10 pages, By-products like sawdust and straw are applied in compost bedded-pack barns (CBP) for cattle. These materials, which are gradually mixed with excreta and undergo a composting process, serve as a lying bed for the cattle. This study aims to assess the perception of consumers and farmers regarding the use of CBP during the grazing season of cattle for raising other animals or for growing food crops. This was examined by combining surveys with consumers from eight European countries and cattle farmers, focus groups with consumers, and in-depth interviews with individual farmers who implemented alternative uses of compost. The results showed that farmers preferred the compost bedded-pack system to the cubicle system in terms of sustainability and market aspects, although the cost of the bedding material required for CBP was seen as a significant negative aspect. Around half of all consumers indicated that the compost can be used for non-edible products and 26% indicated the compost can be used for raising other animals. Furthermore, 5% of consumers felt that compost should not be used for any other purpose. There were statistically significant differences between countries; therefore, regional specificities should be taken into account when marketing products from compost in CBP barns.
20 pages, There has been increased public interest and concerns in issues such as farm animal welfare (FAW) on the island of Ireland, stoked in part by political and governance changes, such as Brexit and COVID-19. Front-of-pack food labelling represents a primary information channel for many people. In advance of considering formalised food labelling schemes, specifically relating to FAW, it is important to ensure an up-to-date understanding of current consumer perceptions of FAW. With this aim, the current study utilised a mixed methodology. Nine focus group discussions (n = 41) and an online survey (n = 972) with food consumers in Ireland and Northern Ireland explored perceptions of FAW. Results suggest that overall perceptions of FAW are high, and consumers perceive FAW to have improved in the last decade. Quantitative (ANOVA) and qualitative results show variations in perception of FAW between sectors. Results from the focus group discussions identified factors underlying consumers’ perception of FAW: the living conditions of the animal, size and intensity of the farm, national standards and schemes, and visibility. Information insufficiencies and knowledge gaps were identified. The findings are discussed in relation to policy implications for the role of public engagement, front-of-pack welfare labelling, and quality assurance schemes.
15 pages, Advisory services are considered to play an important role in the development of competitiveness and sustainability in agriculture. Advisory services have been studied at policy level, structural level and within case studies, but there is still restricted knowledge about advisors’ and farmers’ view on advisory services in general. This paper presents the views of Swedish advisors and farmers on advisory services. In a survey-based study, perceptions of farm advisors and full-time farmers in commercial Swedish agriculture on advisory services were identified and statistically analysed, comparing differences between and within the groups. The results are structured around three main themes; motives for a farmer using or not using advisory services, preferred approach by the advisor and future demands on advisory services and their importance today. Possible consequences of differences in perceptions for on-farm service delivery were assessed. Similarities in perceptions on advisory services among advisors and farmers, were found in areas characterised by well-defined questions or production-related issues. Significant differences in perceptions of advisors and farmers emerged in less concrete areas and on topics connected to change, management and strategy. Consequences of discrepancies in perceptions are that advisors may deliver too much, too little or off target, especially when expectations on advisory services are not clearly expressed. A strong and proactive back-office supporting the advisors is needed to prevent these possible consequences.
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 18 Document Number: D10474
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126 pages., ISBN: 9780438013049, Via ProQuest Dissertations and Theses., Genetically modified foods and crops are a topic of heated debate in the United States. As with all issues, messaging has the potential to influence and change an individual’s attitude. Through the lens of social judgment theory, this quasi-experimental study investigated the influence of an evidence-based message on millennial agricultural students’ attitudes towards genetically modified foods and crops, while taking into account participants’ ego-involvements for the issue. Sixty-nine undergraduate students in the College of Agriculture participated in this study – comprised of a pre-test and post-test questionnaire with an evidence-based message intervention between.
The major finding from this study was that for the issue of genetically modified foods, millennial agricultural students’ with high ego-involvement are capable of attitude change and moving their anchor points in the direction of viewing genetically modified foods and crops less favorably than prior to the evidence-based message intervention. This result was unexpected, but important. Another key finding is that the majority of millennial agricultural students reported holding favorable attitudes towards genetically modified foods. In regards to the risks of genetically modified foods, the majority of participants disagreed that there is any risk associated with eating genetically modified foods and were neutral towards any environmental risks of genetically modified crops. This study also investigated the role of ego-involvement and the widths of the latitudes of acceptance, noncommitment, and rejection. While there was a trend for the latitude of acceptance to increase and for the latitude of rejection to decrease for both the high and low ego-involvement groups, these findings were insignificant.
Overall, this study’s findings provides great insight to science communicators who are messaging with the goal of influencing attitude change. Utilizing key elements of science communication including, weight of evidence reporting, weight of experts reporting, reinforcement of self-identity, credibility, valence, and framing theory, it is possible to influence attitude change, at least for millennial agricultural students with high ego-involvement for the issue of genetically modified foods. Future research should expand to include other segments of the population, as well as other science issues.
