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2. Citizens, consumers and farm animal welfare: A meta-analysis of willingness-to-pay studies
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Clark, Beth (author), Stewart, Gavin B. (author), Panzone, Luca A. (author), Kyriazakis, Ilias (author), and Frewer, Lynn J. (author)
- Format:
- Online journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2017-04
- Published:
- USA: Elsevier
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 5 Document Number: D10194
- Journal Title:
- Food Policy
- Journal Title Details:
- 68: 112-127
- Notes:
- 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.
3. Communicative farm-specific diagnosis of potential simultaneous savings in costs and natural resource demand of feed on dairy farms
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Huysveld, Sophie (author), Van Meensel, Jef (author), Van linden, Veerle (author), De Meester, Steven (author), Peiren, Nico (author), Muylle, Hilde (author), Dewulf, Jo (author), and Lauwers, Ludwig (author)
- Format:
- Journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2017-01
- Published:
- Belgium: Elsevier
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 161 Document Number: D07798
- Journal Title:
- Agricultural Systems
- Journal Title Details:
- 150: 34-45
4. Farmers' participation in extension programs and techonology adoption in rural Nepal: a logistic regression analysis
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Suvedia, Murari (author), Ghimire, Raju (author), Kaplowitz, Michael (author), and Michigan State University
- Format:
- Online journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2017-05-14
- Published:
- United States: Taylor & Francis
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 109 Document Number: D10980
- Journal Title:
- The Journal of Agricultural Education and Extension
- Journal Title Details:
- 23(4) : 351-371
- Notes:
- 20 pages, via online journal, Purpose: This paper examines the factors affecting farmers’ participation in extension programs and adoption of improved seed varieties in the hills of rural Nepal. Methodology/approach: Cross-sectional farm-level data were collected during July and August 2014. A sample of 198 farm households was selected for interviewing by using a multistage, random sampling technique. We employed a logistic regression model, frequency counts, and percentages to analyze the data. Findings: Adoption decisions were mainly affected by extension-related variables – training, membership in a farmers’ group, and off-farm employment. Extension participation was found to be influenced by socioeconomic variables – age, education, household size, and distance to the extension office. Our findings reveal that distance to the extension office and off-farm employment limited participation in extension activities and adoption, respectively, and education, household size, and group membership stimulated participation in extension programs. Practical implications: Recognition of the determinants of farmers’ participation in extension services and innovation adoption ensures that targeted extension approaches are used to address these factors in various stages of planning, delivering, and evaluating extension programs. Theoretical implications: Innovation adoption follows a systematic decision-making process. Although personal characteristics are important, widespread use of new technology requires a conducive social and institutional context. Because contexts vary by country or region, extension services providers should create institutions favorable for innovation adoption within a social system. Originality/value: This research is original and highly valuable to identify the factors associated with extension participation and innovation adoption in the rural hilly region of Nepal. This also provides a new direction to operationalize farmer-oriented policies of agricultural extension and so can be helpful for agricultural policy-makers in devising programs of extension services.
5. The effects of online video on consumers’ attitudes toward local food
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Qu, Shuyang (author), Rumble, Joy N. (author), Telg, Ricky (author), Lamm, Alexa (author), and University of Florida Iowa State University
- Format:
- Journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2017
- Published:
- United States: New Prairie Press
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 2 Document Number: D10171
- Journal Title:
- Journal of Applied Communications
- Journal Title Details:
- 101(4)
- Notes:
- 22 pages, via online journal, Marketers rate online video as their most utilized content medium. This study used a between-subject control group post-test-only experiment to investigate the effect of three local food messages delivered via online video on U.S. consumers’ attitudes toward local food. The three 30-second videos each featured one of the documented benefits of local food: high quality, support of local economy, and strengthening of social connection. Results indicated all three video treatments yielded a positive attitude toward local food, while respondents in the control group had a neutral attitude. The video treatment featuring local food’s high quality generated a significantly more favorable local food attitude than the other two video treatments. Although the social connection video treatment generated a positive attitude toward local food based on the real limits, it did not significantly differentiate from the control group. Communicators should consider using similar short, online videos for emphasizing the high quality of local food and its support of the local economy to promote local agricultural products. Future research should pair live-action or animated footage with the same messages in the video treatments to identify messages effectiveness. Researchers should also investigate why some individuals respond to local food’s benefit of social connection more readily than the others, and identify strategies to use social connection media frame to promote local food.
6. Using an experiential learning design to teach photography in agricultural communications
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Kennedy, Lindsay (author), Akers, Cindy (author), Jackson, Rachel B. (author), and Texas Tech University
- Format:
- Journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2017
- Published:
- United States: New Prairie Press
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 2 Document Number: D10172
- Journal Title:
- Journal of Applied Communications
- Journal Title Details:
- 101(4)
- Notes:
- 13 pages, via online journal, Photography is an important competency of agricultural communications graduates and is a core skill taught in the discipline’s curriculum. The [department] at [university] offers an undergraduate photography course twice yearly in two semester formats: a traditional spring semester where photography principles are taught in the classroom and a 12-day experiential intersession semester that allows for flexibility in how and where the course is taught. Both semesters utilize the same instructor, assignments, and grading rubric. While much agricultural communications research has focused on photography as a needed skill, few studies examine photography teaching methods. The purpose of this study was to compare student performance in an agricultural communications digital photography course taught with an experiential learning approach to a traditional classroom approach during the 2016 and 2017 academic calendar years. Kolb’s (1984) experiential learning theory was used as the theoretical framework for this study. Independent-samples t-tests were conducted to compare students’ cumulative mean assignment scores, individual assignment mean scores, and rubric criteria mean scores within the two instruction formats. The results suggest instruction method has an effect on student performance in agricultural communications digital photography courses. Students in the experiential intersession course had significantly higher mean cumulative assignment scores compared to students in the traditional course. While individual assignment performance was less affected by instruction format, students’ understanding of specific photography skills (rubric criteria), especially composition and clarity was higher when in the experiential intersession format.