Farm Youth Research Articles

Perceptions, Beliefs, and Attitudes Toward Various Hearing Conservation Approaches Reported by Indiana College Agriculture Students

HighlightsNoise-measuring applications (apps) and in-person classroom presentation were identified as the most preferred approaches by the college agriculture students.Multiple features of noise apps and in-person intervention were identified as beneficial.A subset of participants reported that a combination of approaches could influence hearing protection use.Abstract. Noise-induced hearing loss is a major public health challenge for agricultural communities. However, there is limited hearing conservation research addressing the issue, especially for youth and young adults. The purpose of this study was to investigate the perceptions and practices of Indiana undergraduate students who lived or worked on a farm. The students were asked to rank the most common and current hearing conservation educational approaches, including in-person classroom presentation, mailers, and technology-based approaches, i.e., computer-based training, interactive websites, static websites, and smartphone noise-measuring applications (apps). A total of 91 undergraduate students enrolled in agriculture classes at four Indiana higher educational institutions participated in the study. They completed a sociodemographic and farm activity survey, followed by a 30-minute in-person presentation on hearing health conservation. After the presentation, each participant completed a questionnaire that included items about their perceptions of the feasibility, sustainability, rankings, and preferences of the various educational approaches discussed in the presentation. Participants ranked the noise-measuring app and in-person classroom presentation as their most preferred educational approaches for hearing conservation (39% and 28%, respectively). They identified multiple features of these two intervention approaches as beneficial. Sixty-four percent of participants indicated that a combination of approaches could influence hearing protection use and should include in-person classroom presentation and one of the technology-based approaches (noise-measuring apps, 37.3%). These findings are expected to assist health interventionists and program designers in developing future hearing protection education programs for farm youth, who may otherwise lack access to resources for preventing premature hearing loss due to loud noise exposure. Keywords: Agricultural workers, Hearing conservation, Hearing protection, Undergraduate college students, Youth education.

Children and the Modern Farming Movement

In the twenty‐first century, a small percentage of U.S. children have ties to family‐based agriculture. Yet with the rise of the modern farming movement that emphasizes local and family‐based production, new spaces may exist for involving children and youth in farming. This article focuses on the social value of children to family‐based agriculture in the contemporary era. Drawing on a qualitative study of families that farm in the capital region of New York—an epicenter for the modern food movement—we consider why families farm, how they involve children in their farms, and how they understand children's contributions. Interviews with 76 adult members of 50 families show children to be central to families' goals; they often rationalize farming as a lifestyle choice undertaken for the benefit of their children. Families also actively involve their own children—and other people's children—in their farms. By documenting the way families talk about children and farming, we shed light on the logic used to incorporate children into modern productive enterprises. The centrality of children, we argue, helps explain the success of the modern food movement and the persistence of family‐based agriculture despite conditions that make it economically difficult to accomplish.

PENGARUH PENGUATAN KELOMPOK TANI TERHADAP PARTISIPASI DAN MOTIVASI PEMUDA TANI PADA USAHA PERTANIAN DI LEUWILIANG, BOGOR

Strengthening farmer groups has been carried out as an effort to regenerate farmers through fostering partner villages. The study aimed to analyze descriptively the performance of farmer group strengthening, participation and motivation of farmer youth and analyze the influence of farmer group reinforcement on farmer's youth participation and motivation in agricultural business. Research has been carried out in Leuwiliang District, Bogor Regency. The study population was farmer youth as members of farmer groups who were targeted by partner villages. The next population became the respondents of the study as many as 60 people taken by census. The research variables consisted of individual characteristics (X 1 ), strengthening farmer groups (X 2 ), farmer youth participation (Y 1 ) and farmer youth motivation (Y 2 ). Statistical analysis used descriptive and regression statistical analysis. The results showed that the strengthening of partner farmer groups was at high criteria, participation and motivation of farmer youth was in the medium category. The participation of farmer youth is influenced by perceptions, access to ICT and strengthening farmer groups. Motivation of farmer youth is influenced by perceptions, access to ICT, strengthening farmer groups and participation in agricultural activities.

Evaluating the implementation fidelity of a community-based intervention to promote hearing conservation among farm and rural youth.

