Progress 04/15/18 to 04/14/24
Outputs
Target Audience:Our target audience continues to be small- and medium-sized specialty crop growers in the states of Alabama, Georgia, and Tennessee. Most of the growers are minority populations consisting of African-Americans, Hispanic Americans, American Indians, and somes Asians. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?A major opportunity to mention here is the intersection of generations. This project and the results offered an important opportunity for integenerational training. We believe that our study allowed the stakeholders learning from the youth and/or 4-H audiences. Alternatively, we believe that the youth and 4-H groups can also learn from older generations about the art of farming, especially growing specialty crops. This was a win win situation for all. As noted in previous reports, we believe training extension agents is important because these are the individuals who work with stakeholders and are usually respected by stakeholders. Using extension agents and outreach providers to embrace social media or adopt broadband Internent has some promise. Similarly, 4-H audiences offer some promise in the use of social media as a marketing strategy. 4-H audiences are the leaders and farmers of tomorrow. What they do today impacts what they will do tomorrow when they decide to be managers of their own operations. The same is true for influencing postsecondary students, some of whom may choose careers in farming while others will serve as extension agents or agricultural professional with influence over specialty crop producers. In summary, opportunities exist for the results of this study to have significant impact on the thinking of stakeholders and their ability to embrace social media and the Internet to expand their businesses - using social media or the Internet as a business and marketing strategy. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The dissemination of the results focused on 4-H, extension agents, and postsecondary audiences. These groups reflect key targets that are affected or influenced by the use of social media communications. The majority of these groups are likely to have or use social media like TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and the Internet in general. We conducted seminars and made presentations to students, the aforementioned groups, and the general public or stakeholders, many of whom are specialty crops producers. 4-H groups and postsecondary audiences, in particular, showed more interest in social media possibly due to their high use of it. Stakeholders have been less enthusiastic about the results, primarily because of their access to the Internet. Most of the stateholders live in rural areas, some of which have limited access to broadband Internet. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Through this project, the SFRC at Alabama A&M University, in collaboration with partners from FVSU and TSU, has been able to sensitize and introduce a large number of small and medium-sized farmers from Alabama, Georgia, and Tennessee to the potential use and beneficial impacts of digital marketing and social media communication on competitiveness and profitability. Most of the growers who participated in this initiative were minority populations consisting of African Americans, Hispanic Americans, American Indians, and some Asians. The sensitization and training of farmers were done through a mix of strategies and methods such as hands-on training, demonstration opportunities, and discussion sessions led by professionals. Members of the farming communities in participating states had experiential learning opportunities to reinforce information and knowledge gained during training and discussion sessions. Based on verbal feedback received from participants, the training was very beneficial and helped to equip small and medium-sized farmers with some basic skills and knowledge necessary to enhance their profitability and competitiveness in the marketplace. Overall the project objectives were realized, in spite of the direct and lingering impacts of COVID-19 on the implementation of a project of that nature. The project's findings and results have been shared with regional and national professionals and audiences through poster presentations, oral conference presentations, and small-group interactions. Some of the project's results have been captured in SFRC's newsletters and other promotional material. Consideration is being given to exploring strategies to monitor and evaluate the long-term socio-economic impacts of the project on many project participants.
Publications
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Progress 04/15/23 to 04/14/24
Outputs
Target Audience:Our target audience continues to be small- and medium-sized specialty crop growers in the states of Alabama, Georgia, and Tennessee. Most of the growers are minority populations consisting of African-Americans, Hispanic Americans, American Indians, and somes Asians. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?A major opportunity to mention here is the intersection of generations. This project and the results offered an important opportunity for integenerational training. We believe that our study allowed the stakeholders learning from the youth and/or 4- H audiences. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The dissemination of the results focused on 4-H, extension agents, and postsecondary audiences. These groups reflect key targets that are affected or influenced by the use of social media communications. The majority of these groups are likely to have or use social media like TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and the Internet in general. We conducted seminars and made presentations to students, the aforementioned groups, and the general public or stakeholders, many of whom are specialty crops producers. 4-H groups and postsecondary audiences, in particular, showed more interest in social media possibly due to their high use of it. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Develop programming to educate 4-H audiences and stakeholders about specialty crop entrepreneurs' use of best practices for digital marketing and social media communication, and introduce youths to digital marketing and social media communication for agriculture and entrepreneurship.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
The sensitization and training of farmers were done through a mix of strategies and methods such as hands-on training, demonstration opportunities, and discussion sessions led by professionals. Members of the farming communities in participating states had experiential learning opportunities to reinforce information and knowledge gained during training and discussion sessions. Based on verbal feedback received from participants, the training was very beneficial and helped to equip small and medium-sized farmers with some basic skills and knowledge necessary to enhance their profitability and competitiveness in the marketplace.
