Cooperative State Research, Education,
and Extension Service in cooperation with
Cooperative Extension System

NATIONAL INITIATIVE

MANAGING CHANGE IN AGRICULTURE:

Agriculture is in the midst of a major revolution that is bringing "profound changes to how food is produced, processed, distributed, and marketed in the United States and abroad" [1]. People in the agricultural sector are challenged by the increased risk of business failure as well as increased opportunity for success that could result from these changes. To meet the challenge, they need to develop a broad set of management capabilities. Therefore, a new Federal-State national educational initiative, Managing Change in Agriculture, has been established. [2].

The Need

The revolution in American agriculture is having a significant impact on farm families, agribusinesses, and rural communities, requiring them to make major adjustments to be successful in the evolving agricultural industry. Significant changes affecting people in the agricultural sector include:

Dramatic change in federal farm programs, giving producers greater flexibility in management decisions, and greater responsibility for marketing and risk management.
Changing consumer preferences, as the U.S. population becomes older, more suburban and more ethnically diverse, and as people demand greater variety, quality, safety and convenience in an affordable food supply.
Increased globalization of markets, providing more opportunities as well as more competition in domestic and foreign markets.
Accelerated industrialization of agriculture, demanding greater coordination of successive stages in the production and distribution of food and fiber products.
New technologies, often more complex and difficult to use effectively and profitably than earlier technologies and sometimes restricted to a limited number of users.
Heightened expectations for environmental protection and natural resource conservation, with implications for management decisions of producers and processors.
Increasingly powerful information systems, providing greater access to information for decision making for some--but not all-- people.

Managing Change in Agriculture builds on innovative, educational programs already underway in several states. It also reflects a system wide commitment to additional programs that help people in the agricultural sector--producers, families, agribusinesses, and rural communities--understand change and develop creative, strategic responses to it.

Vision

People in the agricultural sector make significant decisions that enable them to take advantage of change, thereby improving the performance of their businesses and the well-being of their families and communities, while satisfying the demands of society.

Strategy

Managing Change in Agriculture provides unique educational programs that focus on strategic thinking and decision making processes. The initiative utilizes a holistic systems approach that recognizes the interdependence of producers, agribusinesses, rural families, communities and society. It equips people with the management perspective and capabilities necessary to understand and respond positively to the challenges of major socio-economic change.

Within the context of the initiative, agriculture is broadly defined to include the production, processing, and distribution of crop, livestock, aquaculture, and forest products. Agricultural producers and their families are the primary audience for the initiative. Other audiences include small- to moderate-size agribusinesses, non-agricultural rural businesses, agricultural associations and organizations, and agricultural institutions. Programs under the Managing Change in Agriculture initiative are designed to complement those of other national Extension initiatives--Communities in Economic Transition, Water Quality, Sustainable Agriculture, and Food Safety and Quality.

Objectives

The primary objective of Managing Change in Agriculture is for people in the agricultural sector to have successful, profitable businesses contributing to the well-being of their families and communities. To be successful, these business owners must be sensitive to the desires and expectations of consumers and society. Hence, the secondary objectives of the initiative are for (1) society to enjoy the benefits of a productive agriculture that is competitive in the global economy and friendly to the environment; and (2) consumers to have access to an abundant supply of safe, nutritious, convenient, and affordable food and other natural resource products.

CES provides educational programs through which people in the agricultural sector develop the knowledge, attitudes, skills, aspirations and behaviors to:

Choose effective survival and growth strategies for adjusting to change.
Respond more rapidly to global (regional, national and international) market signals.
Use appropriate risk management techniques.
Protect the environment and natural resource base.
Protect the environment and natural resource base.
Evaluate and adopt appropriate technologies.
Contribute to the strength and vitality of communities.
Participate in the process of resolving public issues that involve trade-offs among economic returns and environment, community and other concerns.

