Cash crops are changing in the mountains of rural Western North Carolina. With tobacco revenue phasing out and sprawl issues on the rise, landowners and farmers around our region are looking for a way to diversify. North Carolina's number one economic generator these days is tourism, and with the strong emergence of authentic cultural and heritage experiences leading the way in niche markets of the tourism economy - it is only natural for the North Carolina Mountains to look to their roots and heritage - craft and agriculture.

Whether you call it Agri-tourism or Rural Tourism, this niche market not only assists communities with solutions to help diversify their economic base, but it also helps our regional urban centers and increasingly suburban populations to understand the important role that farming and rural life plays in our history, by highlighting the need for it in our contemporary society. Agri-tourism projects re-enforce the need to support local growers and sources and allow the visitor to experience what it is to be part of the land we call Western North Carolina.