Publications
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Progress 04/15/22 to 04/14/23
Outputs
Target Audience:Our target audience continues to be small- and medium-sized specialty crop growers in thestates of Alabama, Georgia, and Tennessee. Most of the growers are minority populations consisting of African-Americans, Hispanic Americans, American Indians, and somes Asians. Changes/Problems:Themajor problem was the pandemic and its aftermath. Individuals in the specialty crop industry were adjusting, and had slowed down in their activity between the actual time period they were affected by the pandemic to the period where there was some semblance of normalcy, The stakeholders or specialty crop growerswere overly cautious in being able to resume regularly in apost pandemic world. This affected our in-person educational activities.Zoom meetings and other forms of telecommunication were our best option, but not viable for the majority of our ruralaudience in Alabama,Tennessee, and Georgia where access to reliable or broadband Internet was limited. This oftentimes caused many of them feel excluded from essential services. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?We believe training extension agents is important because these are the individuals who work with stakeholders and are usually respected by stakeholders. Using extension agents and outreach providers to embrace social media or adopt broadband Internent has some promise. Similarly, 4-H audiences offer some promise in the use of social media as a marketing strategy. 4-H audiences are the leaders and farmers of tomorrow. What they do today impacts what they will do tomorrow when they decide to be managers of their own operations. The same is true for influencing postsecondary students, some of whom may choose careers in farming while others will serve as extension agents or agricultural professional with influence over specialty crop producers. In summary, opportunities exist for the results of this study to have significant impact on the thinking of stakeholders and their ability to embrace social media and the Internet to expand their businesses - using social media or the Internet as a business and marketing strategy. A major opportunity to mention here is the intersection of generations. This project and the results offered an important opportunity for integenerational training. We believe that our study allowed the stakeholders learning from the youth and/or 4-H audiences. Alternatively, we believe that the youth and 4-H groups can also learn from older generations about the art of farming, especially growing specialty crops. This was a win win situation for all. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The dissemination of the results focused on 4-H, extension agents, and postsecondary audiences. These groups reflect key targets that are affected or influenced by the use of social media communications. The majority of these groups are likely to have or use social media like TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and the Internet in general. We conducted seminars and made presentations to students, the aforementioned groups, and the general public or stakeholders, many of whom are specialty crops producers. 4-H groups and postsecondary audiences, in particular,showed more interest in social mediapossibly due to their high use of it. Stakeholders have been less enthusiastic about the results, primarily because of their access to the Internet. Most of the stateholders live in rural areas, some of which have limited access to broadband Internet. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?In the final year, we intend to finish analyzing the survey and disseminatingthe findings. In this regard, we want to make presentations at professional conferences and submit some of our work for publication in professional refereed publications. Working with specialty crops stakeholders is of paramount importance in the closing year of this project. We want to make sure the results of this study help stakeholders gravitate towards the Internet and embrace social media as a marketing strategy. Most of the growers do not have a website to showcase what they are producing and selling. Very few have mobile phones nor use any kind of social media platform.The final year will see continued identification of best practices in digital marketing and social media communication for specialty crop entrepreneurs; continue to increasepostsecondary students' knowledge and understanding of effective digital marketing and social media communication techniques for specialty crop entrepreneurs; and continue to develop programming to educate 4-H audiences and stakeholders about specialty crop entrepreneurs' use of best practices for digital marketing and social media communication, and introduce youth to digital marketing and social media communication for agriculture and entrepreneurship.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
The reporting period focused on objectives 3-5. We used the results of this study to work with postsecondary students, 4-H audiences and extension personnel. We identifiedbest practices in digital marketing and social media communication for specialty crop entrepreneurs (specialy crop growers); We made presentations at AAMU and Fort Valley State University to increase postsecondary students' knowledge and understanding of effective digital marketing and social media communication techniques for specialty crop entrepreneurs; as well as developed programming to educate 4-H audiences and stakeholders about specialty crop entrepreneurs' use of best practices for digital marketing and social media communication.Furthermore, this introduced youth to digital marketing and social media communication for agriculture and entrepreneurship. We believe our interaction with youth groups was also significant because they are the major consumers of social media, and some of these youth groups will be the specialty growers or producers of tomorrow. Overall, our interaction with and presentation to extension groups, 4-H audiences and youth, and postsecondary students was most effective and significant for the future of the industry (specialty crop industry). These groups hold the key to the increased adoption of social media use and the Internet among growers or producers. These efforts will be expanded in the final year.
