27 pages, Despite farmers’ knowledge and awareness of soil health practices and the growing body of evidence indicating their effective use, many farmers continue to reject such practices. To further explore the role of information source credibility in the adoption of soil health practices, we sought to measure wheat farmers’ perceived source credibility of research scientists, Extension scientists, industry scientists, and general scientists and the likelihood they would adopt information about reduced and no-till practices and cover crop practices from these sources. Using an experimental survey instrument, we collected data from 127 U.S. wheat farmers. We found most wheat farmers considered themselves, Extension professionals, researchers, and other producers as scientists when seeking information about soil health practices. Participants perceived other producers, Extension professionals, and themselves as having the most trust with Extension professionals, other producers, and themselves as having the most goodwill. The means and standard deviations of perceived source credibility suggest that participants perceived each information source—general scientists, research scientists, Extension scientists, and industry scientists—as similarly credible information sources about soil health practices with a statistically significant relationship between farmers’ perceived course credibility of the four scientists and likelihood of adopting information about soil health practices from them. Our results did not indicate differences between participants’ perceived credibility of the four types of scientists or their likelihood to adopt information about soil health practices from the scientists. Effective communication has potential to impact wheat production positively, but achieving communication
19 pages, Climate change threatens human health, the environment, and the global economy. Extreme temperatures, intensifying droughts, and changes in rainfall patterns and growing seasons are all results of a changing climate. Adaptations to climate change will need to be implemented in the agricultural sector to ensure the longevity and sustainability of the global supply of food. Community gardens are one part of the agricultural sector that provide access to fresh and affordable foods. The purpose of this study was to determine U.S. adults’ motivations for engagement and level of importance associated with climate-smart adaptations in community gardens. The study found respondents engaged in community gardens primarily for health and social reasons, and respondents assigned some level of importance to climate-smart adaptations in their community gardens. Environmental communicators should develop messaging that encourages adaptation in community gardens by emphasizing the risk of losing health or social-based benefits the gardens provide. The findings can inform effective communication strategies which encourage community gardens to prepare for climate change to ensure a sustainable supply of and access to fresh foods. Future research should explore the impact of rurality, food accessibility, and socioeconomic status on reasons for engaging in a community garden and associated level of importance related to climate-smart adaptations.
Beattie, Peyton N. (author), Loizzo, Jamie (author), Benge, Matt (author), Israel, Glenn D. (author), Irani, Tracy (author), and Place, Nick T. (author)
Format:
Journal article
Publication Date:
2024-11-04
Published:
USA: Association for Communication Excellence
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 209 Document Number: D13498
12 pages, Mobile technologies and the internet have greatly influenced how people create and consume information and the design and implementation of learning environments. Prior research indicated land grant universities should continue to adapt to the evolving Information Age, train Extension professionals to use ICTs, and leverage ICTs for innovative communication and education with diverse audiences to remain credible and relevant. The following professional development article introduces the digital field experience (DFE) model to engage adult Extension audiences through digital programs. The DFE parameters included: (a) digital delivery of the experience; (b) a component which must include a synchronous, live field experience; and (c) designed for adults as the target audience. In a pilot program, the lead author taught three UF/IFAS Extension agents about DFEs, adult learning, instructional design, and instructional and communication technologies. Throughout the training program the Extension agents developed and delivered their own DFE. The observational outcomes of the DFEs are shared below. The Extension agents adapted the content and the format of the DFE to fit their respective Extension programs, which included a cooking demonstration, the importance of beetles in the landscape, and a virtual beehive tour. Overall, the Extension agents seemed to be pleased with and excited about the experience. A digital experience with a live, hands-on (as they referred to it) component was something that they had been wanting to venture out and try, but they had not committed to doing yet.
