Ruth, Taylor K. (author), Rumble, Joy N. (author), Galindo-Gonzalez, Sebastian (author), Lundy, Lisa K. (author), Carter, Hannah S. (author), Folta, Kevin M. (author), and University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
The Ohio State University
University of Florida
Association for Communication Excellence
Format:
Journal article
Publication Date:
2019
Published:
United States: New Prairie Press
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 15 Document Number: D10430
24 pages., Via online journal., Faculty at land-grant universities are expected to engage in some form of Extension, or science communication, as part of the land-grant mission. However, critics have claimed these institutions are out of touch with their stakeholders’ needs and faculty mainly communicate with others in academia. This engagement with a homogenous group reflects the concepts of echo chambers, where people are only exposed to information that aligns with their beliefs and current knowledge and discredit opposing information. An explanatory mixed-methods design was used to understand land-grant faculty’s engagement in echo chambers. A survey was distributed to a census of tenure-track faculty in the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences to understand respondents’ engagement in echo chambers. Follow-up interviews were conducted with 13 of the survey respondents to further explore their audiences and channels used in science communication to understand their engagement in echo chambers. Survey results indicated faculty did not necessarily participate in echo chambers, but they also did not contribute to an open communication network. However, the interviews found participants were interested in reaching new audiences yet struggled to communicate with stakeholders. The participants also reported wanting to find alternative channels to peer reviewed journals to help disseminate their work. The findings from this study indicated faculty contributed to a type of echo chamber, but rather than viewing their stakeholders’ opinions as false, they simply did not hear the opinions. Agricultural communicators should work with land-grant faculty administrators to identify appropriate audiences and channels for science communication.
24 pages, Farmer-led research (FLR) is a process of inquiry wherein farmers use scientific methods to address their own on-farm curiosities and challenges in ways that are compatible with the scale and management style of their operations. With its flexible, adaptable, participatory, grassroots-oriented nature, FLR has typically been employed by farmers interested in ecological farming techniques and technologies, and evidence shows that it contributes to the adoption and improvement of ecological management practices across a range of contexts. Engagement in FLR initiatives has also been linked to positive social outcomes, including community-building, farmer empowerment, and enhanced capacity for leadership and collective action. In this paper, we present a case study of the Ecological Farmers Association of Ontario’s (EFAO) Farmer-Led Research Program (FLRP), which is currently one of relatively few FLR initiatives in North America. We draw on data from a participatory, mixed-methods research project. Our results highlight how the FLRP is enabling farmers to feel more knowledgeable, confident, motivated, and inspired to adopt and/or improve ecological practices on their farms, in part by supporting them in building robust social networks that align with their farming values and priorities.
27 pages., The study on the information-seeking behavior of the agricultural community was undertaken in the attabira area of bargarh district of Odisha with objectives to study the different areas in which they require information frequently and determine the sources through which they rely on. It was found that most of the people are dependent upon agriculture in the attabira area. They started working at the age of 18. Most of the farmers (85.6%) of farmers opted for pooja seeds for cultivation. The study shows 7.36% of the respondents are facing difficulties in irrigation facilities. About 78.9% of the people are talking about MSP (Minimum support price). About 7.3% of farmers gathered information from social media, TV, Call centers, etc. It is observed that the highest numbers of people are talking from a nationalized bank. The farmers were getting information from various sources like TV media, print media, etc. The library plays a crucial role in the dissemination of knowledge. The farmer knowledge center was established where they could get their query solved. The knowledge centers need to provide the right information at the right time in a personal way. The result reveals that a large number of people of the attabira district are influenced by socio-economic variables.
21 pages., The study has an aim to figure out the role of mobile communication in developing Knowledge base among rural women through knowledge sharing. Using a structured questionnaire quantitative data have been collected by survey method and qualitative data through FGDs. Data has been collected on the way of sharing knowledge, areas of expertise, sharing knowledge types, with whom sharing knowledge etc. Rural women are being interested in knowledge sharing through mobile phone because mobile phones are cheap, easier, and available medium for communication to them. Among the rural women who have completed at least secondary education, are sharing both their tacit (mostly) and explicit (moderately) knowledge. On the other hand women who are not literate they are sharing only their indigenous experiences. Both types of women have realized that they are positively being changed in their living attitude because of using mobile and now their knowledge base is somewhat better than ever before. The findings also revealed that they are getting benefit by enriching their knowledge base in different areas and its implementation in their livelihood. Moreover it is apparently clear that they will play important role in developing knowledge base society in rural area through sharing their knowledge in near future.
10 pages, The study focused on the knowledge of intergenerational farm transfer among cocoa farmers in southwestern Nigeria. A three-stage sampling technique was used to select 5% of the total 6,843 registered cocoa farmers with the Agricultural Development Project (ADP), making a total sample size of 342 cocoa farmers. Data were collected through interviewer-administered questionnaires and analysed using percentages, frequency distributions and chi-square tests. The results revealed that a majority of the respondents were male (77.0%) and had farm sizes of 5 ha and below (84.9%). The respondents had a mean age of 58 years and a mean household size of six persons. The results show that a majority (65.3%) of respondents had low knowledge about intergenerational farm transfer. 56.9% of the respondents had not discussed the issue of intergenerational farm transfer plans with anybody. The results also show that cocoa farmers’ succession plan status has a positive relationship with their knowledge of intergenerational farm transfer. The study concluded that the knowledge of cocoa farmers about the process of farm transfer is poor. The study recommends that cocoa farmers be trained in the process of intergenerational farm transfer to ensure family farm sustainability.
13 pages., While work on agricultural messaging is abundant, the way that audiences form perceptions of messages is not well understood and little research has examined the cognitive effects of image and word associations in an agricultural context. Previous knowledge gap research has shown that socioeconomic status and access to information could be one contributor of perception formation. We propose that these variables could also impact cognitive processing. Therefore, the purpose of this exploratory study was to examine how components of cognitive dissonance and knowledge gap theory apply in the context of a contentious agricultural issue. Data were collected from 1,049 United States’ residents through an online survey with an embedded experimental design. Respondents randomly received one of two image and word association pairings. After viewing the treatment, measures of cognitive conflict, demographics, and desire to learn more were collected. The results showed that the cognitive conflict instrument performed differently in the context of a complex agricultural issue than in prior research. Additionally, the message pairings had a stronger influence on cognitive conflict components than demographic characteristics. Finally, the desire to learn more was impacted by the message treatments. Future research on cognitive conflict and advanced modeling is recommended.