Publications
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Progress 04/15/21 to 04/14/22
Outputs
Target Audience:The project targets small- and medium-sized fresh produce growers in Alabama, Georgia, and Tennessee.These three states aredominated by small- and medium-sized farms, with new income opportunities developing in the areas of intensively-managed berry, fruit, and vegetable production. Many of these operations have been undertaken as substitute enterprises for cotton, tobacco, or broiler production. Overall, small-farm agriculture remains a vital and significant part of each state's economy. Specialty crop enterprises occupy over 62,949 acres in Alabama, 277,760 acres in Georgia, and 74,000 acres in Tennessee(USDA-NASS, 2015). Specialty crop enterprises andentrepreneurs in these states have had little or limited marketing support; and in Alabama, the nursery and greenhouse industry ranks third in cash receipts. Data also shows that specialty crop enterprisesare a significant portion of the region's agricultural economy. Changes/Problems:The major problem that set back the progressof this project during the reporting period was the pandemic. The research team was not able to travel to conduct surveys or conduct colloquia or focus group meetings to supplement survey findings. The pandemic problems were exacerbatedby the lack of broadband Internet access among specialty crop producers in the Black Belt regionand other underserved communities in the target states of Alabama, Tennessee, and Georgia. As the COVID-19pandemic dies down, we expect that the project implementation momentumwill accelerate, thereby ensuring the timely completion of thisresearch project. We will also be able to conduct colloquia and group meetings among extension personnel and 4-H audiences, and produce manuscripts for presentation to peers at professional and/or for publication in refereed journals. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The pandemic still affected the first part of the year in 2021. The state of Alabama, like many other states, imposed restrictions on travel and face-to-face interaction with the farming community or any community. The university, in partnership with many other 1890 land grant universities in the South, delivered education and outreach assistance remotely. This affected the effective administration of the producer's survey and also the effective interaction with 4-H audiences and postsecondary students. However, with varying successes, we used social media and zoom meetings to conduct much of the research and education. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Travel restrictions as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic stifled our efforts to effectively disseminate the results of this study. Conference and workshop presentations and publications in refereed journals were some of the means proposed to disseminate the findings or results of this research. However, the pandemic made it impossible to effectively disseminate the results. Even though this research continued to be conducted, there were many aspects of it that could not be done. The lack of Internet connectivity in many of the underserved communities in the Black Belt in Alabama, Georgia, and Tennessee was a major problem and continues to be a problem even as the pandemic seems to be manageable. The producer surveys could not be conducted effectively because of the lack of broadband Internet connectivity among specialty crop producers and also because of travel and group meeting restrictions. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?The next reporting period will see re-administration of the producer survey, data analysis, and reporting,and effectively disseminate research findings consistent with our original dissemination plan. In other words, the next reporting period will focus on the last three objectives of this research which include identifying best practices in digital marketing and social media communication for specialty crop entrepreneurs; increasingpostsecondary students' knowledge and understanding of digital marketing and social media communication techniques for specialty crop entrepreneurs; and developing programming to educate 4-H audiences and stakeholders about specialty crop entrepreneurs' use of best practices for digital marketing and social media communication, and introducingyouths to digital marketing and social media communication for agriculture and entrepreneurship. Work on these objectives is already underway. The goal is to refine some of the work that was hastily done during the pandemic when travel and group meeting restrictions were in place.As previously noted, the research teamplans to conduct the producer survey to validate these preliminary results. The team also wants to conduct colloquia or focus group meetingsto validate the preliminary findings we have so far observedfrom the limited sample or low response rate. This is a major task planned for the next reporting period and we hope this will be done more effectively given that the pandemic appears to be manageable.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
During thisreporting period, the focus wason administering a growers' or producers'survey following the completion of the consumers'. We also focused on working with postsecondary students to increase their knowledge and understanding of effective digital marketing and social media communication techniques for specialty crop producers. We also worked with 4-H audiences and specialty crop stakeholders. Thus, our focus in the reporting period was on the last three objectives of the project. These include identifying best practices in digital marketing and social media communication; increasing postsecondary students' understanding of digital marketing and social media techniques; and developing programming to educate 4-H audiences and specialty crop growers' use of digital marketing and social media communication strategies. The research team hasobserved positive attitudes toward using social media for posting among specialty growers in the three states of Alabama, Georgia, and Tennessee. The teamcan conclude that social media is highly accepted as a marketing strategy among fresh produce growers. We however caution these observations are based on a low response rate for the survey work. We believe that additional effort to collect data from a larger population would help validate our results. That's why weplan to conduct the producer survey again to increase the sample size and improve the response rate to validate the observedpreliminary results. We also want to conduct colloquia or focus group meetings, again, to validate the preliminary findings we have observed from the limited or small sampling and low response rate. This is a significant task planned for the next reporting period.
