Proposes new model for study of microcomputer technology in agriculture in which diffusion/adoption of innovations is conceptualized as a structural process affected by "access conditions" resulting from research and development, intrinsic technology characteristics, and distributional characteristics. Examines thesis that potential adopters…

The persons and groups who held lead roles in the development of an electricity generating plant near Craig, Colorado, and/or aided in problem solving activities are the concerns of this examination of boomtown studies in which field theory is employed as a framework for assessing Craig's community structure characteristics. The usefulness of…

Findings from current literature form the basis for this examination of five critical elements of change and development within the local community setting which impact on agriculture: population, employment, land, water, and environment. Renewed rural population growth during the 1970's has reversed small farm trends but placed strains on local…

Since the advent of the 1980s, the economic viability of many farm operations has been severely jeopardized. Although attention has been directed primarily to the Midwest, in many respects farm stress has been greater in the South than in any other region. What is clear, however, is that the crisis is not strictly an agricultural one. Rather, a…

Although the economic expansion of the 1990s was felt even in small towns and rural areas, events in recent months point out that the economic health of rural America remains fragile. Rural manufacturing has suffered sizable employment declines in recent months and only modest expansion has occurred in the service sector--the lifeblood of rural…

Monumental social and economic problems confront the rural communities of the South. Diversification of the rural economy is the key to revitalizing the rural South, but new industries, anticipating the need for a more highly skilled work force, find the region's human capital resources to be deficient. Vibrant economies are not sustainable in a…

The Community Choices program is designed to engage communities in a systematic assessment of the linkages between their human resource attributes and their economic development opportunities. This document contains seven modules. Modules 1-3 lay the foundation for doing public policy education work by (1) defining public policy education and…

An overview of rural development research in the United States Department of Agriculture's land grant environment focuses on southern 1862 and 1890 institutions. Although important to agricultural experiment stations, rural development research has received limited funding. A heterogeneous research program including human resources development,…