Management Areas

Managing Change in Agriculture concentrates on strategic thinking and decision making processes that enable people to understand change and its implications, develop and evaluate alternative responses, and make and implement decisions. The educational programs of this initiative apply these processes in four important management areas: (1) Managing the Agricultural and Natural Resource Business, (2) Managing the Environmental Interface, (3) Managing Technology, and (4) Managing the Community Interface. These management areas require people to adopt integrated, systems approaches to problem solving; and they require the Cooperative Extension System to employ an interdisciplinary, team approach to the planning and delivery of its educational programs.

1. Managing the Agricultural and Natural Resource Business. Managers need to learn effective business management skills that integrate a large number of technical, economic, and human resource factors. Major issues include significant changes in the commodity provisions of the 1996 Federal Agricultural Improvement and Reform (FAIR) Act, structural changes in the hog industry, an extreme low in the cattle-price cycle, emerging markets for customized grains and oilseeds, trade policy and emerging global markets, and other major trends in agriculture that challenge the survival of many agricultural firms. Educational programs give attention to individual and family goal setting and decision making, strategic planning, and development of business plans.

2. Managing the Environmental/Natural Resources Interface. Managers need to integrate production- marketing factors with environmental protection and natural resource conservation considerations. Major issues include society's concern about point and nonpoint source pollution (caused by erosion, manure, fertilizers, and pesticides), conservation of natural resources, and access to quality recreation. Educational programs include environmental protection and natural resource conservation alternatives in a firm's decision making process. Programs also include pubic issues education and conflict resolution.

3. Managing Technology. Managers must be able to assess the appropriateness of new technologies that could be used to accomplish their firms' objectives. They are faced with a continuous stream of new products and practices, such as bio-engineered seeds and precision farming equipment, that have many potential benefits, but the actual short- and long-term benefits and costs for individual farms or firms are not well known. They also need to understand and evaluate electronic technologies, which are revolutionizing the way firms access and respond to information. Educational programs help people understand specific technologies, products, and practices; evaluate them; and apply them in their businesses.

4. Managing the Community Interface. Managers need to integrate production-marketing decisions with their need to support a local community. Issues include the viability of rural communities and their ability to satisfy the business and social needs of producers and their families. Educational programs include understanding the interdependence of business and community and the impact of business decisions on the longer-term availability of community services. Leadership development and other educational programs increase effective involvement in community activities.

Educational Program Priorities

Managing Change in Agriculture focuses nationwide attention on three priority program areas using a variety of educational programs that meet the most pressing needs of people confronted with significant change. Other program areas may be added in the future to address emerging national priorities. The priority areas are:

1. Risk Management and Marketing. Programs in this area help agricultural producers develop and implement business procedures to take advantage of new marketing opportunities and manage increased risks inherent in their changing environment. Several programs concentrate on changes in government commodity price support, disaster assistance and crop insurance programs that have lowered the historic public "safety net" and reduced government involvement in business decisions. Producers learn new financial, marketing, and production risk management skills, and consider a greater number of alternatives in their business and marketing plans.

2. Integrated Animal Product Systems. These programs recognize the interdependence of all firms in a product system-- from providers of animal genetics to sellers of consumer-ready beef, pork, and dairy products. Integrated, interdisciplinary programs help people solve complex industry-level problems, as well as individual producer- and firm-level problems associated with the many significant changes occurring in these industries. Close working relationships with clientele and coordination of extension and research activities provide the knowledge and assistance people need to improve genetic- driven product characteristics, reduce problems of disease, adopt more effective production and processing practices, recycle wastes, develop new products and new markets, effectively respond to threats of phyto-sanitary trade barriers, and implement new methods of business organization and economic coordination.

