After many decades, dwindling numbers of communicators, extension personnel, and development professionals recall the National Project in Agricultural Communications (NPAC) of the 1950s and early 1960s. But around the world many professionals, scholars, and organizations can recognize the spirit and legacy of NPAC, which has had substantial impact well beyond its original national mission. NPAC became the springboard for a long-running series of communication seminars that built the capacity of foreign students, studying in the United States, to return home better able to communicate as change agents in fostering development. Seminars of NPAC also point to key ingredients for addressing urgent issues facing our nation and world today. This study addresses the origins, features, transitions, durability, and impacts of those communication seminars across nearly 60 years. The authors used historical analysis to reveal a surprising trail of service that leads to the present day and beyond. It provides new insights about how the NPAC communication training program has exerted more than 15 kinds of impact on agricultural development, on organizations at all levels throughout the world - and on individuals touched by it. The analysis highlights insightful, unpublished backstories about the communication training heritage of NPAC. It also identifies key elements of effective communication training programs and identifies opportunities for further research and practice. It could help readers identify professional development innovations the Journal of Applied Communications will advance and report during its second century.

This study characterized agricultural communications undergraduate programs nationwide. A total of 40 undergraduate agricultural communications programs were identified via the National Agricultural Communicators of Tomorrow database, Internet searches, and previous academic program research, and their existences were verified via multiple sources. Objectives included creating an accounting of existing programs, describing the programs' demographics, and identifying top programs. This study employed a census approach and used a descriptive survey design, including both quantitative and structured qualitative questions. The quantitative data were analyzed via descriptive statistics. A total of 26 respondents — faculty representing U.S. undergraduate agricultural communications programs — participated in this study. An increase in the number of academic programs across the U.S. was observed, compared to the last similar study published in 2000, suggesting an increase in popularity and student demand, which is most likely a result of an increase in industry demand for agricultural communications graduates. While programs varied in size and age, most faculty respondents projected an increase in enrollment in their undergraduate programs. Future studies characterizing the discipline should be conducted on a more frequent, standardized schedule, and improved participation in the study should be a goal. National curriculum studies also should be conducted to tie program characteristics and instructional methodologies to program success and to correlate program characteristics and demographics.

Online communication tools, specifically social media, have provided new ways for agriculturists to promote and advocate for agriculture.Although agricultural producers find value in using social media to communicate about agriculture, many are not comfortable using these tools.The purpose of this study was to identify and prioritize training needs of agriculturists regarding use of various online communication tools.The USDA's Beginning Farmers and Ranchers Development Program provided funding to develop workshops that would help agriculturists learn to use online communication tools effectively.Members of seven agricultural organizations in three states were sent a link to an online questionnaire, and 185 completed responses were analyzed for this study.Across all tasks, the highest means for perceived importance dealt with website tasks while Twitter and blogging tasks had the lowest means for perceived importance.Many of the tasks respondents were most competent completing were the beginning steps and they were least competent completing more complex uses of social media.Using the Borich needs assessment model, respondents indicated a greater need for training on topics related to websites, other online communication tasks, and Facebook.These results were used to develop a daylong online communications training workshop in each of the states.

This article addresses a gap in guidelines for those who blog professionally. It does so in a way that uniquely serves extension and research communicators. Many types of blogs have been used and described. Plenty of generic advice is available about writing blogs. However, little of it involves how to organize them. In this analysis, for example, advice about structure and format of blogs made up less than 3 percent of the 315 tips identified. A review of journalism literature identif ied some of the practices used in structuring news and information for media. The review also identified formats for organizing several other cousins of blogs. This article introduces a unique hybrid format for blogs, based on experiences of one of the authors. It involves a seven-step process that incorporates elements of objective reporting (explaining) with those of subjective expression (stimulating and advocating).

