also help build social capital and social networks, which are vital to mobilizing resources and facilitating information exchange among members. However, little empirical evidence exists detailing how effective agritourism associations are in increasing farmers’ ability to access desired resources and information. Therefore, we will collect data from members of an agritourism association to visually display the social capital and social networks within agritourism associations using social network analysis. In this presentation, we discuss the theoretical importance of social capital and how it is transmitted through social networks; we also discuss our research design and the implications for major findings for agritourism operators