21 pages., New trends in food consumption are shaping consumers’ preferences and buying behavior. Non-traditional food retailing and short supply chains (SSCs) are offering bundles of attributes that fit the needs of larger consumers’ segments. Several studies have analyzed factors affecting the choice of traditional and non-traditional food retailing. Very few, however, are those studies that analyze the predictive role of human values and attitudes on the choice of traditional and non-traditional food retailing and supply chains. Usually, due to the low percentage of consumers involved in SSC, analyses of consumer behavior have been conducted using convenience samples. This study, based on online questionnaires submitted to a representative sample composed by 1009 German consumers, tests the hypothesis that the frequency of purchases at farmers’ markets is related to human values: attitude toward the industrialized food market and attitude toward the environment. The econometric approach here implemented computes the model on average and in the tails of the dependent variable, frequency of purchases at farmers’ market, thus investigating the model in a representative sample even where the percentage of non-traditional food retailing consumers is low, as occurs in the tails for low/high frequency of purchases. The questionnaire included the Schwartz value survey, attitudes toward environment and attitude toward industrialized food market, and self-reported estimates of the frequency of buying at farmers’ market. Results suggest that the frequency of buying at farmers’ markets is hierarchically related to attitudes and values. The frequency of purchases at farmers’ markets is negatively related to industrialized food attitudes and positively related to pro-environment attitudes. Attitudes are in turn affected by values: self-transcendence has a positive impact on pro-environment attitude and the reverse is true for conservation. Furthermore, these relationships are not constant in the sample: they change according to the selected frequency of purchases.
28 pages., Via Science Direct., Precision agriculture (PA) constitutes a dynamic production method which is gaining attention in several parts of the world. Its environmental and economic sustainability has been examined in terms of its ability to reduce the adverse effects of agrochemical use—by regulating their application to the levels needed at the land parcel level—and of its contribution to higher incomes and profitability. At the social level, PA has been linked to collective action although little insight is available regarding the role of various actors and education. This study tackles PA through an assessment of the attitudes of farmers towards the elements of its sustainability and of their educational needs. The analysis of survey data of a sample of young farmers in Greece showed that the majority of respondents were not familiar with PA. Significant differences were found between the attitudes of knowledgeable and non-knowledgeable farmers, the former demonstrating better acknowledgement of the environmental, economic and social sustainability of PA. Important educational needs were also detected, with group and individual methods being the most preferred ones for education and information campaigns. The results of the analysis could be of use for the design of Common Agricultural Policy Pillar II measures for the promotion of PA targeting to specific audiences and actors.
14 pages., The 4-H Youth Development program prohibits all forms of discrimination which includes disability. 4-H Extension professionals provide the essential interface between Extension and the local community to create an inclusive environment for all youth, including those with disabilities, that is welcoming and accessible. Attitudes and self-efficacy for working with youth who have disabilities impact how well 4-
H delivers positive youth development programs. The purpose of this study was to determine state-wide 4-H Extension professionals’ attitudes, self-efficacy, and perceptions of inclusion toward youth with disabilities. In addition, the researchers sought to examine their use of a training program to better serve youth with disabilities. All 4-H Extension professionals in Ohio were surveyed (N = 135) with 71
responding (response rate of 53%). Results indicated the attitudes of Extension professionals for accepting of and feeling comfortable around youth with disabilities was overwhelmingly positive. They also perceived that youth with disabilities felt that they were included in 4-H activities. For self-efficacy,
4-H professionals reported they could effectively provide inclusive opportunities for youth with disabilities and adapt their level of instruction, take extra time, and pay attention to the needs of youth
with disabilities. However, about a third of the respondents somewhat or strongly agreed that their workload would increase by having youth with disabilities in their organization. The disability training program was used by over three-fourths of the 4-H professionals and helped them to engage with parents to learn more about their children with disabilities. The program also improved accommodations and
creating a more inclusive 4-H environment.
11 pages., Pakistan is highly vulnerable to extreme climatic events, such as floods and droughts. This study determines the farmers’ risk perception, risk attitude, adaptation measures and various aspects of vulnerability to climate change (e.g. floods, droughts, heavy rainfalls, pests and disease) at farm level in rural Pakistan. The risk perception and attitude of farm households are crucial factors that influence farm productivity, investment and management decisions at this level. A well-designed questionnaire was used to interview 720 farm households from six districts of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. A binary logit model was used to determine the main factors that affect the choice of adaptation strategies of the farm household. The findings revealed that crop diversification, changing crop varieties, altering the crop calendar, varying the fertilizer used, mulching and farm insurance were the main adaptation strategies followed by farm households. The results of the binary logit model revealed that age, education, farm size, household size, credit accessibility, annual income and the perception on the increase in temperature and decrease in rainfall had significant influence on the selection of the adaption strategies. The findings of this study can provide guidance, policy recommendations and reference for future researchers.
18 pages, Adaptation of the agricultural sector to climate change is crucial to avoid food insecurity in sub-Saharan Africa. Farmers’ perception of climate change is a crucial element in adaptation process. The aim of this study was (i) to compare farmers’ perception of climate change with actual weather data recorded in central Mali, (ii) to identify changes in agricultural practices implemented by farmers to adapt to climate change, and (iii) to investigate the link between farmers’ perception of climate change and implementation of adaptation practices. Focus group discussions and individual surveys were conducted to identify climate-related changes perceived by farmers and agricultural adaptation strategies they consider relevant to cope with these changes. A majority (>50%) of farmers perceived an increase in temperature, decrease in rainfall, shortening of growing season, early cessation of rainfall, and increase in the frequency of dry spells at the beginning of the growing season. In line with farmers’ perception, analysis of climate data indicated (i) an increase in mean annual temperature and minimum growing season temperature and (ii) a decrease in total rainfall. Farmers’ perception of early cessation of rainfall and more-frequent drought periods were not detected by climate data analysis. To cope with the decrease in rainfall and late start of the growing season, farmers used drought-tolerant cultivars and implemented water-saving technologies. Despite a perceived warming, no specific adaptation to heat stress was mentioned by farmers. We found evidence of a link between farmers’ perception of climate change and the implementation of some adaptation options. Our study highlights the need for a dialogue between farmers and researchers to develop new strategies to compensate for the expected negative impacts of heat stress on agricultural productivity.