Publications
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Progress 04/15/20 to 04/14/21
Outputs
Target Audience:This project targetssmall- and medium-sized farms and ranchers in Alabama, Georgia, and Tennessee who are engaged in specialty crops (fruits and vegetables) production. The majority of the targeted specialty crops audience comprisessocially disadvantaged producers who operate small acreage farms, often with limited resources.Small-farm agriculture remains a vital and significant part of each state's economy. Smale-scale specialty crop enterprises and entrepreneurs in these states have had little or limited marketing support.Data also shows that small- and medium-sized specialty crop enterprisesare a significant portion of the region's agricultural economy.However, the lack of viable markets and well-defined marketing channels continues to daunt the specialty crop enterprise industry.Allthree states are recipients of funding from USDA-AMS to strengthen their localfood markets, enhance competitiveness and promote production and consumption of locally grown fresh produce. Changes/Problems:Asnoted and emphasized throughout this annual report, the Covid-19 pandemic is continuing to spread as new strains develop and mutations continue, causing hard times for many communities, including specialty crops farmers and ranchers in Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, and the country. The virus pandemic has posed serious challenges for the sustainable functioning of farms and agri-food markets. Thus, it goes without saying that the Covid-19 pandemic was a major setback in 2020 to the smooth implementation of this research project. Covid-19has had and continues to have a great impact on the project's actions and activities. It has affected agricultural or farming activities and operations as it has human health. Farmers and agribusinesses are unable to attend to their animals or carry out their routine farm operations because of restrictions and quarantines in place to combat Covid-19. The pandemic and food product movement, food demand, and thus food security are greatly affected due to mobility restrictions, reduced purchasing power, anda greater impact on the most vulnerable population groups. Until the pandemic is controlled, it will be very difficult for farmers, especially specialty crop producers, to easily shift their priorities from dealing with Covid-19 issues on their farms to paying attention to the needs of research groups and institutions. As previously noted, it is our hope that Covid-19 conditions will abate as vaccination rates increase. If that happens, we will accelerate the implementation of this project. We will also consider seeking a no-cost extension of this project, if need be, to ensure all objectives of this project are fully completed. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The Covid-19 pandemic is continuing to spread as new strains develop and mutations continue, causing hard times for many communities, including farmers and ranchers. The virus has posed serious challenges for the sustainable functioning of farms and agri-food markets. Our hope in this project is that Covid conditions will abateas vaccination efforts improve. If so, we will seize the opportunity to accelerate the project implementation momentum in 2021 and 2022 which was initiated in 2019 before the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. We will quite possibly seek a no-cost extension of the project to make up for the lost time and to ensure all the project objectives are successfully completed. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Little dissemination of the results has taken place during the reporting period because of the Covid-19 pandemic problems previously highlighted in this report. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?As thepandemic abates with increased government efforts to do so, our hope is that we will be able to re-administer both the managers and consumer surveys. We will work with 4-H audiences and postsecondary students to share with the them the results of the focus group meetings and stakeholder input collected in 2019. The goal is to increase postsecondary students' knowledge and understanding of effective digital marketing and social media communication techniques for specialty crop entrepreneurs. Also, as indicated in Objective #5 of the research plan, we want to educate 4-H audiences and stakeholders about specialty crop entrepreneurs' use of best practices for digital marketing and social media communication, and introduce youths to digital marketing and social media communication for agriculture and entrepreneurship. All these are in our plan to do during the next reporting period and beyond.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
The reporting period was a trying and unsettling one for this and other projects we currently manage within the Small Farms Research Center. The ongoing Covid-19 pandemic disrupted our research efforts to administer both the manager and consumer surveys and to directly work with specialty crop entrepreneurs and farmers on investigative colloquia or focus group meetings as was originally planned and proposed in the project. The Covid-19 pandemic has caused enormous losses for many farmers, especially fresh vegetables, fruits, and milk products. These losses are of course associated with restrictions imposed by product movement, the inability for farmers to manage their operations because of Covid-19 restrictions and quarantines as well as product demand reduction due to closure of restaurants, hotels, schools, etc. These problems in turn affected the effective implementation of this project as most farmers, if not all, focused their attention more on dealing with Covid-19 than anything else. We completed updating theliterature review of the study. The updated literature reviewremains consistent with the discussion at proposal submission. It confirms the same old story that use of social media is in agriculture is significantly increasing and gaining popularity. However, it still lags behind its use in non-agricultural business. Evidence exists in the literature reviewed that small and medium-size agribusinesses that don't use social media as a marketing strategy will face an uphill battle for industry relevance as well as helping their own businesses develop. Further, literature shows that adding value to the business brand and changing the behavior of one's business audience is the combination to being successful in social media. Perhaps a major issue with the socially disadvantaged audience targeted in this study is that the majority lacks access to broadband. This has been a major problem over the years for most minority farmers and ranchers. Apart from distrust of the federal government, especially the U.S. Department of Agricultural as a result of its historical biases and discrimination in the administration of programs and services, the lack of Internet or broadband, has also been a major part of the reason why some of small and medium size farmers (especially minority farmers) have not been able to fully take advantage of the many government programs and services. During the reporting period, we also sent out the first round of our producer and consumer surveys. However, the response rate was exceedingly low or poor. We did not receive adequate response from eith survey. We followed up the survey administration with telephone calls and emails. Still, there was little response from both the sample producers as well as the consumers we sent the surveys to. As previously noted, the Covid-19 pandemic created many threats to the smooth operation of activities on and off the farm.The severe covid-19 world pandemic which started in 2019 resulted in immediate shutdowns of activities, and serious human health issues for many farmers and the public. The ongoing quarantines and other restrictions to combat the pandemic continue to disrupt farm operations, especially furits and vegetable operans, and continue to afflict serious economic damage for most farmers as it does to their own personal health conditions. Thus, responding to surveys to assist our efforts in this study does not seem to be a priority for most farmers and/or consumers in general.Again, the lack of access to broandband has been a major factor in the low response rate.
