AS PART OF A STATEWIDE STUDY OF AGRICULTURAL OCCUPATIONS IN LOUISIANA, AN INTERVIEW SURVEY OF 207 FARM-BASED FIRMS IN THE SOUTHEASTERN AREA, EXCLUDING BATON ROUGE AND NEW ORLEANS, WAS CONDUCTED TO DETERMINE (1) THE IDENTITY OF BUSINESSES AND ORGANIZATIONS HAVING EMPLOYEES WHO NEEDED AGRICULTURAL COMPETENCIES, (2) INFORMATION ABOUT JOBS, AND (3) AGRICULTURAL TRAINING ASSOCIATED WITH JOBS. OF 207 FIRMS IN THE AREA, TWO-THIRDS WERE IN THREE OCCUPATIONAL FAMILIES--FARM SUPPLIES AND EQUIPMENT, LIVESTOCK AND POULTRY, AND AGRICULTURAL SERVICE. THE FIRMS EMPLOYED 3,596 WORKERS OF WHICH 2,280 IN 369 DIFFERENT JOB TITLES NEEDED AGRICULTURAL COMPETENCIES. A 14 PERCENT INCREASE IN EMPLOYEES WAS EXPECTED WITHIN 5 YEARS. THE MAJORITY OF WORKERS, 56 PERCENT, WAS FOUND IN UNSKILLED, SEMISKILLED, AND SKILLED EMPLOYMENT LEVELS. THE AVERAGE JOB ENTRY AGE ACCEPTABLE BY EMPLOYERS WAS 23. EMPLOYERS EXPECTED A HIGH SCHOOL EDUCATION OF NEW EMPLOYEES, AND AT THE PROFESSIONAL LEVEL, REQUIRED A DEGREE. THEY PREFERRED PROSPECTIVE EMPLOYEES TO HAVE A FARM BACKGROUND. FORMAL TRAINING GENERALLY REQUIRED INCLUDED BASIC PROCESSES IN PRODUCTION AGRICULTURE PLUS SOME SPECIALIZED TRAINING JUST PRIOR TO EMPLOYMENT. GENERALLY ALL WORKERS WERE REQUIRED TO ENGAGE IN TRAINING PROGRAMS TO EFFECT JOB TENURE AND ADVANCEMENT. RECOMMENDATIONS CONCERNED THE AVAILABILITY OF OCCUPATIONAL INFORMATION FOR RURAL YOUTH, CAREER COUNSELING, BROADENED VOCATIONAL AGRICULTURE PROGRAMS, AND PRE-JOB WORK EXPERIENCES. (JM)