THERE WILL BE A CONTINUING AND INCREASING NEED FOR TECHNICAL TRAINING AND SERVICES DURING THE NEXT 10 TO 20 YEARS TO FULFILL FARMERS' REQUIREMENTS IN PRODUCING, HARVESTING, AND MARKETING AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS AND FOR DEVELOPING AND OPERATING NONAGRICULTURAL ENTERPRISES BY FARMERS IN RURAL AREAS. THIS NEED IS APPARENT IN THE AREAS OF MANAGEMENT,…

The author lists 43 current series produced by the United States Department of Agriculture. These publications contain information on agriculture commodity statistics and many can be borrowed from Regional Depository Libraries. (CH)

The early goals of the Extension Service were to increase agricultural productivity and maintain a rural way of life. Extension has been unable to fulfill both goals; increasing agricultural production has led to the liquidation of the rural way of life and to the development of corporate farms. (DM)

Uses population growth models to calculate the theoretical suppression of reproduction achieved by releasing irradiated male moths carrying genetic sterility factors. Shows that releasing partially sterile males should be more effective than releasing fully sterile males. Discusses the costs and advantages of applying this approach to the control…

Analyzes two recent controversies in the sociology of agriculture--one dealing with the adoption of agricultural innovations and the other with the energy intensity of farming--from an environmental sociology perspective. Illustrates sociology's entrenched habit of ignoring the physical environment, and the pitfalls of doing so in research on…

Farm organizations and environmental groups have often disagreed over ways to keep American agriculture productive while protecting the environment that nurtures that productivity. This article identifies differing opinions and where they might converge. (LZ)

Survey responses from 62 of 96 cattle producers evaluated educational methods of the extension service and the livestock market. Methods included tips distributed with the sale check, monthly and sale day programs, and Second Saturday cattle working program. The combination of programs offered influenced them to make changes in their production…

Precautionary principles have been proposed as a fundamental element of sound risk management. Their advocates see them as guiding action in the face of uncertainty, encouraging the adoption of measures that reduce serious risks to health, safety, and the environment. Their opponents may reject the very idea of precautionary principles, find…

Agroforestry, the practice of raising crops and trees together in ways that are mutually beneficial, provides farmers with an alternative to more conventional farming practices. In this paper, we apply Bourdieu's concepts of "field" and "habitus" in an attempt to better understand the practice of farming and the role that…

Since the mid-1990s, the number and diversity of "quality-certified" products has increased dramatically. This article examines labor practices and regulatory spaces within 3rd party quality certification and suggests that this distinct configuration be termed "just-in-space" production. A privileging of space derives, on the one hand, from the…

Focusing on the concept of "commodity chains" within the food industry, this paper analyses the term's widespread and variable usage in both academic and policy-orientated work. Despite recent criticisms, the concept has retained its popular appeal alongside competing metaphors such as networks, circuits and assemblages. Examining the…

The direction, complexity and pace of rural change in affluent, western societies can be conceptualized as a multifunctional transition, in which a variable mix of consumption and protection values has emerged, contesting the former dominance of production values, and leading to greater complexity and heterogeneity in rural occupance at all…

The Farmer Field School (FFS) is a form of adult education using experiential learning methods, aimed at building farmers' decision-making capacity and expertise. The National Research Institute in West Africa conducted FFS in cowpea cultivation and we use this experience to analyse the implementation of the FFS approach. How does it work in…