Publications
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Progress 04/15/19 to 04/14/20
Outputs
Target Audience:The project continues to target small and medium-sized farms operated by fruit and vegetable growers in Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee. Majority of these are specialty crop growers, predominantly socially disadvantaged individuals whoown, manage or operatesmall acreage farms, often with limited resources. Changes/Problems:No changes to approach are contemplated at this time.Identifying a suitable and able or qualifiedgraduate student has been a major problem which delayed completion of additional literature review. Finding a qualified graduate assistant was a problem because our agribusiness graduate program is discontinued at Alabama A&M University. Qualified graduate students from the College of Business usually have a longer learning curve because of their lack of agribusiness background. However, we believe that the project is on tract or marginally behind. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?This project and study has provided remarkable opportunities to undergraduate and graduate students. These are the future professionala of tomorrow. This grant is providing training opportunities to four undergraduate students and two graduate students every year. The goal is to provide training and sharpen research skills of our students. A major opportunity also involves training these students to be able to translate research findings into usable information by lay people and decision makers.This includes translation of scientific information into development of outreach or extension material for dissemination to producers, consumers, extension personnel and the general public. In general,this grant offers opportunity for research, training and professional development. The grant strengthens research and teaching capabilities in the College of Agricultural, Life and Natural Sciences at Alabama A&M University which is pivotal to attracting more talented students. The research anchors the dynamics of the long-term effectiveness of capacity building. The changing agricultural landscape and policy environment require theparticipation of well-trained professionals from diverse backgrounds. Through this research project, a cadre of skilledanalysts are being trained to effectively contribute to agribusiness development and policy assessment, particularly as it affects small- and medium-sized farmers and rural communities. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Dissemination of the results is part and parcel of this research project. The Small Farms Research in the College of Agricultural, Life and Natural Sciences at AAMU maintains its own home page, http://www.aamu.edu/smallfarmscenter. Other instructional and information delivery strategies (e.g., videos, social media, etc.) are under development. We intend to exploit this technology in the dissemination and distribution of our results. The results are also being made available to farmers, policy makers, administrators, and all parties interested in small farm agriculture, especially specialty crops in Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee.Preliminary results have been presented at national and regional professional conferences of agricultural economics; and will be submitted for publication in professional journals. Finally, the Small Farms Research Center has also conducted several virtual outreach meetings and webinars which have also benefited from this project's focus group meetings' preliminary results and/or findings. This research project and its findings are a majorbenefit to effectively trainingstudents who are being prepared and offered skills for the jobs of tomorrow.The project's findings are also significant and key to finding out how specialty crop growers or producers can effectively use social media communication as a marketing strategy. We are trying to investigate whether specialty crop producers use social media communicantion and the Internet as a marketing strategy in today's business environment. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?The next reporting period will focus on data analysis for the focus group meetings that have been completed so far. We will also focus on designing, pilot testingand administering both consumer and producer/managers surveys which will also be followed by the validation of bothsurveys, data analysis and then reporting of the results or research findings. This will be followed by the development by outreach and extension activities which will include or involve post-secondary and 4-H teaching and extension/outreach activities (Objectives 4 & 5). All the research information gathered will be used to develop learning modules for postsecondary, 4-H audiences and specialty crop enterprises' stakeholders with specific emphasis on how specialty crop growers use digital marketing and social media communication. Postsecondary learning modules will be created and piloted as well; andwill allow instructors to select as many topics as they deem necessary and appropriate for integration in their classes. We assume this approach will encourage adoption versus the development of a complete course. The insights gained from piloting learning modules will be used to refine the modules during the third or fourth years. These learning modules will then be more widely promoted and adopted in additional classes, high schools, colleges and universities. Adjustments will be made to the modules, as needed and