Noise-induced hearing loss is common among farm and rural youth. There is a lack of programs preparing this high-risk population to use hearing conservation strategies. Safety Days are 1-day workshops that teach 100,000 rural children safe farm practices in 400 sites across the USA annually. As part of a larger study for fourth graders, a hearing conservation lesson was delivered at 25 sites nationwide. However, the fidelity to the study-designed curriculum and quality of instruction was unknown. We examined whether community volunteers are capable of delivering, with adequate fidelity and quality, a planned intervention designed to increase use of hearing conservation strategies among farm and rural youth. We invited instructors (n = 22) to deliver a health lesson to fourth graders and provide lesson recordings. We developed instruments rating (i) fidelity of the teaching to the curriculum and (ii) quality of instruction. Initial instruments were modified based on the review for clarity, relevance, and conceptual fit; inter-rater reliabilities were .90 (content fidelity) and 1.00 (quality of instruction). Of seven recordings reviewed, mean fidelity to the planned curriculum was 1.51 (max score = 2), with nearly four fifths of lesson items fully addressed. Overall mean of rating of quality of instruction was 1.97 (out of 2). Fidelity to both content and quality of instruction was high. Results provide a model and support for use of community volunteers (with no special educational or experiential background) and fidelity testing as cost-effective strategies to provide sustainable programming for hearing conservation among farm and rural youth.

Social situation and professional aims of young family farmers in the Bahian Recôncavo

The article presents an analysis of the juvenile situation among family farmers of the Bahian Recôncavo region (Brazil), seeking to explain the professional aims formulated by these young people. As young family farmers represent a specific social category due to socialization in family agricultural work, the study highlights the social situation of these young people, their disposition regarding generational succession end the possibilities of social reproduction of the family farming labor force. The study was based on an extensive and representative survey of the youthful population aged 15 to 29 years old employed in this activity and on an analytical model of youth situation structured along four thematic axes: a) material conditions; b) processes of socialization; c) social representations; and d) aims of youth. Both descriptive and multiple correspondence analyses were carried out. The results indicate that in the case studied the situation of youth in family farming is marked by low material autonomy even among young adults, by socializing practices in the processes of family agricultural work and unequal formal education between gender and age groups. It was concluded that these young people possess a strong homogeneity of common destiny in rupture with family agricultural work, among other factors, because this activity does not guarantee their material autonomy.Keywords: young family farmers; youth situation; professional aims.WEISHEIMER, Nilson. Situação juvenil e projetos profissionais de jovens agricultores familiares no Recôncavo da Bahia. Estudos Sociedade e Agricultura, v. 27, n. 1, p. 67-94, fev. 2019.Submitted in august 2018.Accepted in october 2018.

Occupational Exposure Risk for Swine Workers in Confined Housing Facilities.

In an effort to change unsafe tractor operating behaviors among Appalachian youth resulting from practices and habits learned through a socialization process (termed an "apprenticeship of observation"), this study implemented a four-part intervention in high school agricultural education classes that included implementation of a cost-effective rollover protective structure (CROPS) curriculum. The curriculum included farm safety information, specific NIOSH plans for CROPS construction, and procedures for CROPS installation on unprotected tractors. In this exploratory study, pre- and post-assessments were conducted using theory of planned behavior (TPB) constructs to measure changes in four factors that influence changes in learner behavior: learner attitude, perceived social norms, behavioral control, and perceived behavioral intention. Students' perceived knowledge and skills gained through the intervention were also measured because they are integral components in assessing the effectiveness of a curriculum intervention. Participants (N = 83) were high school students from seven schools in three states in the Appalachian region. Findings revealed statistically significant differences in student attitudes toward the use of life-saving CROPS and in perceived knowledge and skills gained through the curriculum implementation. The CROPS curriculum can be an effective intervention effort for addressing the social and behavioral effects of farm youths' apprenticeships of observation by creating more positive attitudes and learning outcomes among youth at risk for tractor rollover fatalities. Recommendations are provided for expanding the applications of the curriculum intervention and the TPB constructs.

Emerging Challenges of Rural Labour Market: Insights from Indian Villages

This article has examined the labour market behaviour of rural India, with the objective to assess the changes taking place in the structure of the workforce and attempts to identify the factors affecting the changes in rural labour supply. In particular, this article tries to address the inconsistency between absolute declines in labour force, particularly rural females at national level, with the micro-level evidences of feminisation in farm work through the estimation of labour supply function. Empirical findings indicate an increasing trend in female participation, particularly aged in rural India. The significant positive association of occupation dummy with male labour supply and negative association with female labour supply, in one way, explains the greater participation of male workers in non-farm work and higher concentration of females in farm activities. Therefore, attention needs to be paid to promote initiatives such as youth entrepreneurship in agriculture to retain youth in farming, encourage innovations in designing appropriate location-specific machineries and tools which are female-friendly, and also organise capacity-building programmes for skill augmentation focusing rural female workers. JEL: J21, J43, J42, J16

Constraints faced by the farm youth in utilization of information and communication technology (ICT) tools

