West Virginia University College of Law professor Jesse Richardson recently published an article in volume 29 of the Drake Journal of Agricultural Law. The article is titled "Legal and Policy Issues for a Growing Agritourism Industry" and is co-authored with Peggy Kirk Hall of The Ohio State University and Kristine Tidgren of Iowa State University. The article is published in association with Forty-Fifth Annual American Agricultural Law Association Educational Symposium. The symposium was held in Memphis, Tennessee on November 7-9, 2024.
From the abstract:
Agritourism activity has increased dramatically over the past 10 years, both in number of operations and income. The types of agritourism activity have also expanded rapidly in recent years. The law, on the other hand, moves slowly. The disconnect between the pace ofchange in the industry and the legal regime creates uncertainty for operators, regulators, and policy makers. The difficulty in defining the rapidly changing industry lies at the center of much of the uncertainty. This Article provides an overview of the agritourism industry and recent changes in agritourism activities. The authors discuss different definitions of agritourism in a variety ofcontexts. Four primary current issues for agritourism in need offurther resolution are examined: liability, land use and zoning, real property taxation, and federal income taxation. The Article concludes that attention to the definition and scale of agritourism is necessary to remove uncertainty and ambiguities in this area of law.
Find more of Professor Richardson's scholarship on SSRN.