Findings; Sense of Congress

(a) Findings Congress finds that— (1) agritourism provides a range of unique experiences to the public, including— (A) education, such as school tours, garden and nursery tours, winery tours, historical agricultural exhibits, hops and microbrewery tours, and distillery tours; (B) outdoor recreation, such as river activities, mountain biking, horseback riding, wildlife viewing and photography, fee fishing and hunting, wagon and sleigh rides, cross-country skiing, game preserves, and clay bird shooting; (C) entertainment, such as concerts and special events, culinary experiences, festivals, fairs, interaction with farm animals, and weddings; (D) direct sales, such as on-farm sales, farm stands, agriculture-related crafts and gifts, u-pick operations, u-cut tree farms, wineries, breweries, cideries, distilleries, and cut flowers; (E) accommodations, such as bed-and-breakfast inns, farm and ranch vacations, yurts, sheep wagons, and guest ranches; and (F) dining on a farm; (2) agritourism has financial, educational, and social benefits to communities; and (3) agritourism continues— (A) to offer educational opportunities for children and families; (B) to generate supplemental income for owners of agricultural enterprises, which are often small or family-run businesses; (C) to spur economic development in rural communities; (D) to preserve agricultural heritage; and (E) to help farms diversify. (b) Sense of Congress It is the sense of Congress that, to further realize the benefits of agritourism to communities, the Secretary of Agriculture should incorporate agritourism into the Department of Agriculture comprehensively.