The research study was conducted in Tiruvannamalai district of Tamil Nadu in twelve villages which were selected based on the maximum number of farm youth involved in farmer interest groups of ATMA. A sample size of 120 respondents was selected from twelve revenue villages based on random sampling method. The major constraint faced by farm youth was poor internet connectivity (71.66%). Farm youth highlighted that the connectivity was very slow and had limited access to internet networks. Lack of awareness on ICTs was the constraint expressed by about three-fifth (60.83%) of the respondents. Lack of training programmes was the next constraint expressed by majority of the respondents (57.50%). Out of fifteen independent variables studied four variables viz farm size, information sharing behaviour, social participation and innovativeness showed a positive and significant relationship with the utilization of ICT tools. The first and foremost suggestion given by majority of the respondents was that the information should be in local language (73.33%) followed by marketing information should be provided through ICT tools (65.83%).

Tracing the causality between Livestock and poverty alleviation in the rural economy of Gilgit Baltistan-Pakistan

Livestock rearing and its production are deemed as a lucrative economic activity which provides livelihood and sustainable growth to rural population of Gilgit Baltistan . This sector not only delivers variety of food and non-food products but also contributes in income generation and subsequently diminishes the rural poverty. The fundamental aim of this research endeavor was to assess the poverty status and its determinants for livestock growers of the study area. The primary data was gleaned from 100 respondents through interview schedule following systematic sampling procedure. Uni-dimensional poverty estimates for sampled respondents employing Foster, Greer, and Thorbecke (FGT) poverty index are incorporated as dependent variable to model the binary probability expressions through Logit. Out of Explanatory variables used in model, benefit from the livestock, age, form size and gender of household head, showed a significant but negative relationship with poverty status whereas, household size and education of household head had a insignificant influence on poverty. This study recommends, that increase in farm size and youth’s participation in livestock farming can elevate the household income. The capacity building of the livestock farmers through trainings and more women contribution in livestock sector should be encouraged to reduce poverty in the area which can play a remarkable role in sustainable economic growth.

National Estimates of Youth and Injuries on U.S. Farms, 2012.

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), in order to provide injury surveillance for youth on farms in the U.S., partnered with the USDA to conduct the Childhood Agricultural Injury Survey (CAIS). CAIS data for all farm youth less than 20 years of age have been collected intermittently since 1998. CAIS data from 2012 indicated that an estimated 25.9 million youth lived on, worked on, or visited U.S. farms. These youth experienced almost 14,000 injuries while on the farm. The majority of these injuries occurred to males (7,290) and youth between the ages of 10 and 15 years (5,766). Approximately 20% (2,739) of the injuries were related to work being done on the farm. Youth living on the farm incurred 56% (7,784) of the injuries. An additional 5,771 injuries occurred to hired and visiting youth. Although youth injuries on farms have declined, the numbers are still unacceptably high. Additional research and detailed assessments of subsets of the youth population would help to better direct safety intervention programs and focus future research activities.

Editorial: The Cab Crush Hazard

Abstract. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), in order to provide injury surveillance for youth on farms in the U.S., partnered with the USDA to conduct the Childhood Agricultural Injury Survey (CAIS). CAIS data for all farm youth less than 20 years of age have been collected intermittently since 1998. CAIS data from 2012 indicated that an estimated 25.9 million youth lived on, worked on, or visited U.S. farms. These youth experienced almost 14,000 injuries while on the farm. The majority of these injuries occurred to males (7,290) and youth between the ages of 10 and 15 years (5,766). Approximately 20% (2,739) of the injuries were related to work being done on the farm. Youth living on the farm incurred 56% (7,784) of the injuries. An additional 5,771 injuries occurred to hired and visiting youth. Although youth injuries on farms have declined, the numbers are still unacceptably high. Additional research and detailed assessments of subsets of the youth population would help to better direct safety intervention programs and focus future research activities. Keywords: Agriculture, Injury, Youth.

