Mapping the road for voluntary change: Partnerships in agricultural extension |
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| Authors: | Robert A Pence James I Grieshop |
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| Institution: | (1) Department of Human and Community Development, University of California, Davis, California, USA |
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| Abstract: | BIOS and BIFS are two California-based, small-scale alternative agricultural demonstration programs that define an applied
Agriculture Partnership Model of extension. This model operates through a structure of local project leadership, a process
of responsive farmer outreach and a primary goal of voluntary pesticide reduction. It reaches back to a Land Grant approach
to extension of personal relationship, equal partnership, and collaborative learning. Overall findings from a systematic assessment
of BIOS and BIFS imply that the operation and impacts of these two Agriculture Partnership Projects owe more to the model,
approach, and values of the projects than to any specific farming or extension techniques. A model of local partnership and
responsive, learner-centered outreach, operational values such as flexibility and relationship, and a balanced systems approach
to farm management and project operation combine to create a promising organizational response to the rapidly changing regulatory,
environmental, and political circumstances confronting conventional farmers in California. Though some farm advisors and field
research specialists within the University of California Cooperative Extension have successfully used the projects to leverage
decreasing Extension resources, increase their one-on-one contact with farmers, and learn new outreach and agricultural skills,
others within that system are highly critical of the two projects. Organizational tension between Cooperative Extension and
the quasi-university Partnership Projects largely reflects differences in fundamental beliefs and values about legitimate
knowledge, learning processes, and effective teaching as well as primary goals for agricultural outreach.
This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date. |
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| Keywords: | Agriculture outreach Agricultural partnership Almonds BIOS BIFS Cooperative Extension CAFF Farmer-to-farmer Local knowledge Sustainable agriculture Walnuts Wine grapes |
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