postsecondary student learning assessments and the available materials will be promoted for broader adoption. Additional teaching and outreach materials also based on the findings of the research will be developed for 4-H and producers' workshops. These will be presented at 4-H and outreach events. The advisory committee will serve as a panel of experts to review the 4-H workshop plan and materials for effectiveness prior to delivery. The 4-H education and specialty crop entrepreneurs' outreach/extension materials will be made available online and promoted by both4-H extension agents and specialty crop growers or producers. Another activity that will be of special focus in the next reporting period is the development of an extension module. This will be developed as an extension or outreach component that offers in-depth understanding of the best management practices for specialty crop entrepreneurs. This activity will be led by extension specialists on the project. The module will be evaluated by the advisory committee and by extension specialists in the three states prior to submission.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
During the period, our efforts continued to focus on literature review, focus group meetings and design of the specialty crop enterprisemanagers or producers and consumer surveys which are planned to be administered and completed in the upcomingreporting period. The review of literature in the current reporting period isa continuation of what began in the last reporting period. The goal of the additional literature is to continue to identify research gaps and build robust background information as to what past or existing literature tells us about the use of the Internet and social media communication as a means of marketing strategy for specialty crop producersor fruit and vegetable growers. Of course, the focus is on small- and medium-sized specialty crop growers in the three identified states of Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee. While a lot of anecdotal evidence exists of medium-sized specialty crop producers using online marketing, concrete evidence is still shaky or nonexistent. Evidence points to the extensive use of farmers markets and other means of direct marketing other than digital or social media communication platforms.Evidence also points to the difficulty most growers experience withthe lack ofbroadband Internet in most rural areas. This is a common problem in the target areas in allthree states. Those that own cell phones usually use social media (Facebook and Twitter) for no-business activities. Most of them use these media and their electronic devices to communicate with peers, friends, relatives, etc., but not to conduct business using digital marketing as a business strategy. In terms of focus group meetings, we have conducted a total of six focus group meetings (two in each state). The goal is to identify needs and address gaps in digital marketing and social media communication needs and available resources to specialty crop entrepreneurs, thereby increasing their likelihood of economic viability.Data collected from focus group meetings are being analyzed as we speak. The results will soon be shared with the general public in print and at professional meetings.These focus group meetings and the information will be supplemented by three additional meetings in the coming year (one in each state). These meetings and the findings will identify gaps andprovide background information to the two producer/managers and consumer surveys that are a part of this project and administered in the three states of Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee. Following focus group meetings and analysis of theresultsfromwork therehas already begunthe development of the managers' survey instrument. This surveyis designed to collect information on business characteristics and performance measures, owner/manager's characteristics, and digital marketing and social media communications activities. Business-related information solicited included customer relationship quality, perceived customer loyalty, social capital, in addition to basic background information such as year founded, types of products and services offered, annual sales, community size, and customer base. Information related to owners/managers covers demographic and psychographic aspects, including entrepreneurial tendency. Digital marketing and social media communications activities include online tool usage (e.g., website, social media, email marketing, e-commerce sites; local food marketing sites/online databases, and online couponing); frequency of social media updates; online audience base (e.g., social media following, website traffic, e-mail newsletter subscriptions); online sales (e.g., redemption of online coupons and sales); and labor and expenses allocated to digital marketing and social media communications. This work will continue into the next reporting period. Work has also begun on the consumer survey development whichis designed to add additional measures of business performance, including customer loyalty, frequency of communication from and to the specialty crop entrepreneurs, relationship quality, frequency of purchases, and estimated last purchase amount. Italso measures customers' estimated use of the specialty crop entrepreneurs' online communication channels and their perceptions. The instrument is to be evaluated by a panel of experts and pilot tested. Again, this work is ongoing and will continue into the next reporting period.
