Lehtola, Carol (author), Miller, Greg (author), and Miller: Department of Agricultural Education and Studies, Iowa State University; Lehtola: Institute of Agricultural Medicine, University of Iowa
Format:
Journal article
Publication Date:
1994-06
Published:
USA: National Association of College and Teachers of Agriculture, Urbana, IL
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 97 Document Number: C07860
distance education, James F. Evans Collection, Distance education is being utilized more often by colleges of agriculture to meet the educational needs of a more diverse clientele. The college of Agriculture at Iowa State University utilizes a variety of communications media to deliver distance education programming, but relies most heavily on videotapes. In this article, the authors synthesize research related to effective teaching through one-way instructional television, and test two hypotheses derived from this research. The instructional manipulation is described, and its influence on achievement across four cognitive levels in addition to learner satisfaction are tested.
AGRICOLA IND 90037907, The rural crisis of the 1980s exacerbated the chronic problem of maintaining basic public and private services in rural communities. Although the adoption of innovative service-delivery systems to address these concerns has occurred in rural communities, the extent of such adoption has been limited. Not enough knowledge is currently available on the adoption of innovations by communities to help community development practitioners develop effective diffusion self- images are less likely to be innovative than are more-confident and less-content communities. Results support the hypothesis that fatalistic communities are less innovative. Contrary to the hypothesis, however, rural communities with greater contentment are also more innovative. The findings indicate that community development practitioners need to consider a community's image before introducing new ideas and practices to a community for consideration and adoption.
15 pages, Farmers are invited to tell stories about their farms, especially about their farm’s origin and history. However, some farm stories go untold, are uninvited, or become obscured, including stories of farm closures. With this case study, we invite journalists and academics to provide further opportunities for farmers to tell their own closure stories. Written by the farmer and her CSA member and friend, who researches farmer communication, this case study calls on farmers to tell their farm-closure stories in the complicated and robust ways such stories deserve. We draw on academic and public scholarship about farm closures and farmers’ disclosures to feature how one farmer decided to end her farm and farming career. We chronicle her decision-making process and her strategies to communicate the closure of her farm, as well as analyze themes from how audiences reacted to her news. We also offer a range of reasons for inviting such telling of complex closure stories.
Campbell, S. Michael (author), Gamon, Julia (author), Roe, Roger (author), and Department of Agricultural Education and Studies, Iowa State University, Ames, IA
Format:
Journal article
Publication Date:
1994
Published:
USA
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 97 Document Number: C08021
James F. Evans Collection, All of the 100 county Extension offices in Iowa have a set of six water quality videotapes available for use by clientele. The state water quality Extension specialist designed the high quality tapes, each 20 minutes long, to be viewed at home by clients who had water questions. The question was: "Should video by used again as an educational delivery method?" Responses to a telephone survey of county office assistants indicated a wide variation in the use of video tapes, although over 75% liked the idea of information via tapes. The counties needed assistance with publicity and displays, something that area media specialists might provide. (original)
Bultena, Gordon L. (author), Lasley, Paul (author), and Lasley: Associate Professor, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Iowa State University, Ames, IA.; Bultena: Professor, Sociology, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Iowa State University, Ames, IA.
Format:
Journal article
Publication Date:
1986
Published:
USA
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 83 Document Number: C05108
Baker, James L. (author), Miller, Gerry (author), Vaughan, Marilyn (author), and Integrated Farm Management Demonstration Program, Iowa State University; Integrated Farm Management Demonstration Program, Iowa State University
Format:
Journal article
Publication Date:
1991
Published:
Ames, IA : Iowa State University, Cooperative Extension Service
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 93 Document Number: C06928
7pgs, The grape and wine industry in Iowa is based on non-Vitis vinifera grapes, which are not well-known and come with their own set of challenges. An industry survey revealed that wine business and marketing are the main concerns for the Iowa grape and wine industry members. The educational resources already provided by Extension personnel were highly appreciated and events should be offered in several locations around Iowa. The main topics of roundtables and discussions should be about vineyard management and winemaking practices, specifically practices to avoid microbial spoilage, to reduce wine acidity and to select appropriate yeasts for fermentation.
