Agritourism and off-farm work: Survival strategies for small farms

This study considers agritourism and off-farm work as income diversification choices simultaneously and analyzes factors influencing such choices. Further, the study assesses the impact of agritourism, off-farm work, and both on gross cash farm income and total farm household income. We utilized large set of nationwide farm survey data and selectivity-based multinomial choice model. An important finding of our study is that small farms have higher household income if they choose both income diversification strategies rather than a single strategy. Results suggest that education, age of the operator, financial condition, and location of the farm are important factors driving income diversification alternatives. Finally, our study indicates that accounting for selectivity is essential to ensure unbiased and consistent estimates.