Online from publisher., Case example of arrangements by which participating ranchers and farmers are compensated for water they did not use. Financial support provided through cooperation with various organizations and environmental groups, based on shared interest in enhancing water conservation.
15 pages., via online journal., Communicating about the use and management of open spaces occurs within a complex social environment replete with diverse stakeholder opinions and meta-narratives. For western US rangelands, productionbased enterprises have been the traditional use but increasingly they are valued for ecosystem services such as water, recreation, biodiversity, and aesthetics which have led to additional conflict. We surveyed Wyoming-based members of six agricultural (Ag) and four environmental/conservation (Env/Con) groups to determine grazingcentric mutual exclusivity of special interests, common values, and emergent themes. We assessed 197 survey participants; 150 from Ag groups and 47 from Env/Con groups. Of 10 values assessed, “watershed” and “plant diversity” were similarly valued by both group types. These naturally dichotomous groups also agreed that communication and reliance on science are needed. Communication and conflict resolution about the use of open spaces can benefit from addressing social presuppositions and meta-narratives of broader audiences to facilitate effective dialogue and solutions.
9 pages., via online journal., Natural Resource Management (NRM) can be looked upon from different perspectives: (1) the bio‐physical science perspective, (2) the economic perspective and (3) the social actor perspective. After briefly contrasting the three complementary perspectives, the article focuses on the third, which is the least developed. The social actor perspective requires that one distinguish between (1) the natural resource (be it a farm, a water catchment, underground water resources, etc.) and (2) the social actors who hold a stake in, and/or affect it. These stakeholders ideally form a platform for integral decision making about the natural resource. The platform/resource combination highlights communication processes of interest in sustainable NRM: creating a rich picture of intentions and realities; (land use) negotiation and accommodation; making things visible; raising the level of social aggregation at which platforms operate; and information systems for platform decision support. Such and other platform processes need active facilitation. The article outlines the implications for communication support, and explores professional contributions.
Eanes, Francis R. (author), Singh, Ajay S. (author), Bulla, Brian R. (author), Ranjan, Pranay (author), Fales, Mary (author), Wickerham, Benjamin (author), Doran, Patrick J. (author), and Prokopy, Linda S. (author)
Format:
Online journal article
Publication Date:
2019-02
Published:
Elsevier
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 12 Document Number: D10369
11 pages., Via online journal., Federal agricultural land use policies in the United States aimed at protecting soil health and water quality typically rely on persuading individual farmers to voluntarily adopt conservation practices. An expanding body of literature suggests that private sector intermediaries, such as crop advisers, are increasingly trusted sources of information for farmers about conservation practices and thus may be persuasive actors in the conservation-adoption realm. While previous studies have explored farmers’ perceptions of crop advisers facilitating conservation practice adoption and participating in conservation programs in agricultural landscapes, little research to date has explored crop advisers’ perceptions of this role, and few agricultural land use policies have explicitly included crop advisers as conservation partners. This study fills a critical void in the literature by evaluating the Saginaw Bay Regional Conservation Partnership Program, an innovative agricultural policy that relies on crop advisers to recruit farmers into the program and assist them with the adoption of conservation practices. Through a survey and interviews with crop advisers in the Saginaw Bay watershed in Michigan, USA, we explore crop advisers’ perceptions of their role in the program and of delivering conservation information to farmers. We found that crop advisers have positive attitudes towards land/water resources and conservation practices, believe they have an important intermediary role to play in facilitating conservation practice adoption, and believe their supervisors are supportive of them promoting conservation. However, difficulties in collaboration and communication between the private and governmental sectors – resulting from perceived differences, operational differences, and territoriality – present a key barrier to crop advisers increasing their intermediary role in the promotion and implementation of federal conservation programs. Future research and policy initiatives should explore how to address public-private territoriality and whether crop advisers should be incentivized to deliver information about conservation practices and/or assist in enrolling farmers in federal conservation programs.
Holt-Gimenez, Eric (author) and Mora, Orlando Cruz (author)
Format:
Book chapter
Publication Date:
1993
Published:
Nicaragua
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Document Number: C17247
Notes:
Pages 51-65 in Carine Alders, Bertus Haverkort and Laurens van Veldhuizen (eds.), Linking with farmers: networking for low-external-input and sustainable agriculture. Intermediate Technology Publications, London, UK. 298 pages.
Francis, Charles A. (author), Skelton, Peter (author), Ahnstrom, Johan (author), Hockert, Jenny (author), Bergea, Hanna L. (author), and Hallgren, Lars (author)
Format:
Journal article
Publication Date:
2009
Published:
International
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Document Number: C37146
Hiemstra, Wim (author), Benedictus, Fokke (author), de Bruin, Rene (author), and de Jong, Pieter (author)
Format:
Book chapter
Publication Date:
1993
Published:
Netherlands
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Document Number: C17248
Notes:
Pages 67-80 in Carine Alders, Bertus Haverkort and Laurens van Veldhuizen (eds.), Linking with farmers: networking for low-external-input and sustainable agriculture. Intermediate Technology Publications, London, UK. 298 pages.
