5 pages., Via online magazine., Winner of the 2017 Borlaug cast communication award, Jayson Lusk, shares the three challenges he sees in effectively communicating with the general public as well as some potential solutions.
25 pages, The 2020 growing season presented new and significant challenges for farmers and farms across the United States as they navigated the COVID-19 pandemic. The rich and diverse agricultural landscape of Washington State offers a valuable microcosm in which to explore the experiences of farms in the U.S. during the pandemic. The purpose of this study was to qualitatively assess the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on directly marketing small farms in western Washington State, with a focus on farmers’ experiences with resilience. We conducted in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 15 farmers and used thematic analysis to explore the influence of the pandemic on overall experiences, responses, and values and perceptions related to small farms. Interviewees provided insights on the impacts of the pandemic on their daily farm operations, production costs, marketing channels, demand, and revenue. Farmers also reported shifting personal and public attitudes towards small farms during the pandemic. Product diversity, flexibility, multiple forms of support, values, and access to resources emerged as drivers of COVID-19 impacts and farm adaptations. When compared to existing frameworks on farm resilience, farms in this study are seen to demonstrate resilience via buffer and adaptive capabilities, which enable them to absorb and adjust to shocks. Farmers also discussed resilience via transformative capability, the potential to create new systems, leveraging the collective power of small farms to shape future food systems. Future research on the resilience of small farms should focus on ways to both promote resilience attributes and facilitate the ability of farmers to act on resilience capabilities.
17 pages, Little is known about how farms and markets are connected. Identifying critical gaps and central hubs in food systems is of importance in addressing a variety of concerns, such as navigating rapid shifts in marketing practices as seen during the COVID-19 pandemic and related food shortages. The constellation of growers and markets can also reinforce opportunities to shift growing and eating policies and practices with attention to addressing racial and income inequities in food system ownership and access. With this research, we compare network methods for measuring centrality and sociospatial orientations in food systems using two of America’s most high-producing agricultural counties. Though the counties are adjacent, we demonstrate that their community food systems have little overlap in contributing farms and markets. Our findings show that the community food system for Yolo County is tightly interwoven with Bay Area restaurants and farmers’ markets. The adjacent county, Sacramento, branded itself as America’s Farm-to-Fork capital in 2012 and possesses network hubs focused more on grocery stores and restaurants. In both counties, the most central actors differ and have been involved with the community food system for decades. Such findings have implications beyond the case studies, and we conclude with considerations for how our methods could be standardized in the national agricultural census.
9 pages., Article # 1RIB4, Via online journal., Food hubs represent a business model through which farmers can collectively market product to access new supply chains and buyers can efficiently access locally sourced foods. Many farmer marketing cooperatives fit within the food hub definition and have existed for decades. Accordingly, much can be learned from them to support food hub business planning efforts. We developed and synthesized case studies of three successful cooperatives in order to match key food hub operational challenges with recommended best management practices. Such information is useful for Extension education efforts supporting the development of economically viable food hub businesses.
Keyser, Patrick (author), Schexnayder, Susan (author), Willcox, Adam (author), Bates, Gary (author), Boyer, Christopher N. (author), and Center for Native Grasslands Management
Human Dimensions Research Lab
University of Tennessee
Format:
Online journal article
Publication Date:
2019-12-12
Published:
United States: Extension Journal, Inc.
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 124 Document Number: D11232
10 pages, via online journal, Adoption of native warm-season grasses (NWSGs) in the tall fescue belt is limited despite studies documenting the potential contribution of these forages to profitable beef production. On the basis of two surveys conducted in Tennessee, a survey of beef producers and a survey of agricultural professionals, we evaluated perceptions of NWSG forages and how those perceptions could influence their adoption. Although agricultural professionals were more familiar with NWSGs than producers, both populations had limited knowledge regarding these forages, indicating that additional Extension education is needed. Our results provide useful guidance for developing NWSG forage educational programs for producers and agricultural professionals.
