Master of Science

The problem involved in this study was that of selecting and developing a record keeping system for students of vocational agriculture to use in their supervised farming programs. The study was made in Montgomery County, Virginia. It involved the close cooperation of the Montgomery County Agriculture Teachers Association, which is composed of teachers from the Riner, Shawsville, Christiansburg, and Blacksburg Agriculture Departments. Through this study it was hoped that a more effective system of record keeping could be provided for supervised farming programs of students enrolled in vocational agriculture. After two years of work with different types of records and record books, the record book developed was adopted by the Montgomery County Agriculture Teachers Association. This book was first used for keeping supervised farming records during the calendar year 1955. The Montgomery County Teachers felt that the record book satisfactorily met all the criteria they bad previously set up for keeping farm records and recommended it for continued use in their classes of vocational agriculture. In March, 1958, after three years use by vocational agriculture students in Montgomery County, teachers of the four agriculture departments were asked to evaluate die record book. The record book scored high on all evaluations. Teachers found the book helpful tn their teaching for tbe following reasons: 1. The record book aided them in effectively teaching farm record keeping. 2. Students showed more interest in record keeping. 3. Supervised farming programs were strengthened. / Master of Science

A study focusing on farm financial stress in Virginia was conducted to provide information to educators. The financial situation of Virginia farmers during the 1980's was reviewed. The years 1983, 1984, and 1985 were determined to be the time during the 1980s when farmers' financial situations were most severely stressed. Attention was directed towards corn, soybean, and wheat farmers since this group was readily identifiable as being financially stressed. Fifteen personal interviews of farmers were conducted in seven counties where the majority of these crops are grown. For comparison purposes, part of the interviews were conducted with individuals who are still farming and part with individuals who were forced to exit farming due to financial adversity. Comparing the information gathered from farmers in a favorable financial condition with the information gathered from those farmers in a vulnerable financial condition, some factors that helped farmers survive the agricultural depression of the 1980’s were discovered. Farmers in favorable financial condition are superior managers, operate timely businesses, borrow and spend conservatively, are more educated, have more years of farming experience, and use better financial and production recordkeeping practices. Access to marketing information is also important for farmer survivability. Producers in favorable financial condition own larger percentages of their operated land, and they utilize more family labor. / Master of Science

This study investigates the role of non-traditional enterprises in rural economies and attempts to understand farmers’ decision to adopt non-traditional enterprises. Three separate mail surveys were conducted to collect socio-economic data from biological and organic, Angora goat, and ginseng farm enterprises. Descriptive statistics, Pearson χ² tests, and multinomial logit models were used to accomplish the objectives of the study. The analysis focuses on biological and organic, and Angora goat enterprises. The results of the analysis show that the principal operators of these enterprises were significantly younger, better-educated, better-off, and more likely to be a female in comparison to all Virginia farmers. The majority of farm operators came from non-rural backgrounds and their principal occupation is not farming. Only a very small percentage cited economic factors as the most important reason for starting the non-traditional enterprises. The most common information source used for planning and developing these new enterprises is books, magazines, or newsletters. The majority of respondents in both the biological/organic and Angora goat surveys did not perform any feasibility analyses prior to beginning their non-traditional enterprises. The farmers rated production and marketing as their major problems. In general, the majority of biological and organic farms and Angora goat farms were not profitable in 1993, and the income from these enterprises contributed very little to household income. However, it was found that biological and organic enterprises have played an important role in the economic survival of farmers with financial obstacles. The majority of farmers in the samples saw a bright future for their products. / Master of Science