MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) – Agricultural tourism is a growing business for farms in Vermont and New England, according to a new federal survey.

The New England Agricultural Statistics Service said 2,200 farms, about a third of Vermont’s total, received some income from agritourism in 2002. Their income from tourism nearly doubled between 2000 and 2002, to $19.5 million, the service said.

“That’s just 4 percent of total gross farm income – but it is an increase from 2000, when it was 2 percent,” U.S. Department of Agriculture statistician Dave Mikelson said at a Friday news conference at the Statehouse.

Agritourism means anything from selling maple syrup at a sugar operation to turning part of a working dairy farm into a bed-and-breakfast.

It’s a way to promote agricultural products, and gives farmers another means of supplementing their income.

Though a farming and Vermont products theme runs through much of the state’s tourism promotion, Tourism Commissioner Bruce Hyde said his department spends little on direct promotion of agricultural tourism.

“We would if there was some money on their side,” he said. “We would partner with them, the way we do with other groups.”

AP-ES-05-02-04 0912EDT