Despite the widespread and long-standing use of demonstration sites in Extension, there is little empirical evidence to inform how best to design them. We report data from 513 producers in three regions of Indiana whom we surveyed about sources of information for farm management decisions, the usefulness of demonstrations, and preferences and…

Workforce development is a growing need in rural communities. This article recognizes Cooperative Extension as a critical labor market intermediary in fostering local workforce solutions. It proposes a community-based approach with Extension at the center of a process for identifying key stakeholders, facilitating collaboration, and supporting…

The primary purpose of this study was to determine the relative effectiveness of extension work as carried out under two different systems of county assignment -- the individual county system and the multicounty system. The system of personnel assignment was the independent variable; agent job performance was the intervening variable; and program…

This "special focus" journal issue consists of 13 individual articles on the theme of rural family programs relating to school, health services, church, and other institutions. It includes: (1) "Towards a Rural Family Policy" (Judith K. Chynoweth and Michael D. Campbell); (2) "Montana: Council for Families Collaborates for…

This study sought mainly to determine how needs perceived by Cooperative Extension specialists and Extension Home Economics influentials (largely homemakers) compare with perceptions by existing and potential extension Home Economics club clientele. Rank ordered perceptions of influentials and three other respondent groups (including 207…

The 12 states comprising the North Central Region have been affected in similar ways by the farm crisis of the 1980s. Statewide surveys show sizeable proportions of farm operations that are experiencing moderately high levels of financial stress. The problems caused by chronic stress on family structure and functioning, the loss of mainstreet…