3. Conservation. Programs involving conservation help landowners evaluate the consequences of using alternative conservation technologies and management practices. Programs also assist them in developing and implementing effective strategies that integrate conservation objectives with production and business objectives. Consideration is given to several environmental provisions of the FAIR Act, which seek to maintain and improve the conservation of farm land and other natural resources (for example, the Grazing Lands Conservation Initiative, Environmental Quality Incentives Program, Highly Erodible Land Conservation, Conservation Reserve Program, Wetlands Reserve Program). The initiative expands extension's efforts to provide renewable resource information and education under the Renewable Resources Extension Act.

The true value of the Cooperative Extension System (CES) is its ability to design, develop, and deliver educational programs that meet the unique needs of local people as they adjust to change. Hence, the number and intensity of educational programs in the above priority program areas vary by state, as land grant extension faculty work with people to solve their problems and take advantage of opportunities associated with major changes in the agricultural sector. States also develop programs in other areas to meet the unique priority needs of their citizens as they respond to change.

Expected Outcomes

General outcome. Participants in Managing Change in Agriculture programs will improve the performance of their businesses and the well-being of their families and communities by successfully making and implementing major strategic and tactical decisions dealing with change.

Specific measures. The following outcome measures will be used to evaluate CES impact:

Participants' perception of being helped by the program, including their ability to identify change and to develop and implement new goals and plans; participants' assessment of progress toward their goals.
Number of people who develop new business and family goals; make strategic, business, marketing, or financial plans to accomplish their goals and make major business changes based on their plans.
Number of new technologies, management practices, marketing practices, and risk management techniques adopted by participants, as well as the number of these practices thoughtfully rejected.
The actual or expected net value of implemented plans.

National Initiative Team Responsibilities

The National Initiative Team, appointed by CES, provides overall leadership for developing and implementing the initiative. The Team:

Identifies critical issues and problems of change in the agricultural sector.
Increases CES awareness of the issues and of people's needs.
Encourages development and implementation of innovative, interdisciplinary programs.
Seeks cooperation of non-extension partners.
Evaluates the results.

Current Information

Information about Managing Change in Agriculture is continuously updated on the CSREES-USDA Home Page [URL: http://www.reeusda.gov/]. Click on "Programs," then "Program Title."

National Initiative Team Members

Individuals wishing more information on the Managing Change in Agriculture initiative may contact a member of the National Initiative Team listed below.

Elbert Dickey, Co-Chair, University of Nebraska (402-472-2966, coex010@unlvm.unl.edu)

David Holder, Co-Chair, Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture (202-720-4387, dholder@reeusda.gov)

Adell Brown, Southern University (504-771-2242, abrown@2244aol.com)

Bill Caldwell, North Carolina State University (919-515-3252, bcaldwel@amaroq.ces.ncsu.edu)

Richard Frahm, Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture (202-401-4603, rfrahm@reeusda.gov)

Tom Lyson, Cornell University (607-255-3163, tal2@cornell.edu)

Alice Morrow, Oregon State University (503-737-1013, morrowa@ccmail.orst.edu)

Carolyn Pickel, University of California (916-741-7515, cxpickel@ucdavis.edu)

Henry Wadsworth, ECOP Liaison, Purdue University (317-494-8489, henry_wadsworth@acn.purdue.edu)

Notes

1. Mark Drabenstott, "Introduction" to Food and Agricultural Markets: The Quiet Revolution, Lyle Shertz and Lynn M. Daft, eds. ERS-USDA and National Planning Association, 1994.

2. The Cooperative Extension System is a federal-state-county partnership. System decisions, such as new initiatives, are jointly made by the Extension Committee on Organization and Policy, representing the state land grant universities, and the Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service, representing the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Managing Change in Agriculture became a national initiative in October 1995.

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in its programs on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, religion, age, disability, political beliefs, and marital or familial status. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.) Persons with disabilities who require alternative means for communication of program information (braille, large print, audiotape, etc.) should contact the USDA Office of Communications at (202) 720-2791

To file a complaint, write the Secretary of Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, DC 20250 or call (202) 720-7327 (voice) or (202) 720-1127 (TDD). USDA is an equal employment opportunity employer.

October 1996

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