Adult education in agriculture is not restricted to persons established in farming, but has the prospect of being applicable to the whole of the agricultural industry. However, adult education has primarily been for young and adult farmers. Since 1965, in both agriculture and all vocational programs, there has been a reduction in the proportion of adults served by vocational education relative to other levels of vocational instruction. An examination of the current status of adult/young farmer programs reveals that there are two types of programs under adult education: (1) the intense management programs that incorporate attention to the details of farm business analysis and (2) the programs aimed at skills and technology transfer. Adult education in the 1980s will require a major commitment of money and manpower for research, teacher education, supervision, curriculum support, and local program support. In the 1980s, agricultural educators must decide if they will work in the periphery of the problems of agricultural production and entrepreneurship by addressing only the problems of practices, technology, and technology transfer, or if they will shift focus to deal with the problems of greatest concern--management of the total resources of the farm. (LRA)