Publications

To Stay or Go? New Insights into Northeast Rural Households’ Intention to Move

In this NERCRD data brief, findings from the 2024 NER-Stat household survey shed light on which rural households are more likely to move and their reasons for wanting to do so.

Authors: Yuan Zhuang, PhD Candidate, Penn State Department of Agricultural Economics, Sociology and Education

Publication: Published by NERCRD Date Published: August 24, 2026

Tags: data brief, NER-Stat

Agritourism in the United States: State and National Factsheets

Data from the 2022 Census of Agriculture

Based on the 2022 Agricultural Census data obtained through a special request from Penn State University, these fact sheets provide comprehensive insights into the demographics of farms that offer agritourism and direct sales services in each state. Fact sheets are organized by geographic region.

Contributors: Claudia Schmidt, Penn State; Yuan (Timothy) Zhuang (Research Assistant), Penn State; Lisa Chase, University of Vermont; Jason Entsminger, University of Maine; Stacy Tomas, Texas A&M; Stephan Geotz, NERCRD and Penn State; Sarah Cornelisse, Penn State; Kristen Devlin, NERCRD and Penn State; Chadley Hollas (Cultivating Tourism)

Authors: Schmidt, C., Zhuang, Y., Chase, L., Entsminger, J., Tomas, S., Goetz, S. J., Cornelisse, S., & Devlin, K.

Publication: Published by Penn State Extension Date Published: July 24, 2026

Tags: agritourism, agritourism data brief

Insights on Agritourism Among South Carolina Producers: Evidence from the 2024 National Agritourism Producer Survey

According to the 2022 Agricultural Census, South Carolina has 516 agritourism operators spread across its counties. This report presents findings from the 2024 National Agritourism Producer Survey, with a specific focus on South Carolina producers. The online survey was open from March through August 2024, and 2,139 agritourism operators across the United States responded. A total of 63 survey responses came from South Carolina farms. This represents 2.9% of all responses.

Authors: R. David Lamie, Will C. Culler, Claudia Schmidt, Jason S. Entsminger, Sarah Cornelisse, Jackie Schweichler

Publication: Published by NERCRD Date Published: July 20, 2026

Tags: agritourism, agritourism data brief, data brief

The impact of energy price shocks on US local industries: A state-level analysis

In this study, the researchers use annual panel data for the 50 US States to examine how local industries have adapted to energy price changes from 2001 to 2019. They estimate a recursive dynamic system to model how energy prices affect output both directly and indirectly through induced capital adjustment and energy intensity. They find that energy price increases reduce local GDP in the short run but also lead to long-term increases in energy efficiency.

Authors: Minsu Kim and Stephan J. Goetz

Publication: Energy Economics Date Published: July 15, 2026

Tags: energy

Exploring sustainable tourism indicators (STIs) for the U.S. with secondary data

In this article, the researchers propose using secondary data to develop a novel composite sustainable tourism indicator while also addressing advantages and limitations of the survey-based approaches used in Europe to measure sustainability in tourism. They apply this indicator to recreation-dependent U.S. counties and find that while some counties improve across multiple sustainability dimensions, others experience inconsistent trends, highlighting the complex relationships between tourism development and local community well-being.

Authors: Luyi Han, Stephan Goetz, Doug Arbogast, and Daniel Eades

Publication: Tourism Economics Date Published: May 22, 2026

Economic shocks, food insufficiency and mental health: Evidence from the COVID-19 pandemic

Millions of Americans experienced a sudden loss of income along with hunger early in the COVID-19 outbreak. Using Household Pulse Survey data from April 23, 2020 to March 29, 2021, the authors found that the pandemic significantly impacted both food sufficiency and mental health, with food insufficiency having a larger negative impact on mental health than income loss.

Authors: Yuxuan Pan, Linlin Fan, Stephan Goetz

Publication: Plos ONE Date Published: March 12, 2026

Tags: COVID-19, food security, mental health

Caregiving Along the Life Course Among Farming Households

This research was funded in part by NERCRD, and draws upon the Northeast and North Central Caregiving Survey conducted by the Regional Rural Development Centers. Using survey data from 704 farming caregivers in the U.S. Northeast and Midwest, the authors examine four research questions: 1) Who are the caregivers? 2) What resources does caregiving require? 3) How does caregiving impact farming caregivers’ finances and well-being? 4) What type of support do caregivers use and what support do they want?

Authors: Emily M. L. Southard and Florence A. Becot

Publication: Journal of Agromedicine Date Published: March 5, 2026

Tags: caregiving

NERCRD 2025 Annual Report

The NERCRD team invites you to explore our recent work, which leverages and transforms our federal investment into impactful research, synergistic partnerships, and greater capacity in the region and beyond. In 2025, NERCRD delivered on its mission by:

• conducting high-impact research in support of vibrant rural economies
• supporting several knowledge-sharing networks
• organizing public webinars that provided professional development on high-priority topics.
• publishing a bi-monthly newsletter to support the critical work of fostering vibrant rural communities.

Authors: Northeast Regional Center for Rural Development

Publication: Published by NERCRD Date Published: February 24, 2026

Archive of earlier annual reports

To request a copy of an earlier NERCRD annual report (1997-2024), please send an email to nercrd@psu.edu.

Land Grant Community and Economic Development Capacity in the Northeast

In 2024, NERCRD conducted an inventory of the capacity for research and Extension programming in the Northeast U.S. region that corresponds with NERCRD priority areas.

Authors: Stephen Alessi

Publication: NERCRD publication Date Published: March 30, 2025

Tags: Extension