Family farming and rural youth in the wild of Itabaina/SE

O objetivo deste trabalho é destacar a relevância da juventude rural para o fortalecimento da agricultura familiar no Agreste de Itabaiana, ampliando o debate sobre a importância de ações através de políticas públicas para tornar o meio rural mais atraente para essa parcela da população. Como procedimentos metodológicos, foi realizado levantamento bibliográfico e revisão do material selecionado, proporcionando a compreensão do tema abordado, a partir da leitura voltada para o que autores como, Graziano da Silva (1997) e Schneider (2000 & 2007), Mendes (2014), Nascimento, A.(2005), Lopes (2009) e Nascimento, J. & Mendes (2015), pensam sobre as questões que envolvem as discussões e o debate sobre as novas tendências e desafios presentes na agricultura familiar no Brasil, no Nordeste e em Sergipe. Também foram levantados dados e informações no Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística (IBGE) e o Censo Agropecuário (1985 1995/6 e 2006), e trabalho de campo no qual foram aplicados 50 questionários nos municípios do Agreste de Itabaiana. Portanto, a partir do processo de diminuição da população do meio rural brasileiro, é voltada a atenção para a capacitação e fixação do jovem no campo, fornecendo mecanismo como escolas agrícolas e universidades com cursos destinados para a nova realidade da agricultura familiar brasileira, sendo que, verificou-se que mais de 50% da população rural jovem possui instrução inferior ao ensino fundamental incompleto, fator que acaba dificultando a vida social e econômica desses jovens agricultores, assim como o acesso aos programas do Governo Federal.

The farm as an educative tool in the development of place attachments among Irish farm youth

ABSTRACTThis paper focuses on the educative role of the farm in the development of relationships between young people and the homeplace they grew up on. The paper is based on qualitative interviews with a cohort of 30 Irish university students (15 men and 15 women) brought up on Irish family farms who would not become full-time farmers. The farm acts as an educational tool through which broader cultural and familial norms of land ownership, succession and affiliations with the land are transmitted to the next generation. This is manifested through, for example, the creation of foundational stories about their forebearers’ influence on the physical appearance of the farm. The resulting place attachments are of profound depth and serve a key role in the succession process in helping to build a sense of duty and responsibilisation into the next generation’s relationship with the landholding.

A socio-cognitive strategy to address farmers' tolerance of high risk work: Disrupting the effects of apprenticeship of observation

IntroductionWhy do generations of farmers tolerate the high-risk work of agricultural work and resist safe farm practices? This study presents an analysis inspired by empirical data from studies conducted from 1993 to 2012 on the differing effects of farm safety interventions between participants who live or work on farms and those who don't, when both were learning to be farm safety advocates. Both groups show statistically significant gains in knowledge and behavioral change proxy measures. However, non-farm participants' gains consistently outstripped their live/work farm counterparts. MethodDrawing on socio-cultural perspectives, a grounded theory qualitative analysis focused on identifying useful constructs to understand the farmers' resistance to adopt safety practices. FindingsUnderstanding apprenticeships of observation and its relation to experiential learning over time can expose sources of deeply anchored beliefs and how they operate insidiously to promote familiar, albeit unsafe farming practices. The challenge for intervention-prevention programs becomes how to disrupt what has been learned during these apprenticeships of observation and to address what has been obscured during this powerful socialization process. Practical applicationsImplications focus on the design and implementation of farm safety prevention and education programs. First, farm safety advocates and prevention researchers need to attend to demographics and explicitly explore the prior experiences and background of safety program participants. Second, farm youth in particular need to explore, explicitly, their own apprenticeships of observations, preferably through the use of new social media and or digital forms of expression, resulting in a story repair process. Third, careful study of the organization of work and farm experiences and practices need to provide the foundations for intervention programs. Finally, it is crucial that farm safety programs understand apprenticeships of observation are generational and ongoing over time, and interventions prevention programs need to be ‘in it’ for the long haul.

The Prospects of Enhancing Food Security in Kenya through the Demographic Dividend

Kenya is starting to enter its window demographic dividend, under the assumption of declining fertility rates over the next several decades. The country has the opportunity to exploit the first demographic dividend by attracting and retaining youth in farming. However, studies show that Kenya is deriving very little demographic dividend in agriculture with an increasing proportion of the country’s working age population being inactive. The main objective of this paper is to theoretically examine the demographic dividend, and how this window of opportunity can be utilized to enhancing food security in Kenya. Specifically, it examines the relationship between population growth and increasing food security, with reference to theories against, supporting and neutral. It further, describes Kenya’s youth bulge, and how the bulge can be utilized to enhance food security. We also identify a number of mechanisms that can be applicable to propel the youth for food security in Kenya. The paper benefited immensely from secondary data sources and desk review for evidence

Long-Term Outcomes of an Urban Farming Internship Program

Long-term impacts of an urban farming youth internship were evaluated in Brooklyn, New York. Alumni surveyed 1 to 9 years after program completion were enrolled in college or graduate school at higher rates than their peers and reported connections to the environment and healthy eating. Participants reported learning job skills through the internship, including farming practices, time and money management, teamwork, and public speaking. In addition, participants reported an increased sense of responsibility, high levels of self-confidence, and strong connections with their community. The amount of time spent in the internship positively affected attitudes and behaviors regarding communication and decision-making.

