Department of Agricultural Education & Studies

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Graduate Programs: Greg Miller 515-294-2583 / Undergraduate Programs: Mike Retallick 515-294-4810

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Graduate Student Scholarly Work

Whitaker, B.S. (1998). Perceptions of Iowa beginning farmers toward beginning farmer education. Master’s thesis.

The primary purpose of this study was to identify the educational needs of beginning farmers in Iowa.  Secondly, to identify the perceptions regarding information sources and to identify the importance of major topic areas.  A final purpose of the study was to determine demographic characteristics of beginning farmers in Iowa.

Beginning farmers who had received a loan from the Iowa Agricultural Development Authority served as the population for this study.  A random set of farmers was selected and used as the sample.  The survey instrument was developed by the researcher and tested for validity and reliability.  Data were collected using a mailed, self-administered questionnaire.  Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data.

Beginning farmers in this study believed that experiential learning and production agriculture skills were important in beginning farmer education.  Also, beginning farmers embraced the concept of lifelong learning.  Parents, siblings, and relatives were considered to be the major source of information in the future, whereas radio was considered to be important media outlet to farmers in the future.  Topic areas that dealt with operating the farm as a business and future farm planning were all considered to be important now and in the future.

According to the findings in this study, agricultural educators should work collaboratively with other adult education groups to effectively deliver educational programming for beginning farmers in Iowa.  Efforts should continue to be made to work with beginning farmers and not just for them.  Program topic areas should focus on areas that involve operating the farm as a business, such as marketing, record keeping, and retirement planning.

The results of this research may provide the basis for agricultural education and University Extension for improving educational programs for beginning farmers in Iowa.  This study may also generate more interest in research on beginning farmer education.  Agricultural educators have an opportunity to develop partnerships and expand educational services to beginning farmers to enhance their learning opportunities.