11 pages, Diversifying a farm's production operations or marketing channels can boost income and raise farm survival rates. But are beginning and small-scale farmers inclined toward a strategy of diversification? We analyzed 578 attendee surveys from 10 years of an Extension workshop for new and small-scale farmers in Ohio. We investigated the farming profile of beginning and small-scale farmers, the degree to which they are interested in pursuing diversified farming, and whether these interests vary by gender. We found evidence that new and small-scale farmers are interested in alternatives to commodity grain farming, that these alternatives are associated with diversified farming systems, and that some specific diversification interests vary by gender.
This printed item features only the Introduction and Part 1 of the article. Entire article is available via UI on-line subscription., Author argues that within the United States small-scale, alternative agriculture is a possible "middle ground" between nature and culture, wilderness and city, increasing the social and ecological connectivity of heterogeneous urban, suburban and rural patches within the landscape matrix.
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 32 Document Number: D10616
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12 pages., via website, Health Communication Capacity Collaborative., U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID Guatemala)and the Health Communication Capacity Collaboration(HC3)of Johns Hopkins University led this strategy in Guatemala from 2012-2016.
Online from publication. 2 pages., Author notes how, in the food marketing complex, diversification can help a business survive in this changing industry.