24 pages, Developing communication capacities for extension professionals is key to effectively delivering relevant and impactful knowledge. Communication is used throughout extension; however, extension professionals often feel they have limited communication skills and struggle with integrating communication into their practice. The current study identified the communication competency needs of the North Carolina Cooperative Extension organization to inform professional development and training for state extension professionals. Using a three-round Delphi technique, North Carolina extension administrators and communications staff were surveyed for their perceptions of the key communication competencies needed for extension professionals. Key competencies identified by North Carolina extension professionals were categorized as interpersonal communication, cultural competence, and science communication, identified from 171 initial responses. Findings indicate that extension experts placed a high priority on engaging in science communication and the ability to translate science to the public, as well as being culturally competent. Thus, future professional development for extension professionals should focus on developing science communication strategies and fostering interpersonal and intercultural relationship building to support extension’s role in a changing agricultural food system.
Bond, Ludie A. (author), Lundy, Lisa K. (author), Miller, Hope M. (author), Crandall, Chelsey A. (author), Diaz, John M. (author), and Crandall , Raelene M. (author)
Format:
Journal article
Publication Date:
2024-11-04
Published:
USA: Association for Communication Excellence
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 209 Document Number: D13495
20 pages, Public acceptance and support of prescribed burning is critical for its continued use as an essential and effective land management tool in the southeastern U.S. For this practice to continue and expand, land management agencies and private landowners must have public acceptance and support for prescribed fire policy. Without it, they could face increased burn restrictions, as seen in parts of the western U.S., which might lead to decreased acres burned in the Southeast. Most research on public perceptions of prescribed burning has occurred in the West, but that level of research has been lacking in the Southeast. Our research seeks to fill a knowledge gap in a region where prescribed fires are more frequent than wildfires. To determine the current public perceptions of prescribed fire in the Southeast, we examined social media responses following two prescribed burns that resulted in smoke impacts to two major metropolitan areas in Florida. Data were collected and analyzed from social media platforms for the agencies conducting the burns, emergency response and law enforcement agencies, and traditional media. Our research found that Facebook and X (formerly Twitter) were the primary platforms used by the various agencies with Facebook having the higher number of public engagements. This study culminated in recommendations for improving fire science communication to the public to increase acceptance of prescribed fires on public and private lands and improve fire science policy. We recommend further research due to the rapidly changing environment of science communicators’ use of social media to disseminate information.
12 pages, Notable differences have been observed in how society perceives and understands the agricultural industry. Consumers today are concerned with how their food is raised and produced, and drastic changes in how information is gathered regarding those subjects have occurred due to the rapid development of digital media. As a result, the agricultural industry has fallen behind in ensuring accurate information is shared about the daily work done to feed the world. A form of digital media that has infiltrated the daily lives of society is social media (SM). This study sought to evaluate the impact established agricultural social media influencers (SMIs) on Instagram can have on changing participants' perceived knowledge regarding several agricultural topics. Participants were recruited through the platform Prolific and were asked to complete an anonymous Qualtrics survey. Survey questions were asked before and after participants were shown example images of agricultural SMIs. Data collected were analyzed utilizing IBM SPSS (Version 28) to compare pre-image and post-image results to determine the contents' impact on participants' perceived knowledge of subjects relating to agriculture. Results indicated significant differences between the pre-image and post-image perceived knowledge results and between different forms of reported engagement willingness.
25 pages, To foster the responsible development and governance of CRISPR, it is important to understand how agricultural communities perceive and discuss this technology. This study conducted a content analysis of 529 articles from 53 diverse agricultural news publications across sectors and U.S. regions between 2012 and 2022. We analyzed how CRISPR technology is depicted in terms of risk, benefit, social/policy context, quoted experts, and the mentioning of other biotechnologies. Our findings show that from the time that CRISPR was developed for agriculture over a decade ago, agricultural news has consistently reflected a pro-innovation stance, frequently describing its benefits as well as advantages over longer-standing biotechnologies. Industry representatives were quoted most frequently, followed by university scientists and political representatives, while producers and non-governmental groups were quoted least frequently. Technology-related risks (off-target effects, financial risks) were notably lacking, but CRISPR’s social context was covered more extensively, including uncertainties in regulation and consumer acceptance. We discussed the implications for agricultural news professionals, communicators, and future researchers, emphasizing the importance of fostering a more balanced discourse and ensuring informed decision-making within the agricultural sector.
