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.
6pgs, A nationwide study was undertaken in China to understand why public interest has shifted away from agriculture and to discuss approaches that may help restore interest and support for agriculture. The study collected 2586 questionnaires from 242 cities in 31 provinces in mainland China. The results suggest that agriculture is still of public interest, but interest has shifted from traditional farming to the consumer perspective in food safety, nutrition and health, food security and agricultural history. Two groups in this study, the younger generation and those with college degrees, show less interest in production agriculture. The accelerating shift in population from rural China to urban areas explains why these two groups are less connected with agricultural issues. The authors contend that it is critically important to keep the urban population knowledgeable of the importance of agriculture and suggest ways to improve communication and support from this educated, city-dweller point of view in order to ensure a stable and secure future. The approach of science appreciation (ways to effectively communicate science to general publics) is proposed to effectively gain renewed interest and engagement with the public in the science of agriculture in order to optimize the needs and benefits from agriculture to society.
27 pages, Precision agriculture, which has existed for over four decades, ensures efficient use of agricultural resources for increased productivity and sustainability with the use of technology. Due to the lingering perception that the adoption of precision agriculture has been slow, this study examines public thoughts on the practice of precision agriculture by employing social media analytics. A machine learning-based social media analytics tool—trained to identify and classify posts using lexicons, emoticons, and emojis—was used to capture sentiments and emotions of social media users towards precision agriculture. The study also validated the drivers and challenges of precision agriculture by comparing extant literature with social media data. By mining online data from January 2010 to December 2019, this research captured over 40,000 posts discussing a myriad of concerns related to the practice. An analysis of these posts uncovered joy as the most predominant emotion, also reflected the prevalence of positive sentiments. Robust regulatory and institutional policies that promote both national and international agenda for PA adoption, and the potential of agricultural technology adoption to result in net-positive job creation were identified as the most prevalent drivers. On the other hand, the cost and complexity of currently available technologies, as well as the need for proper data security and privacy were the most common challenges present in social media dialogue.
16 pages., via online journal, The sustainable intensification of animal production systems is increasing as a consequence of increased demand for foods originating from animals. Production diseases are particularly endemic in intensive production systems, and can negatively impact upon farm animal welfare. There is an increasing need to develop policies regarding animal production diseases, sustainable intensification, and animal welfare which incorporate consumer priorities as well as technical assessments of farm animal welfare. Consumers and/or citizens may have concerns about intensive production systems, and whether animal production disease represent a barrier to consumer acceptance of their increased use. There is a considerable body of research focused on consumer willingness-to-pay (WTP) for improved animal welfare. It is not clear how this relates specifically to a preference for reduced animal production disease incidence in animal production systems. A systematic review and meta-analysis were conducted to establish the publics’ WTP for farm animal welfare, with a focus on production diseases which arise in intensive systems. Systematic review methodology combined with data synthesis was applied to integrate existing knowledge regarding consumer WTP for animal welfare, and reduced incidence of animal production diseases. Multiple databases were searched to identify relevant studies. A screening process, using a set of pre-determined inclusion criteria, identified 54 studies, with the strength of evidence and uncertainty for each study being assessed. A random effects meta-analysis was used to explore heterogeneity in relation to a number of factors, with a cumulative meta-analysis conducted to establish changes in WTP over time. The results indicated a small, positive WTP (0.63 standard deviations) for farm animal welfare varying in relation to a number of factors including animal type and region. Socio-demographic characteristics explained the most variation in the data. An evidence gap was highlighted in relation to reduced WTP for specific production diseases associated with the intensification of production, with only 4 of the 54 studies identified being related to this. A combination of market and government based policy solutions appears to be the best solution for improving farm animal welfare standards in the future, enabling the diverse public preferences to be taken into consideration.
Ronteltap, Amber (author), Reinders, Machiel, J. (author), Van Dijk, Suzanne M. (author), Heijting, Sanne (author), Van der Lans, Ivo A. (author), and Lotz, Lambertus A. P. (author)
Format:
Journal article
Publication Date:
2016-08
Published:
Springer
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 7 Document Number: D10266
30 pages., Via online journal., New agrifood technologies are often difficult to grasp for the public, which may lead to resistance or even rejection. Insight into which technology features determine public acceptability of the technology could offer guidelines for responsible technology development. This paper systematically assesses the relative importance of specific technology features for consumer response in the agrifood domain in two consecutive studies. Prominent technology features were selected from expert judgment and literature. The effects of these features on consumer evaluation were tested in a consumer study (n = 745). Fictitious technologies were used to avoid any uncontrollable contextual influences that existing new technologies may evoke. Results show that technologies that were seen as more natural and newer were perceived less risky, more beneficial, and were evaluated more positively. Technologies applied to food were judged to be more beneficial, but also more risky than those applied to non-food. Technologies used in the production process were perceived to be less risky and evaluated more positively than those used in the product. Technologies owned by the market leader were perceived to be more beneficial, and evaluated more positively than those that were freely available. In a next study (n = 440), effects of the technology features on consumer response were tested for existing new agrifood technologies. This study replicated the results for perceived naturalness, perceived newness, and place in the production process where the technology is applied. However, in contrast to the first study, we did not find an effect of application area (food versus non-food) and technology ownership.
