THE PURPOSE OF THE STUDY WAS TO DETERMINE SITUATIONAL AND INDIVIDUAL CHARACTERISTICS OF BEGINNING FARM OPERATORS WHICH INFLUENCE ESTABLISHMENT IN FARMING. KEY INFORMANTS IN EACH COUNTY OF NEW YORK IDENTIFIED 2,260 BEGINNING FARM OPERATORS WHO WERE STRATIFIED BY REGION AND DAIRY COWHERD SIZE. CLUSTER SAMPLES WERE RANDOMLY SELECTED. AN INTERVIEW SCHEDULE, BASED ON PREVIOUS RESEARCH, WAS FIELD TESTED, AND INTERVIEW TECHNIQUES WERE STANDARDIZED. DATA WERE ANALYZED WITH CROSS TABULATIONS, CORRELATION MATRICES, AND REGRESSION EQUATIONS. FINDINGS ESTABLISHED A NEED FOR INSTRUCTIONAL PROGRAMS FOR BEGINNING FARM OPERATORS WHICH SHOULD VARY TO MEET INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES. THE EDUCATIONAL NEEDS OF FARMERS CAN BE PREDICTED UPON THE BASIS OF FARMER CHARACTERISTICS, ESECIALLY READING HABITS. DIRECT RELATIONSHIPS EXIST BETWEEN SPECIFIC NEEDS AND INDIVIDUAL CHARACTERISTICS. SEVERAL METHODS OF ATTAINING ESTABLISHMENT IN FARMING WERE IDENTIFIED. SPECIFIC EDUCATIONAL NEEDS WERE FOUND IN DAIRY HUSBANDRY. ALTHOUGH FARM MANAGEMENT WAS THE SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT AREA OF NEED, SPECIFIC NEEDS WERE FOUND IN FARM MECHANICS AND CROP PRODUCTION. GOALS REPORTED BY BEGINNING FARM OPERATORS INDICATED THE NATURE OF FUTURE FARM OPERATIONS AND THE NATURE OF TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE NEEDED. THIS PH.D. THESIS, WHICH WAS SUBMITTED TO CORNELL UNIVERSITY, IS AVAILABLE AS 65-3135 FOR $4.75 ON MICROFILM AND FOR $16.90 AS XEROXED COPY FROM UNIVERSITY MICROFILMS, INC., 300 NORTH ZEEB ROAD, ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN 48106. (JM)