23 pages., via online journal, Cultured meat has yet to reach store shelves but is nonetheless a growing issue for consumers, producers, and government regulators, many of whom have taken to social media to discuss it. Using a conceptual framework of social cognitive theory and issues management, this qualitative content analysis investigated social-media discourse surrounding the topic of cultured meat in the United States by describing the content of the discussion in late 2018 and identifying individual influencers and communities of influencers engaged in the discussion. Data were collected from Twitter using listening platform Sysomos MAP. The thematic analysis revealed eight themes: legality and marketing, sustainability, acceptance, business, animal concerns, science and technology, health concerns, and timeline, and indicated that conflicting views and questions about cultured meat exist among conversation participants. Top influencers included philanthropists, government officials, journalists and writers, and animal-welfare advocates. These influencers were grouped into four distinct communities based on interactions with each other and other users. The topics identified in the analysis provide insight into ways in which communicators can enter these conversations, and influencer communities represent groups of users whose broad reach could more easily transmit pro-agriculture messages.
11 pages., ISSN : 2311-8547, via online journal., The objective of this study was to analyze the impacts of an extension program (education and training practice) as perceived by smallholder cattle farmers to develop their smallholder farm practices and reduce the costs of production. The study used data from 22 participant smallholder farmers with backgrounding cattle systems. In-depth interview questionnaires were used and collected before and after providing the extension program in Saraburi province, Thailand. Two leaders of this group were selected for observation and as farm models. Environmental differences were investigated during the rainy, winter and summer seasons. This study detailed the socioeconomics of the smallholders, the characteristics and management of livestock farms. The satisfaction levels of the extension programs were also analyzed. The benefits and costs of this program were examined and developed after the program finished. The study found backgrounding cattle farms was a major livelihood within the community. The community was of low income and living in poverty. The farmers were at high levels of risk in terms of feeding costs and cattle market. The program provided knowledge to be enable the farmers to understand and develop the farm systems. Most of the smallholders agreed on the good-practice farming and group activities. The farm leaders influenced their perceptions. The farmers were encouraged to do activities together: learning cattle market information, good-practice cattle farms, and cattle rations management. The success of the extension program improved the economic community, community relationships, and community attitudes. The extension program applied to a pro-active policy. Collaboration learning activities for smallholders benefit the farmers' community. This program improves economic relationships, attitudes, and builds a sustainable agricultural community.
17 pages., Via online journal., Purpose: This paper presents economic and pedagogical motivations for adopting information and communications technology (ICT)-mediated learning networks in agricultural education and extension. It proposes a framework for networked learning in agricultural extension and contributes a theoretical and case-based rationale for adopting the networked learning paradigm.
Design/methodology/approach: A review of the literature highlights the economic and pedagogical need for adopting a networked learning approach. Two examples are described to instantiate the language for learning networks: a small community of farmers in India and large Twitter community of Australian farmers.
Findings: This paper reviews evidence that successful networked learning interventions are already occurring within agricultural extension. It provides a framework for describing these interventions and for helping future designers of learning networks in agricultural extension.
Practical implication: Facilitation of learning networks can serve to achieve efficient agricultural extension that connects farmers across distances for constructivist learning. To realize these benefits, designers of learning networks need to consider set design, social design and epistemic design.
Theoretical implication: This paper contributes a theoretical framework for designing, implementing and analysing learning networks in agriculture. It does this by integrating existing ideas from networked learning and applying them to the agricultural context through examples.
Originality/value: This paper contributes an understanding of the value of networked learning for extension in terms of economic and pedagogical benefits. It provides a language for talking about learning networks that is useful for future researchers and for practitioners.
8 pages., via online journal., Given the well-documented impacts of angler behavior on the biological fitness of angled and released fish, optimizing the conservation value of catch-and-release angling hinges on the extent to which anglers are willing to adopt recommended best practices and refrain from harmful ones. One potentially powerful mechanism underlying adoption of best practices is the social pressure anglers can apply to one another to enforce community norms and values. Past work in other domains demonstrates that forms of interpersonal communication—including social sanctioning—can foster context-appropriate social norms and increase cooperative behavior; yet to date, little research has examined these dynamics in the context of species conservation. We conducted in-person and online surveys to explore the role of social sanctioning in the context of an internationally renowned wild steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss) fishery in British Columbia, Canada. We investigated how diverse social-psychological and demographic factors influence anglers' past and future sanctioning propensity. Results highlight that perceived capacity to influence the angling practices of others and professed concerns about one's own reputation were strongly predictive of both past and future sanctioning. Furthermore, while anglers reported relatively low-levels of past sanctioning behavior, most anglers simultaneously expressed a strong desire to sanction others in the future. Identifying ways to increase the social desirability and visibility of sanctioning actions could assist resource managers in promoting adoption and maintenance of best practices. More broadly, our findings underscore a significant yet underappreciated role for wildlife users and enthusiasts in cultivating a shared conservation ethic to help ensure biological conservation.
Dan, Viorela (author), Osterheider, Angela (author), Raupp, Juliana (author), and Department of Communication Studies and Media Research, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Oettingenstrße
Format:
Online journal article
Publication Date:
2018-12-22
Published:
[place of publication not identified]: SAGE Publishing
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 151 Document Number: D10124
34 pages., via online journal, he use of antibiotics in agriculture contributes to antimicrobial resistance. We surveyed German farmers (n = 336) on their intention to adopt alternative antimicrobial agents (AAA) and used the diffusion of innovations approach as a theoretical guide. (1) Farmers’ views regarding the relative advantage and complexity of AAA, (2) their use of and trust in information sources and channels, and (3) various individual and organizational characteristics were entered as predictors in two explorative models. While farmers’ intention to adopt AAA was generally very high, selected variables in all three categories predicted variations in the intensity of the adoption intention.
