Re: INFO REQUEST/ EXTENSION

Janet Bachmann (janetb@ncatfyv.uark.edu)
Fri, 11 Mar 1994 07:46:05 -0500 (EST)

This is one of the functions of the Rodale Institute's National
Farmers Network program. We have three regional networks: the
Midwest Farmers Network, Mid-South Farmers Network, and the
Mid-Atlantic Farmers Network. An assumption that we rely on
is that farmer-to-farmer information and knowledge transfer is
efficient. On-farm research is a tool that many of the farmers
in the Networks use to answer questions about ways to make their
farms more sustainable.

"How to Discuover Money-Saving Opportunities: A Farmer's Guide
to On-Farm Research was published by the Rodale Institute in 1990.
Contact Anne Schauer at RIRC, 611 Siegfriedale Road, Kutztown, PA 19530, or
telephone 610/683-1444.

Other groups that are promoting on-farm reseach include the
Practical Farmers of Iowa. Rick Exner, coordinator, can be reached
at Room 2401 Agronomy Hall, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011
or 515/294-1923. You might be able to obtain a more complete list
from ATTRA, 1/800-346-9140. Ask if they still have copies of
"Farmer Participation in Research for Sustainable Agriculture", a
publication from a conference held in Fayetteville October 9, 1989.

Janet Bachmann, Rodale Institute Mid-South Farmers Network
Rt. 8, Box 406
Fayetteville, AR 72701
501/443-9388
>
> Hello netters!
>
> I am looking for information on programs that train
> farmers/extensionists to do their own on site agricultural
> research.
>
> "The extension teacher serves people by teaching them how
> to help themselves, in doing so he [sic] teaches people, not
> subject matter. He teaches people how to think, not what to
> think. ...to help people identify their problems and needs, to
> guide them in finding their own solutions and where and
> when necessary to assit and support through material and
> technical assistance their efforts to achieve their
> objectives. Only when people learn to be self reliant and to
> deal effectively with their own problems has the process of
> self-sustaining begun."
>
> -Alan Rogers, 1993. Adult Education and Agricultural
> Extension: Some Comparisons.
>
> Isn't anyone out there training people how to design, collect,
> analyze, and evaluate projects of their own making?
>
> Let me know who you are, and what your about!
>
> -Jessica Laub
>
> Rodale Institute
> 611 Siegfriedale Rd.
> Kutztown, PA 19530
>
> e-mail: Jessica_Laub.inbox@parti.inforum.org
>