The CROPS Curriculum Experiment: Evaluating the Farm Safety Knowledge Gained Among Secondary Appalachia Youth

Rural youth in poverty stricken Appalachian communities are the highest at-risk population for tractor rollover accidents (Cole, 2007). The Apprenticeship of Observation theory (Lortie, 1975) concludes that the “apprentice” learns from watching those perceived to be the teacher and their work and so mimic their actions. Thus, farm youth who often overlook safety precautions believe farm accidents are simply a way of life. This project was partially funded through the Southeast Center for Agricultural Health and Injury Prevention. The funds assisted in the development of a Cost-effective Rollover Protective Structure (CROPS) curriculum. A total of 54 (N = 54) secondary agriculture mechanics students, served as the treatment group (n = 31) and control group (n = 23). The treatment group received farm safety instruction from their secondary agriculture teacher through the use of the CROPS curriculum while the control group received their farm safety instruction from their secondary agriculture teacher who taught, only, to reach the required state standards. Results from the quasi-experimental design study revealed a statistically significant gain in farm safety practices from the treatment group as compared to the control group. Recommendations to the participants, future participants, and research are also included.

Age- and Gender-Based Patterns in Youth All-Terrain Vehicle (ATV) Riding Behaviors

ABSTRACTInjuries to youth on all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) have been increasing exponentially in recent years. Youth under age 16 years are 4 times more likely to require emergency room treatments. This study explored the relationships and differences in ATV risk and safety behaviors based on age, gender, and age at ATV driving/riding initiation. Data were collected from 180 farm youth between 10 and 19 years of age. The study brought to light an important factor that influences risky ATV behaviors of youth, namely, their age at ATV driving and riding initiation. The sooner that youth (boys and girls) were exposed to ATVs, including riding with their family or friends, the sooner they started driving ATVs themselves, and the more likely they were to indulge in several ATV risk behaviors when older. This effect was more pronounced for boys than girls. Overall, girls in this study were equally likely to engage in many of the risky ATV behaviors, such as taking and giving rides on single-seat ATVs, driving adult-sized ATVs, driving ATVs on public roads, and driving ATVs really fast. However, they were less likely to wear protective attire, leaving them more vulnerable to injuries and fatalities during crashes. Implications of the findings and future directions are discussed.

Study of Coconut Tree Climber Use Efficiency over Traditional Methods in Chitradurga District of Karnataka

Coconut is one of the most important crops under rainfed conditions in marginal soil of Chitradurga districts. Majority of the coconut growers in the district were facing the problem of theft of fallen nuts and shortage of skilled labor for nut harvesting. The traditional method of harvesting the nuts using knife with bamboo sticks for dwarf trees and climbing the tall trees was quite risky and accident prone. To overcome this problem, ICAR-Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Chitradurga conducted training programmes to unemployed rural farm youths in collaboration with Coconut Development Board, Cochin. Total 80 farm youths were trained during 2012–13. With the conventional coconut climbing, a person could harvest about 8–25 nuts/tree while climbing the tree one had experienced body pain, muscles catch and lot of life risk with meager earnings of Rs.5, 000-15, 000/-year. After using the Coconut tree climber, annual income increased to Rs.20, 000-60, 000/-year and a person could climb more than 80–100 feet tall coconut tree without any life risk and harvesting efficiency increased to tune of 20–50 nuts/tree. This was encouraged many youths from surrounding villages to approach KVK to undergo training and choose coconut harvesting as an employment generation opportunity to meet their livelihood demand. Simultaneously, farmers were also benefitted by harvesting the nuts at right time and getting quality nuts also good price in the market.

The sustainability of small scale cane growers through youth involvement in North Coast region of Kwazulu Natal, South Africa

Cane farming makes an important contribution to the socio-economic development of the rural areas where it takes place. These cane growing areas are characterised by high levels of poverty and youth unemployment. The current crop of cane growers is ageing and there is a need to prepare to handover the baton to the younger generation of cane growers. The minimal involvement of youth in cane farming will have negative implications for the sustainability of cane production in the rural areas. Sustainability of cane production will heavily depend on the current and future participation of young people in cane growing. The researcher's hypothesis was that there is a lack of youth involvement in agriculture which is associated with negative perceptions and attitudes towards cane farming. As a result these farms cannot be sustained beyond the current generation of farmers because young people are not interested in agriculture in general and cane growing in particular. The results disproved the hypothesis. Results showed that young people whose parents are cane growers are already involved in farming activities and assisting their parents. This involvement also increases their willingness to take over farming from their parents. The results show positive inputs in terms of encouraging sustainability in the future of cane farming.