21 pages, via online journal, How an agricultural organization handles the way the media reports a crisis can have an impact on the public’s perceptions of the organization, and sometimes the industry as a whole. The popularity of social media outlets as a venue for disseminating and gathering information and news makes the use of social media surrounding agricultural crises an important topic to investigate (Glynn, Huge, & Hoffman 2012; Hermida, 2010). A qualitative case study was conducted to investigate the use of social media tools during an agricultural crisis. The participants – communications directors, social media managers, and individuals with a close connection to the crisis under study – reported that social media was a major component of their communication efforts surrounding each crisis. Participants felt social media was very effective in these situations and had a major impact on their communication efforts. Although no participants reported using a structured social media strategy or crisis communication plan, they stated a need for such guidelines in the agricultural industry. From the data analyzed in this study, a model for using social media during a crisis situation, aimed specifically for use by those in the agricultural industry, was developed. This project was funded through the USDA's Beginning Farmers & Ranchers Project.
8 pages., via online journal., Social media provides huge opportunities and incentives that could ease promotion of agricultural extension, facilitate real-time service delivery and enable wider farmer coverage. Ineffective dissemination approaches, expanding farmer population, low staffing, and aging agricultural extension agents continue to negatively affect the provision of agricultural extension services in Kenya. Despite the social media potential in agricultural communication, lack of awareness and low usage in the rural areas of developing countries have been documented. This study sought to establish the level of social media familiarity among smallholder rural farmers with the aim of exploring the possibility of usage in agricultural extension. The study was undertaken in Thika Sub-County of Kiambu County on 140 farmers through a researcher administered semi-structured questionnaire. Probability-proportional-to-size sampling method was employed to derive the sample size from existing extension farmer groups. Simple random sampling technique was further used to identify the actual respondents from each group. A low level of social media familiarity was established among the farmers with education, age and gender having significant influence. The study recommends awareness creation initiatives to promote social media familiarity with a particular focus on women who form the bulk of the farmers but with the lowest level of social media knowledge.
7 pages., Article # 6IAW6, via online journal., Although Extension educators have harnessed the power of technology as an important vehicle for conveying research-based content, it is important that the power of traditional educational methods not be overlooked. These traditional methods remain ideas that work, have worked, and continue to work even today. In this article, we spotlight these traditional ideas by presenting a social marketing campaign that engages limited-resource audiences via themed print educational materials—posters, brochures, and bookmarks. Evaluation results indicate that the campaign has been successful in engaging the target audience and motivating them regarding the adoption of healthful behavior changes.
17 pages., Via online journal., Food waste has emerged as a major issue in the United States as the nation collectively sends more than 133 billion pounds of food to its landfills every year. In September 2015, the USDA and EPA announced an initiative to cut U.S. food waste in half by 2030. Between 2015 and 2016, nearly 100,000 posts about food waste have been published on Twitter, a microblogging platform that has been a hub of “slacktivism” since its inception in 2006. Using a conceptual framework of social cognitive theory, online activism, and crowdsourcing, we analyzed food waste conversation participants’ demographics, online communities, and proposed solutions. Data analysis was conducted with listening software Sysomos MAP and a qualitative content analysis of conversation content. The analysis revealed that more than 2,000 U.S. users engaged in the conversation, forming four discrete conversation communities led by influencers from government, news media, and environmental organizations. Proposed solutions to the food waste crisis included domestic or household behavior change, food-waste diversion and donation, recycling and upcycling, consumer education, and governmental action and policy. We recommend using Twitter to mine, test, and deploy solutions for combating food waste; engage with influential users; and disseminate materials for further research into the behavioral implications of online activism related to food waste.
5 pages., 2018 5th International Conference on Power and Energy Systems Engineering, CPESE 2018, 19–21 September 2018, Nagoya, Japan, via online journal., Agriculture plays an important in providing food security and sustainability for the people in any country. However, lack of funding and limited distribution channels to reach customers are frequent problems faced by farmers to meet the level of sustainability. Agriculture’s sustainability can be strengthened by allowing an innovation of services such as Financial Technology (FinTech), and digital marketplace. Digital marketplace with Fintech enabled might transform agriculture’s business process into more sustainable in term of funding and distribution. FinTech offers farmers convenient ways of getting sources of funding through crowdfunding and digital payment system. Thus, digital marketplace can act as a platform for FinTech to integrate the innovative financial solution into broader agriculture’s ecosystem. The study proposes a modelling digital marketplace with FinTech enabled especially crowdfunding and payment system in order to support agriculture’s sustainability. The model connects all actors (farmers, landowners, investors, and consumers) into a platform that can promote transparency, empowerment, resourcefulness, and public engagement in agriculture.
8 pages., via online journal., ow internet usage by extension agent, impact on the inhibition of the flow of information to the farmers and lead to the income received by farmers. In the digital era today, if the extension agent is not encouraged to use the internet then they will be left behind and will be left out by the farmers. This study aimed to (1) analyze the internet availability in Lampung Province (2) to analyze the level of internet usage for extension agent in Lampung and (3) to analyze factors influencing internet usage of extension agent. This research was conducted in Lampung Province with analysis unit of extension agent in the office of BP3K (Extension Agency of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Forestry) which has been facilitated by computer and internet network. Respondents consisted of 355 extension agent served in BP3K. Multiple Linear Regression Analysis was used to determine the effect of independent variables on the dependent variable. The availability of facilities and internet network in Extension Offices is not sufficient even extension agent used their private facilities. The Internet network had reached the remote areas very well in spreading and transmitting information. Almost all extension agent have internet-connected devices and internet-based applications. Extension agents facilitated by computer and internet network communicating using social media, however capabilities in using the internet to search information related agricultural technology remained low. The use of the internet by extension agent was influenced by the nature of internet innovation, the number of Internet-based applications and the amount of existed hardware.
Wick, Abbey F. (author), Haley, Jean (author), Gasch, Caley (author), Wehlander, Terry (author), Briese, Lee (author), and Samson‐Liebig, Susan (author)
Format:
Online journal article
Publication Date:
2019-06
Published:
Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 122 Document Number: D11140
8 pages., via online journal., Farmer adoption of practices to build soil health can be enhanced using a knowledge network supported by programs and resources that incorporate technical, social and experiential learning pathways. University Extension plays a critical role in building and supporting the knowledge network by serving as (a) a boundary organization to create space for conversations to occur, (b) network manager to facilitate learning and (c) builder of social capital to encourage trust in the network. The North Dakota State University (NDSU) Soil Health Program was used to illustrate the above approach. Between 2014 and 2016, 32 informal discussion groups, called Soil Health Café Talks, reached 156 individuals. A knowledge network of all participants was developed using NodeXL. The 10 most influential individuals in the network included two scientists, five farmers, one crop consultant and two Extension specialists. All non‐NDSU participants received an evaluation form. Respondents increased their frequency of discussing cover crops with other individuals and increased sharing equipment across farming operations (i.e., vertical tillage implements and no‐till drills). Of the topics discussed, over 25% of respondents adopted practices using cover crops (interseeding and using cover crops for weed control and adjusting rotations to incorporate cover crops) as a result of attending Café Talks. Respondents also increased their use of NDSU Soil Health online resources such as Twitter (22%), YouTube (23%) and the web page (21%) as follow‐up information to Café Talks. Network‐based approaches have proven to be successful in encouraging on‐farm adoption of soil health‐building practices.
