Agritourism Is Booming in South Carolina and has grown dramatically in the state over the past decade! Ag Commissioner Hugh Weathers is here to tell us about his time at the SC Agritourism Association Annual Conference.
- Last week I had the pleasure of attending part of the South Carolina Agritourism Association’s Annual Conference. It was held in Kershaw, Lexington, and Newberry counties this year, with some wonderful hardworking agritourism farms spotlighted during two days of tours:
- Bowers FarmCarolina Pride PasturesEnoree River WineryFarm 1780Goat Daddy’s Farm
- Lever Farms
- I met up with the group at Lever Farms in Newberry County. My message to them was to use their venues while folks are there to have fun to remind them of what agriculture means to our state.
- We now have 612 agritourism farms listed on the South Carolina Department of agriculture website. I can remember years ago when it was about 80 places.
- The Census of Agriculture reports that between 2017 and 2022, farm income from agritourism in South Carolina grew from $6.2 million to $14 million. I think that probably underrepresents the true value and economic impact of this activity, but it’s a place to start understanding the importance of agritourism.
- The South Carolina Agritourism Association is partly to thank for the growth in the industry. Director Jackie Moore works hard to educate farmers about how to safely start an agritourism venture and profit from it, and she promotes those farms very effectively.
- If you have an interest, you can join the association and find resources by visiting scagritourism.org.
- The Agritourism 101 Manual, available through the association, is a great tool for anyone looking to get into the business. As a farmer, you don’t have to go all-in on agritourism; many farmers dip their toe in the water with some tours or other on-farm activities to find out if agritourism is right for them. This is a business where you have to enjoy being around people.
- If you’re looking to visit a farm, go to scfarmfun.org. We have listings for hundreds of farms, both association members and otherwise. You can also subscribe to a monthly newsletter listing events on farms across the state. The Agritourism Passport program is a fun way to visit more farms: As you people visit participating South Carolina farms, you can have your passport stamped to earn prizes.