Publications
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Progress 04/15/18 to 04/14/19
Outputs
Target Audience:During the reporting period, the project continued totarget specialty crop operations in Alabama, Georgia, and Tennessee. These three states are dominated by small- and medium-sized farms, with new income opportunities developing in the areas of intensively-managed berry, fruit and vegetable production. Many of these operations have been undertaken as substitute enterprises for cotton, tobacco, or broiler production. Overall, small-farm agriculture remains a vital and significant part of each state's economy.Data also shows that specialty crops entrepreneurs are a significant portion of the region's agricultural economy.The goal of this study is to increase the adoption of emerging communication technology by specialty crop farms as a part of strategic marketing to boost their business performance, which in turn would support rural development and entrepreneurship, identify innovative business and market opportunities, enhance farm profitability, competitiveness, and sustainability of U.S. agriculture and local food systems. Changes/Problems:The major problem is the lack of access to broadband or Internet for most specialty crop producers. This has created logistical problems in the administration of the survey for both consumers and producers. Typical of most farmers, agricultural production takes place in rural areas, most of which lack reliable and fast internet connectivity. Thus, the only way surveys can be administrated is through telephone or snail mail (USPS). Both these methods have their disadvantages resulting in low response rates. Most respondents mistaken telephone interviews for telemarketing calls which are usually ignored. Similarly, mail surveys are sometimes treated as junk mail and are often discarded unread. However, we have been able to navigate these problems and are sure to succeed with this project. Another problem has to do with personnel. While we were able to find a capable graduateresearch assistant, we were only able to do so almost a year after the project had already started. Similarly, the program assistant (research associate) that was assigned to the project left the University before the project could take off the ground. The replacement took time to hire. Both these problems (graduate assistant and research associate) created delays instarting project activties, especially literature review and conducting of focus groups and colloquia. We have overcome some of these problems and are back on track. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?So far, professional development and training have not been a part of the project's activities. However, the results or findings of this study offer significant training andprofessional development opportunities in the final stages of this project. This will come in the third stage of this project where 4-H audiences and extensions specialists in the three states are most likely to benefit from research-based information and training. The study will produce training for 4-H audiences, postsecondary students, and extension professionals. An extension module will be developed which will offer ample training and professional development opportunities to extension personnel and educators nationwide. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Dissemination of the results is part of this research project. Three papers have been presented at professional conferences to share the results and solicit input and/or suggestions from peers. We have also shared preliminary findings with extension personnel who work with producers, postsecondary and 4-H audiences and producers themselves. Other instructional and information delivery strategies such as the social media, email, newsletter, and fact sheets have been produced utilizing some of this study's findings. These outlets have been usedto ensure maximum distribution. These preliminaryresults have also been shared with stakeholders and the general public. We are currently working to produce briefs fordistributution to all interested parties, but these call for results that are accurately verified regarding their replication or robustness. We will continue topresent these and future findings at professional conferences of agricultural and applied economics; and will also be submitted for publication in refereed professional journals. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Specialty crop managers or producers and specialy crop consumers survey development and administration anddata analysis are the three task activities that are planned to be undertaken during the next reporting period to accomplish this study's goals and objectives. Armed with updated literature review and the prelinary needs assessment results from focus groups, colloquia, and stakeholder input, the next aforementioned stage will be to finalize the development and administration of formal survey instruments for both specialty crop enterprise managers and consumers of the specialty crop produce. These activities are further discussed as follows: Specialty crop enterprise managers' survey: This survey instrument and its findings fulfill objectives one through objective three. The sample is beingdrawn from a variety of databases that have specialty crop growers' contact information including state-based rural and agro-marketing centers (e.g., Alabama Buy Fresh, Alabama Foods Directory), Market Maker, Alabama Cooperative Extension System, Farmer markets, Alabama's Green Industry, Alabama Fruits and Vegetable Growers Association, and Alabama Farmers Market Authority. Similar entities exist in Georgia and Tennessee. Most of these directories offer their information online or in print. We will use a random sample of at least 800 specialty crop growers in the three states to account for undeliverable mail and a response rate of about 30 percent. This should allow us to obtain a dataset large enough for generalizing to the population. Given the broadband access problems revealed by the needs assessment exercises, administration of the survey will include mail, online, and telephone interviews. Specialty crop enterprises customer survey: As in the managers' survey, the consumer survey activity contributes to the fulfillment of objectives 1-3. Specialty crop enterprises managers will be asked to indicate on a postcard included with the survey if they are willing to help send the survey to their customers for a customized report of the customer survey findings for a cash incentive. This survey will be sent to customers of specialty crop producers who agree to send it out to customers along with two reminders. Our goal in the survey will be to add additional measures of business performance, including customer loyalty, frequency of communication from and to the specialty crops entrepreneurs, frequency of purchases, and estimated last purchase amount. Survey research analyses: As is now obvious, foursets of quantitative data which include environmental scan and communications audit of specialty crop entrepreneurs who use digital marketing and social media communication strategies, responses of the manager survey of participating specialty crop entrepreneurs, managers' perceptions of digital marketing, and responses of the customer survey will be used.These data will be compiled into usable and unified format. Survey results will be analyzed usingStatistical Analysis System (SAS), and descriptive and inferential statistics will be calculated and reported. For enterprises and entrepreneurs who use social media or online strategies, their survey responses will be matched with quantitative data from the communications audits.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
