The AGRITOURISM Act inserts a new section into the Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 to establish an Office of Agritourism inside USDA and requires the Secretary to appoint a senior official to serve as its Director. The bill defines the scope of agritourism activities, directs the Director to promote agritourism in every State (including D.C. and U.S. territories), and lists specific duties such as outreach, program updates, business mentorship, and interagency coordination.
This is a structural, programmatic bill rather than a funding or regulatory statute: it centralizes responsibility for agritourism at the federal level and charges USDA with updating its programs and coordinating partners. For practitioners it signals a new federal focal point for agritourism guidance, networks, and technical assistance — but it leaves key implementation details (funding, metrics, and concrete programs) to later administrative action.
At a Glance
What It Does
Amends the Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 by adding section 217 to create an Office of Agritourism, requires the Secretary to appoint a Director, and enumerates duties such as outreach, program updates, and coordination with other agencies and stakeholders.
Who It Affects
Small and family farms using or exploring agritourism, state extension and tourism offices, USDA program managers (Rural Development, NIFA and others), agritourism entrepreneurs and local tourism businesses across states, D.C., and U.S. territories.
Why It Matters
By formally housing agritourism inside USDA, the bill makes agritourism a visible federal priority, which could unlock coordinated technical assistance and marketing, but it also creates coordination and funding questions because the text does not appropriate resources or establish measurable outcomes.
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What This Bill Actually Does
The bill adds a discrete Office of Agritourism to the Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994. It does this by inserting a new section (section 217) that first defines basic terms — notably ‘Director’ and ‘State’ (which includes the 50 states, D.C., and U.S. territories) — and then directs the Secretary to establish the office and appoint a senior official to run it.
The statute lays out what counts as agritourism in fairly broad terms, enumerating educational experiences, outdoor recreation, entertainment and events, direct on-farm sales, farm-related accommodations, and dining. Those definitions function as the service-delivery perimeter: the Director’s duties are expressly tied to encouraging and promoting those activities in each State.To accomplish its mission the bill directs the Director to coordinate across USDA agencies, advise the Secretary, update USDA programs to reflect agritourism best practices, conduct outreach and mentorship, facilitate interagency tools, and review farm enterprise development programs (including financial literacy, business planning, and marketing).
The bill also tasks the Director with building networks of agritourism businesses and collaborating with other Federal agencies ‘‘as needed,’’ creating an explicit mandate for cross-agency work.Two short technical fixes are included: the bill redesignates an existing Food Access Liaison statutory section and adds an explicit conforming authorization to section 296(b) of the Reorganization Act to give the Secretary the authority to carry out the new section 217. The statute does not include an appropriation, nor does it create regulatory powers, liability rules, or grant programs; it is primarily organizational and directive in nature.
The Five Things You Need to Know
The bill inserts a new section 217 into the Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994, formally establishing an Office of Agritourism within USDA.
The Secretary must appoint a senior official as Director; the statute does not specify appointment procedure, term, or qualification criteria beyond the title 'senior official.', The bill defines 'State' to include the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and U.S. territories, extending the Office’s reach beyond the continental states.
The Director’s statutory duties include updating USDA programs for agritourism best practices, conducting outreach and mentorship, coordinating interagency tools, and reviewing farm enterprise development materials on financial literacy, business planning, and marketing.
The Act is organizational and contains no explicit authorization of appropriations or new funding, though it makes two technical amendments to existing Reorganization Act sections.
Section-by-Section Breakdown
Every bill we cover gets an analysis of its key sections.
Short title
Provides the Act’s name: 'Accelerating the Growth of Rural Innovation and Tourism Opportunities to Uphold Rural Industries and Sustainable Marketplaces Act' or the 'AGRITOURISM Act.' This is a conventional naming clause with no substantive effect on implementation.
Findings and sense of Congress
Lists Congressional findings about the scope and benefits of agritourism — education, recreation, entertainment, direct sales, accommodations, and dining — and states the sense that USDA should incorporate agritourism comprehensively. Practically, these findings provide legislative context that can guide the Office’s priorities but do not create enforceable obligations.
Definitions and establishment of the Office
Adds section 217 to the Reorganization Act. It defines the Director and 'State' (explicitly including territories), requires the Secretary to establish the Office of Agritourism, and requires appointment of a senior official as Director. The mechanics are straightforward: the Office exists once the Secretary acts, but the statute does not set deadlines, staffing levels, or reporting requirements.
Enumerated duties and operational authorities
Specifies the Director’s duties: encouraging and promoting agritourism activities and businesses (with a non-exhaustive list), coordinating within USDA and with other agencies, advising the Secretary, updating USDA programs to reflect best practices, conducting outreach and mentorship, facilitating interagency program coordination and tools, reviewing farm enterprise development programs, and coordinating agritourism business networks. Those duties create a mix of policy development, technical assistance, and convening responsibilities rather than regulatory mandates.
Statutory housekeeping and conforming authority
Redesignates an existing section related to the Food Access Liaison and adds a conforming sentence to section 296(b) of the Reorganization Act to explicitly authorize the Secretary to carry out the new section 217. These are administrative steps that smooth statutory integration but do not themselves create program funding or implementation timelines.
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Explore Agriculture in Codify Search →Who Benefits and Who Bears the Cost
Every bill creates winners and losers. Here's who stands to gain and who bears the cost.
Who Benefits
- Small and family farms that diversify into agritourism — they gain a federal point of contact and potential access to coordinated technical assistance, marketing guidance, and business-planning resources.
- Local tourism and hospitality businesses in rural areas — improved USDA coordination and promotion could drive visitation and spillover spending to nearby accommodations, restaurants, and event services.
- State extension services and state-level tourism offices — the Office can supply best practices, interagency tools, and federal networks that supplement state programs and reduce duplication of outreach efforts.
Who Bears the Cost
- USDA (internal programs and staff) — establishing and operating the Office will require staff time and administrative resources; the bill does not appropriate funds, so costs must be absorbed within USDA’s existing budgets or covered by later appropriations.
- Program offices across USDA (e.g., Rural Development, NIFA) — they will face additional coordination and reporting duties and may need to revise materials and procedures to align with Office guidance.
- State and local partners — while they gain federal assistance, engagement costs (matching, participation time, adapting materials) may fall to states, local governments, and nonprofit partners unless federal support is provided.
Key Issues
The Core Tension
The central tension is between creating a visible federal hub to grow rural agritourism — which promises coordinated assistance and national resources — and doing so without new funding or narrowly defined authorities, which risks creating expectations that the federal government cannot meet and duplicating or crowding out existing state and local programs.
The bill centralizes agritourism policy inside USDA but does not create funding, measurable performance standards, or a reporting regime. That combination raises implementation uncertainty: the Office’s ambitions (outreach, mentoring, program updates, interagency tools) all require resources and administrative bandwidth that the text does not guarantee.
Absent appropriations or specific program authorities, the Office’s work will depend on Secretary-level prioritization and competition with existing USDA missions.
The statute also creates potential overlap with existing federal and state actors. Departments of Commerce and Interior engage in tourism promotion; state tourism offices and agricultural extension already provide agritourism support.
The bill instructs coordination but leaves the mechanics vague — no memorandum-of-understanding authority, grant-making power, or dispute-resolution mechanism is set out, so practical interagency cooperation could be slow or uneven. Finally, the broad definition of agritourism and the mandate to operate 'in each State' risk uneven benefits: larger or better-connected operators may capture attention and resources unless the Office builds explicit equity-based outreach and measurement practices.
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