Questions Farmers Ask: Implications for Improving Information Resources for Farmer Audiences

eOrganic, the Organic Agriculture Community of eXtension, has conducted webinars on organic farming research for over a decade. I examined questions asked by farmers and university researchers or educators during 52 webinars presented 2015-2017. A higher proportion of questions asked by farmers than...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of extension 2020-08, Vol.584 (4)
Main Author: Formiga, Alice K
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Agricultural Occupations
Agricultural Production
Extension Education
Farm Management
Information Utilization
Innovation
Marketing
Problem Solving
Researchers
Risk
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Summary:eOrganic, the Organic Agriculture Community of eXtension, has conducted webinars on organic farming research for over a decade. I examined questions asked by farmers and university researchers or educators during 52 webinars presented 2015-2017. A higher proportion of questions asked by farmers than questions asked by researchers/educators were about risks, benefits, and problem solving, and the farmers' questions contained many innovative ideas about production. A higher proportion of researcher/educator questions than farmer questions related to details of research studies, though farmers also posed questions about research methods. This article contains suggestions about tailoring research presentations to farmer audiences and confirms the mutual benefits of collaborations between farmers and researchers.
ISSN:1077-5315
0022-0140
1077-5315
DOI:10.34068/joe.58.04.19