30 pages, While Georgia is one of the top producers of cotton and peanuts in the Unites States, much attention has been centered on ensuring sustainability in the production of these crops. The need to understand what drives farmers’ decision to utilize voluntary best management practices is critical for the improvement of strategies focused on increasing farmers’ adoption of these practices. Empirical evidence that identifies influential factors in farmers’ decision to adopt best management practices have yet to produce consistent predictors of adoption behavior. This has led to increased calls for unique approaches examining how farmers’ views and motivations impact their adoption decisions regarding these practices. This study builds on previous research using Q methodology to provide an in-depth investigation of the differences in farmers’ views on best management practices for cotton and peanut production in southwest Georgia. A purposive sample of 21 participants completed the Q sorting exercise and semi-structured interviews. Analysis of the data revealed three primary viewpoints that were identified and labeled as the: (1) land preservers, (2) ambitious self-starters, and (3) principled go-getters. These perspectives show the differences in motivations for adoption behavior and denote the range of influential factors on farm management decisions. The findings of this study reveal key viewpoints held by Georgia cotton and peanut farmers toward best management practices, which can inform the development of strategically tailored educational resources and opportunities. These targeted educational approaches must account for the specific needs and preferences of farmers found in this study to potentially increase adoption.
27 pages, Precision farming is becoming crucial in the ongoing agricultural revolution due to its enhanced economic and ecological sustainability in food production compared to conventional farming. However, only a limited number of studies have focused on consumer acceptance of food produced through precision farming. To address this gap, an online experiment (n = 276) was conducted to investigate how production method information influences consumer beliefs of food quality (i.e., health, sustainability, and safety values), ultimately affecting consumer attitudes and purchase intentions toward precision-grown food. The findings suggest consumers exhibit higher quality beliefs, leading to more favorable attitudes and purchase intentions, toward precision-grown food compared to conventional food. This trend was observed when participants were presented with detailed information about the production methods employed in each farming system. In addition, according to the Elaboration Likelihood Model, our study reveals consumer innovativeness has the potential to amplify positive responses in terms of quality beliefs, attitudes, and purchase intentions toward precision-grown food compared to conventional food. Furthermore, our findings suggest that when detailed production methods are presented, precision-grown food may receive favorable quality beliefs, attitudes, and purchase intentions comparable to those for organic food, regardless of consumer innovativeness.
23 pages, Cotton is the most significant natural fiber in the world and an important part of the global economy. Yet, the cotton industry faces several challenges in securing its place in the global fiber market share, reaching new consumers, and maintaining relationships with current consumers. Furthermore, the cotton industry has a unique opportunity to share evidence-based information with followers through its product marketing on social media. The study described herein used content analysis to explore Instagram content on the @discovercotton profile. Content included categories of promoted products (i.e. women, men, children, or home); comments, posts, and caption stimuli; and most frequently used word, hashtag, and retail partner stimuli. We analyzed 434 Instagram stimuli (244 single photos, 142 carousels, and 48 videos) from March 2, 2021, to March 2, 2023. Across all stimuli, there were 110,143 likes and 5,799 comments with total response (engagement: likes and comments) reaching 115,942. We found that women’s products were promoted most often followed by men, home, and children—only 8.48% of stimuli depicted cotton, a cotton plant, or the seal of cotton. We identified six major themes in caption stimuli on @discovercotton: qualities of cotton, style, sustainability, check the label, women, and cotton production. Cotton was the most frequently used word stimuli in captions, and cotton as a fabric was the most promoted theme.