14 pages., CONTEXT
The U.S. has the world's largest organic food market. However, low domestic production and a low adoption rate of organic grain farming limit the overall development of this sector. Multiple organic stakeholders have called for a better understanding of cognitive and motivational aspects of farmers' decision-making processes to help policymakers, agricultural scientists, and extension practitioners to work more effectively with farmers to explore and adopt organic grain production.
OBJECTIVE
This paper assesses farmers' adoption motivations, long-term goals, and perceived benefits to examine the congruence between initial motivations, long-term goals, and current perceived benefits.
METHODS
We employed a sequential mixed-method approach that first interviewed organic farmers in Iowa, U.S. Then developed and administered a statewide survey for the organic farmers. Survey data were analyzed with confirmatory factor analysis, paired-samples t-tests, and heteroskedasticity-robust regression models.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS
We identified five highly-rated motivations for farmers to adopt organic grain: 1) profitability, 2) personal safety, 3) natural resources stewardship, 4) consumers and public health, and 5) honor and tradition. We found organic farmers' long-term goals are strongly orientated to both productivism and stewardship but less strongly oriented to civic-mindedness. This research assessed five areas of benefits associated with organic grain farming: 1) economic benefit, 2) addressed health concerns, 3) environmental natural resources, 4) values and beliefs validation, and 5) social benefit. This study found the benefits farmers experienced by adopting organic grain farming aligned with most of their original adoption motivations and long-term goals, except for serving the motivation of consumer and public health concerns.
22 pages, This paper presents direct evidence on the impact of a specific extension program that is aimed at promoting the adoption of varieties resistant to the soybean cyst nematode (SCN), specifically the Iowa State University SCN-Resistant Soybean Variety Trials. We use two data sources: experimental data from these variety trials and a rich proprietary dataset on farmers’ seed purchases. Combining these data, we estimate the value of soybean cyst nematode-resistant variety availability, and the associated variety trials that provide information on their performance to farmers and seed companies. Given the scope and diffusion of this extension program, the focus of the analysis is on Iowa and northern Illinois over the period 2011–2016. Farmers’ seed choices are modeled in a discrete choice framework, specifically a one-level nested logit model. Using the estimated demand model, we find farmers’ marginal willingness to pay for soybean cyst nematode-resistant varieties, and for related extension information provided by the Iowa State University SCN-Resistant Soybean Variety Trials program, to be large. These results are confirmed by counterfactual analyses showing that, over the six-year period and region of the study, the total ex post welfare change associated with the existence of, and information about, SCN-resistant seeds is about $478 million. About one-third of this surplus is captured by seed suppliers, and two-thirds accrues to farmers.
McCarthy, David A. (author), Williams, David L. (author), and Williams: Department Chairperson, Agricultural Education, Iowa State University; McCarthy: Discipline Leader, Mechanized Agriculture, University of Minnesota, Waseca, MN
Format:
Journal article
Publication Date:
1985
Published:
USA: [Columbus, OH : Ohio State University, Department of Agricultural Education.]
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 84 Document Number: C05216
Edelman, Mark A. (author), Olsen, Douglas R. (author), Schmiesing, Brian H. (author), and Associate Professor, Department of Economics, Iowa State University
Format:
Journal article
Publication Date:
1990-03
Published:
USA: New York : John Wiley & Sons
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 89 Document Number: C06209
6 pages, In this time of information overload, successfully engaging farmers with compelling outreach materials is a major challenge for conservation programs and related research projects. One potential approach is targeting information to the recipient, e.g., local rather than regional soil and water conditions, when sending messages to farmers. Targeted information may increase engagement by making materials stand out as more relevant and useful; conversely, it may decrease engagement by making farmers wary of the program and how it is using the information. We tested the effect of targeted information on farmer engagement using a large, randomized controlled trial in Iowa. In partnership with Iowa State University, we sent 2,996 farmers a single mailing with information about erosion at the local watershed (targeted) or state (control) level and measured their responses to a two-minute survey. We found that targeted information increased relative response rates by 20%, from 13.8% to 16.4%. This level of increase is meaningful for practitioners, as well as statistically significant. Our findings show that targeted information can be an important tool for practitioners and researchers seeking to better connect with farmers who are inundated with marketing mail.