During the reporting period, we focused on updatingthe literature originally reviewed when the study was submitted for funding and also onconducting colloquia, needs assessment and focus groups meetings with specialty crop entrepreneurs. The focus wason environmental scan and communications auditof the current use of digital marketing and social media communication by specialty crop producers in Alabama, Tennessee, and Georgia. Environmental scan and communications auditcontibutes to objectives one and three of this study and uses information about trends, events, and relationships in an organization's external environment to assist management in planning future course of action (Albright, 2004). Through environmental scan, we were able to identify specialty crop entrepreneurs that are using or are involved in the use of digital marketing and social media communications. While the literature reviewed was rich and exhaustive, it still revealed that few specialy crop producers are engaged in digital marketing because of their lack of access tobroadband. The needs assessment survey activity was also the focus of this periods key research activities. The needs assessment activity largely addresses Objective 2. We wanted to ask both specialty crop producers and specialists who work with them on a daily basis about their perception of needs. Experts within the specialty crop industry were also interviewed by phone using a semi-structured questionnaire thatincluded some open-ended questions.Following theneeds assessment datacollection, focus groups and colloquia with 15-20 specialty crop growers wereconducted as a means of validation to determine the resources that are needed. Our approachincluded failed specialty crop entrepreneurs, as well as successful ones and key demographic variables. As described above, a set of listening forums, focus groupsand colloquia have been conducted in the three states. This was meant to identify needs and gaps in online or digital marketing and identify best practices for specialty crop producers. This approach was also aimed at dealing with or understanding current concerns that specialty crops producers have regarding the use of online or social media communication strategies in their agribusinesses. A major concern in all the three states is the lack of access to broadband connectivity in rural areas which has left many producers to rely on traditional means of marketing their products. A major method of marketing is participation in the farmers markets and roadside stands. A few producers indicated theysell their products through direct marketing to restaurants or institutions. Even fewer farmers indicated they sell their produce through community supported agricultural methods. A major problem selling directly to institutions and restaurants lies in the food safety requirements (GAP requirements) with which institutions demand compliance. Most of the producers targeted in this study decry the fact that compliance with produce safety or GAP standards is expensive for them. As a result, they prefer using farmers markets or roadside stands which are less stringent when it comes to food safety requirements. Thus, the major finding in these listening sessions or colloquia is that most of the target audience lacks access to broadband and they frequently rely on farmers' market outlets to dispose of their produce because of their inability to meet GAP or food safety requirements under the FDA's Food Safety Mpdernization Act (FSMA).We are currently in the process of developing a formal instrument for producers and another for consumers that will address issues in objectives one through objective three. These three objectives anchor the dynamics of this projects success. Finally, we also have sought to continue to include stakeholders in the implementation stage of this project just as we did during the planning stage. We conducted25 interviews, one panel, and two focus groups of specialty crop producers, service providers, and support organizations. We vetted our findings from colloquia with producers and recommendations with twenty leaders of organizations that count the above stakeholders as their constituents. Both producers, stakeholders and consumers decry lack of access to broadband as a major problem and barrier to digital marketing by small- and medium-sized specialty crop growers. GAP requirements and FSMA requirements are also a major issue, especially for medium-sized producers who have to comply with this regulation.
Publications
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2020
Citation:
Chembezi, Duncan M. and Elicia L. Chaverest, Use of Social Media Communication Strategies by Agribusiness Firms. A Selected Research Paper presented at the Applied Business and Entrepreneurship Association International (ABEAI) 17th Annual Conference, Marriott Resort Wailea Beach, Hawaii, November 21-24, 2020
Chembezi, Duncan M. and Elicia L. Chaverest, Use of Social Media and Digital Marketing Strategies by Agribusiness Firms in the United States. A Selected Poster presented at the American Association of Behavioral and Social Sciences Conference (AABSS), Sponsored by the University of Nevada at Las Vegas' (UNLV's) College of Liberal Arts, Flamingo Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada, February 2425, 2020
Chembezi, Duncan M. and Elicia L. Chaverest, Review of Digital Marketing and Use of Social Media Strategies by Small and Medium-Size Agribusiness Firms. A Selected Research Paper presented at the Applied Business and Entrepreneurship Association International (ABEAI) 16th Annual Conference, Kauai Marriott Resort and Beach Club, Lihue, Hawaii, November 16-19, 2019.
Chembezi, Duncan M. and Elicia L. Chaverest. Current Use of Digital Marketing and Social Media Communication by Agribusiness Firms: An Environmental Scan and Communications Audit. Selected paper presented at the 55th Annual Meeting of the Missouri Valley Economic Association (MVEA), Memphis Tennessee, November 1-3, 2018.
Chembezi, Duncan M. and Elicia L. Chaverest. Evaluation of E-Commerce Adoption by Agribusiness Firms in the Southern United States. Paper presented at the 2018 International Academy of Business and Economics (IABE) Conference in Las Vegas, Nevada, December 15-17, 2018.
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