The globalization of society presents the need for intercultural communications skills. International experiences impact students’ global perceptions, which affect the agricultural industry’s future. This study sought to determine agricultural students’ values and how these values influenced their perceptions regarding their unique international experiences. Students from four universities who participated in a three-week faculty led study tour (N = 11) were compared to University of Arkansas students who participated in a six-week internship (N = 5) in Ghent, Belgium. Students used reflective journals to record their perceptions, and a content analysis was conducted to identify emergent themes. Students from both experiences struggled most when communicating with researchers, but they gained confidence as they successfully served an international client. Host families were the most pressing concern for students, but those family stays were impactful in exposing students to Belgian culture. Students sought normalcy by comparing Europe to America and stepped up as leaders when faculty guides were not present. Regardless of whether students were led by a faculty member (study tour) or navigated the international experience predominately on their own (internship), each found value in studying internationally. Previous research recommended placing students in international settings to increase students’ knowledge of global agriculture, and this concept is reinforced by this study.

Communication audits can enhance the communication efforts of agricultural organizations. Communication audits identify what is being done well, what is not being done well, and how communication efforts can be improved. In addition to communication audits, usability testing adds value to understanding the use of communication materials by a target audience. Taking steps to improve communications, based on the findings of communication audits and usability testing, can help organizations improve their brand consistency, social impact, and overall communication. This paper provides a rationale for communication audits and provides procedures, tips, and experiences for the communication practitioner.

The purpose of this study was to provide baseline knowledge of the prevalent global and domestic agricultural issues, ways to educate journalists about these issues, and sources of information used when reporting about agricultural issues, according to international agricultural journalists. The executives of the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists served as this study's population. The IFAJ is comprised of a membership of 31 countries that practice freedom of the press. A modified Delphi method with three rounds of data collection was utilized for this study. Qualitative feedback was provided by the executives in Round One. In Rounds Two and Three, quantitative feedback was used with the goal of forming consensus on the most important global issues and methods to educate journalists about these issues.A list of important domestic agricultural issues was supplied for 20 countries. The executives also generated a list of important global agricultural issues and ways to educate journalists about these issues. Important global agricultural issues included feeding a growing global population and water quality/quantity. Face-to-face methods of educating journalists were favored by the executives. The executives identified a wide variety of sources they use to report about global and domestic agricultural issues, including government agencies, farmers, universities, online sources, professional organizations, commodity group websites, and academic journals.

Management of coffee leaf rust (CLR) disease is essential to avoid its resultant production losses of Arabica coffee. Communication channels provide coffee farmers with the required knowledge for management by the recommended disease control methods and their applications. In this context, this paper analyses the role of communication channels for management of CLR by using a newly collected household level data of 575 Arabica coffee farmers in India. Management is focused on cultivation of resistant varieties and application of chemical sprays. Two methods of analyses are developed: Descriptions based on spatially aggregate data. Second, estimations based on Binary Logit Model using individual data. Descriptions show that prevalence of CLR is universal; key channels of communication are fellow farmers, extension workers and television; and desired channels of communications include on-farm demonstration and training workshops. While individual communication is most preferred channel, farmers' associations are considered useful institutional channels of communication. Estimations distinguish communication channels by fellow farmers and extension workers and show significant differences in nature and extent of impact of these communication channels on CLR management by resistant varieties and chemical sprays. These results have important implications for identifying and improving the current and future information needs and channels of communication for effective management of CLR, especially for small farmers with lower educational attainments in India. However, the approach and implications of this paper are of general relevance and applicability for other coffee growing countries in Asia and Africa.

It has been suggested that a farm-to-plate knowledge gap exists between farmers and consumers. In addition, previous studies have concluded that U.S. citizens do not have accurate knowledge or perceptions about agriculture. It is thought that this absence of knowledge and existing misconceptions may be due to the images consumers see regularly through the media. In this research study, researchers used a directly administered questionnaire to evaluate consumers’ responses regarding the comparison of two livestock images. The study was conducted at the 2009 Ohio State Fair. Through voluntary participation, research participants answered questions regarding their perceptions of traditional and conventional livestock housing methods by viewing two images. In addition, participants were asked to justify each of their responses through oral reasoning. Questionnaires were completed by 508 participants, of which 502 were deemed usable. Results indicate participants are somewhat knowledgeable about livestock housing methods, but the perceptions and justifications of the respondents are not always accurate. The results also indicate agricultural images, as well as images regularly seen in the media, may influence such perceptions. In order to narrow the farm-to-plate knowledge gap, it is important for the agriculture industry to effectively improve the knowledge and perceptions of agriculture amongst consumers.