Understanding the Basics of Agritourism Laws

On Friday, July 26, 2024, from 12 noon–1:00 ET, the Penn State Center for Agricultural and Shale Law, alongside the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture’s (PDA) Agricultural Business Development Center (ABDC), presented the next webinar in the Understanding Agricultural Law educational series:

“Understanding the Basics of Agritourism Laws.”

To increase revenue and diversify their businesses, many farms host agritourism activities such as corn mazes, farm tours, and pick-your-own events. In support of these on-farm activities, many states—including Pennsylvania in 2021—have passed laws providing legal protections for producers when inviting the public onto their farms to engage in agritourism.

This webinar describes agritourism and agritourism liability laws, provides an overview and comparison of state agritourism laws, discusses Pennsylvania’s Agritourism Activity Protection Act, and explains what landowners need to do to acquire liability protection.

00:11 - Agritourism Laws with Jackie Schweichler
00:18 - Recap of previous agritourism webinars
01:58 - Understanding the Basics of agritourism laws
03:19 - What is agritourism?
05:37 - Regulatory considerations
13:12 - Which states have statutes mentioning or not mentioning agritourism
16:51 - Architecture of agritourism legislation
25:06 - Pennsylvania's Agritourims Activity Protection Act
37:49 - Differences between state liability statutes
49:49 - Montana's liability statute
50:16 - Summary and conclusion