In the wake of multistate outbreaks and subsequent economic cost and health causalities, food industry stakeholders formulated policies for their produce suppliers. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's guidance on Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) have been the basis for most of the industry initiated GAP certifications or audit processes. In…

This dissertation examines the formation, reformation, and standardization of land-grant colleges in the Northeastern United States during the last four decades of the nineteenth century. It is a history that explores the turbulent origins of land-grant colleges in Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Vermont,…

The 2009 proceedings of the Association for Continuing Higher Education represent the professional presentations of the keynote sessions, the concurrent sessions, and the business meeting of the association's 71st annual conference, held at the Sheraton Society Hill Hotel in Philadelphia on November 15-18, 2009. The conference provided an engaging…

Women farmers are underserved in agricultural education and technical assistance. Long held social constructions of farming women as "farmwives" and in some cases "the bookkeepers" rather than farmers or decision-makers influence the direction of most educational programming delivered through extension programs in land-grant…

The purpose of this study was to measure the effectiveness of various newsletter formats in increasing knowledge among dairymen. The subject matter of the newsletter was harvesting, storing, and feeding of high-moisture corn. The universe of the study was the dairy farmers in seven counties who attended a five-week clinic relating to herd health…

Telephone interviews were conducted with 115 housewives in Tioga County, Pennsylvania, to determine their interests, information sources, financial credit sources, plans for remodeling homes and purchasing household conveniences, and family participation in Extension programs. It was found that 28% of the women kept record books of income and…

This paper analyzed factors related to adoption of new farm practices by dairy farmers in two Pennsylvania counties in 1962 and 1966. (Of 638 farmers interviewed in 1962, 387 were still operating their farms in 1966.) The dependent variable was an index of 19 recommended farm practices, of which about half were being used in 1962. Twenty-one…

By random selection, 74 farm families in Tioga County, Pennsylvania, were interviewed to determine the use of recommended practices, interests of the farmers and their wives, and sources of information. Dairy farming was the major enterprise for 3/4 of the farmers. No Extension recommendations were used by 15% but 20% used seven or more of the…

A survey was conducted by the Rural Sociology Section of The Pennsylvania State University Cooperative Extension Service and the Montour County Extension Association, utilizing 323 ninth through twelfth grade in-school youth and 199 parents. Data were collected by means of a self-administered questionnaire. Three specific objectives of the survey…

PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY AND THE TENNESSEE VALLEY AUTHORITY CONDUCTED A FIVE YEAR (1961-66) AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION PROJECT IN TWO PENNSYLVANIA COUNTIES. THIS PAPER REPORTED THE PRELIMINARY FINDINGS. USING THE CRITERION OF ADOPTION OF SELECTED AGRICULTURAL PRACTICES BY SURROUNDING FARMERS, THEY ATTEMPTED TO MEASURE THE INFLUENCE OF 17…

The diminishing role of the federal government in rural development has created an opportunity for new initiatives in this area. One potentially useful response is the creation of a state-rural policy center. Such centers can combine the efforts of land grant institutions, extension services, and state universities in the development and…

IN THE CURRENT WAR ON POVERTY, THE POSITION OF THE COOPERATIVE EXTENSION SERVICE, WHICH HISTORICALLY HAS SERVED THE MIDDLE-CLASS FARMER, IS NOT WELL DEFINED. TO IDENTIFY FACTORS WHICH INHIBIT THE ADOPTION OF EXTENSION PROGRAMS FOR THE POOR, A STUDY WAS MADE OF THE SERVICE IN MIFFLIN COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA, AN APPALACHIAN AREA HAVING A HIGHER…

This analysis of the impact of a result demonstration educational program was made in an effort to achieve the following goals: (1) identification of the objectives of the educational program; (2) description of the program; (3) assessment of awareness of the program by target clientele; (4) measurement of the amount of change that takes place;…

This manual is designed to introduce extension workers to needs assessment theory and techniques in an applied context and to serve as a tool for planning and implementing county-level assessments of youths' needs for extension education (including 4-H programs). First, the following steps in the program planning process are explained: identify…