AS PART OF A STATEWIDE STUDY OF NONFARM AGRICULTURAL OCCUPATIONS IN LOUISIANA, A TOTAL OF 443 FIRMS AND AGENCIES IN 12 PARISHES (EXCLUDING TWO METROPOLITAN AREAS) WERE SURVEYED TO DETERMINE THE (1) NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES ACCORDING TO JOB TITLES, (2) AGRICULTURAL COMPETENCIES NEEDED, (3) CHARACTERISTICS AND REQUIREMENTS OF JOBS, AND (4) TRENDS IN OCCUPATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES. OF THE 6,889 EMPLOYEES, 3,088 IN 503 DIFFERENT JOB TITLES NEEDED AGRICULTURAL COMPETENCIES. AN ADDITIONAL 328 AGRICULTURAL EMPLOYEES WOULD BE NEEDED WITHIN 5 YEARS. THE OCCUPATIONAL FAMILIES HAVING THE LARGEST NUMBER OF WORKERS WERE (1) CROPS, FORESTRY, AND SOIL CONSERVATION, (2) FARM MACHINERY SALES AND SERVICE, (3) FARM SUPPLIES AND EQUIPMENT, AND (4) LIVESTOCK AND POULTRY. SALARIES WERE RELATED TO TRAINING, EXPERIENCE, AND RESPONSIBILITY. A MINIMUM OF A HIGH SCHOOL EDUCATION WAS REQUIRED FOR 88.6 PERCENT OF THE REPLACEMENT WORKERS, BUT NEARLY 15 PERCENT OF THE TOTAL AGRICULTURAL WORKERS WERE REQUIRED TO HAVE A COLLEGE DEGREE OR SOME COLLEGE TRAINING. FARM BACKGROUND WAS PREFERRED IN 51.7 PERCENT OF WORKER CASES. GENERALLY, ALL WORKERS ABOVE THE SEMISKILLED LEVEL OF EMPLOYMENT NEEDED A FAIRLY BROAD KNOWLEDGE OF AGRICULTURAL SUBJECT MATTER. IT WAS RECOMMENDED THAT TRAINING INCLUDE EXPERIENCES IN BASIC AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION PROCESSES, IN THE SPECIALIZED KNOWLEDGE AND SKILL INVOLVED IN A JOB TITLE OR CLUSTER OF TITLES, AND AT THE PRE-JOB LEVEL UNDER PRACTICAL WORKING CONDITIONS. A BIBLIOGRAPHY, THE SURVEY INSTRUMENTS, AND A LIST OF JOB TITLES IN EIGHT OCCUPATIONAL FAMILIES ARE INCLUDED. OTHER PARTS OF THE STATEWIDE STUDY ARE AVAILABLE AS VT 004 782-VT 004 786. (JM)