Markets - Agritourism

Mission Statement of the
NC Agritourism Networking Association (ANA)

Mission Statement of the NC Agritourism Networking Association (NC ANA)

"The ANA will serve as a statewide proactive advocate for agritourism farmers and as a liaison between and among state-level organizations, field organizations, nonprofits and rural landowners to support and facilitate agritourism.”

NC ANA Membership Application  |  ANA Newsletters  | ANA Bylaws

NC ANA Goals

The organization will enable agritourism farmers to share best practices, network with peers, discuss and find answers to challenges, celebrate successes, and advocate for needed resources.
The ANA will work to find solutions to achieve the following goals listed in priority order by the initial task force: Easily accessible and affordable liability insurance; consistent zoning and planning regulations; marketing support and resources; highway and site signage; safety; funds for costs of startup; and partnering with other rural arts activities.
The thirteen steps listed below are designed to meet these goals.

1. Provide education and training for potential and current agritourism farmers. Hold a statewide conference in the early part of the year and workshops for the seven ANA districts to educate and inform ANA members and recruit new members interested in promoting agritourism.
2. Educate and promote agritourism to the public, tourism professionals, the media and potential farmers, through workshops, press releases, media interviews and public speaking. Statewide Agritourism Directory with over 250 entries distributed to state Welcome Centers, State Capitol, State Legislative Bldg., and other tourist destinations in 2006 and 2007.
3. Create a portal of information resources (available at www.ncagr.com/agritourism/home.htm).
4. Advocate for insurance availability at reasonable cost; need to work on definition of "farm," "agritourism farm" used by insurance agencies. “Limit Liability for Agritourism Farms” law can be found at ncagr.com/agritourism/home.htm.
5. Network and share information and resources between and among agritourism farmers via emails and US mail sent to members by Agritourism Office and others; list serve address is ncana.members@lists.ncmail.net. The ANA newsletter available at ncagr.com/agritorism assists with this purpose.
6. Conduct research that will provide information on the demographics of agritourism farming to help farmers determine economic feasibility of developing and operating an agritourism farm (professional NC DA&CS survey conducted in summer of 2005, brochure January 2006; NCSU and NCA&T Extension resource partners provide updated information).
7. Research on determining the saturation and competition for sustainable markets (ongoing).
8. Find grants and other funding sources for agritourism farming (ongoing).
9. Advocate for policy development on statewide level to help with challenges to agritourism farms (ongoing).
10. Advocate for consistent local zoning policies to help sustain the family farm through agritourism (ongoing through collaboration with NCSU faculty partners).
11. Advocate for agritourism financial support before local, state and federal officials as appropriate. NC HB 143 – Exempt Agritourism Activities from the Privilege Tax on Amusements – became law July 2006.
12. Develop a data base of agritourism farmers similar to the General Store on the Agritourism website (ongoing); continue updating the Agritourism brochure distributed to Welcome Centers; publish a statewide directory in 2006 and 2007.
13. Develop "start-up guidelines" package for agritourism farms (completed by M.Glass, Dec. 2004 and available at www.ncagr.com/agritourism/home.htm).