Progress 10/22/18 to 09/30/21
Outputs
Target Audience:Outreach materials targeted professional audiences include US women farmers and rancherswho have been traditionally margainalized and disadvantaged in argiculture;agricultural outreach professionals seeking to serve women farmers; Conference presentations and published manuscripts targetedscholarly audiences interested in resilience, communication, and agriculture. Formal classroom instruction targeteduniversity students enrolled in Science Communication and Qualitative Research Methods courses. Real-world application projects related to this research project allowed students to gain skills in interviewing, as well as designing accessible and inclusive science communication outreach materials. Formal advising targeted a graduate student who applied advanced theoretical and methodolodical concepts to collect, analyze, and write up research. Student successfully defended thesis,published three research manuscripts, and presented at scholarly conferences. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?This project proviced multiple opportunities for training and professional development. Formal classroom instruction targeteduniversity students enrolled in Science Communication and QualitativeResearch Methods courses offered bythe College of Agriculture. Real-world application projects related to this research project allowed QualitativeResearch Methods students to gain skills in interviewing. It also increased their awareness of the challeges women in agriculture face, as communication strategies to support their resilience and persistence. Graduate and undergraduate students enrolled in Science Communication gained skills relateddesigning accessible and inclusive science communication outreach materials. Specifically, students appplied Plain Laugage principles to edit and create outreach materials related to this project. Formal advising targeted a graduate student who applied advanced theoretical and methodolodical concepts to collect, analyze, and write up research. One student successfully defended thesis,published three research manuscripts, and presented at scholarly conferences. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?We are currently finalizing materials to share with the Women's Agricultural Network. We have had discussions with a local Extension agency and a trade association about creatingonline workshops to teach female farmers and operators about communication strategies that support personal and business resilience. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
(i) How do women use social media to participate in formal and informal networks withinagricultural contexts and local food systems? Goal #1 was accomplished.Communication networks and knowledge sharing are important for the persistence of small farms that operate outside of industrial agriculture. In past years, internet platforms have been promoted as a tool for farm businesses to connect with customers and other farmers. Social media in particular has gained attention as a user friendly and accessible tool for small business viability. Drawing on Uses and Gratifications Theory, this study analyzedinterviews with 42 women farmers' in 9 different states within the United States. Interviewsexplored how they view the role of social media for their agricultural practice. Results demonstrate that women farmers report using social media to reach consumers, seek agricultural information from other farmers, and maintain emotional connections with other farmers. (li) What types of social support do women share in online discussions with formal andinformal networks within agricultural contexts and local food systems? Women farmers use social media for formal and informal networking in local and agricultural contexts. They usesocial media to reach consumers in their area, seek agricultural information from other farmers, and maintain emotional connections with other farmers. (iii) To what degree do women perceive social support provided in online discussions within formal and informal networks to effectively contributing to their ability to bepersistent and the resilience of their farms? Women farmers reported their formal and infromal networking practices using social media provided them with support. This support was not bound to women-only networks.Women farmers used social media (1) to reach consumers in their area to have increased interactions and to share more details about the story of their business;(2) toseek information from other farmers with similar business practices or agricultural sectors;and (3)tomaintain emotional connections with other farmers, providing encourament and support related to isolation. This type of networking occured in all areas, but appeared to be particularly important in areas where farmers were geographically distant from one another and experiencing isolation or lonliness. (iv) To what degree do women perceive social support provided in online discussions within formal and informal networks to effectively contributing to their ability to bepersistent and the resilience of their farms? Women farmers reported their formal and infromal networking practices using social media to provided them with support that contributed to their the resilience of their farm businesses and their persistance as farmers. Social media increased consumer connections, which provided a sense of community embeddness and increased sales. Relationships built and maintained through social media contribued to a farmers' abilities to learn information, skills, and resources directly related to their businesses. These relationships also helped farmerscheck-in on and support the emotional and mental wellbeing of other farmers.
Publications
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2021
Citation:
Daigle, K. 1, & Heiss, S. N. (2021). Perceptions of social media among US women farm operators. Journal of Applied Communications.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Under Review
Year Published:
2021
Citation:
Heiss, S. N., Daigle, K. & Pasanan, M. Arizona Women Ranchers: Poetic Analysis
of the relationship between resilience, place, and gender.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2021
Citation:
Heiss, S. N., Daigle, K. & Pasanen, M. (2021). Poetic expressions of resilience among women ranchers in Arizona. Presentation at the annual meeting of the Organization for the Study of Communication, Language & Gender remote.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2021
Citation:
Johnson, D. & Heiss, S. N. (2021). The mountainous farmHer: Uses and values of
communication networks for female farmers in Western North Carolina. Presentation at the annual meeting of the Organization for the Study of Communication, Language & Gender remote.
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Progress 10/01/19 to 09/30/20
Outputs
Target Audience:women farmers, ag outreach, and scholarly audiences interested in reslience Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?-trained graduate student in research analysis, writing, and presentation techniques How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Presented at Scholarly Conference Published article Shared results with participants and key informants What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Revising one more article for publication currently
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Year 2 Fall 2019 Finished analyzing interviews. Attended and presented at local and national research conferences. Spring 2020 Graduate student defended thesis. Submitted 3 journal articles for publication. Published one article.
Publications
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2020
Citation:
Daigle, K. 1, & Heiss, S. N. (2020). Supporting agricultural resilience: The value of women
farmers' communication practices. Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Heiss, S. N. (2019). Surviving at work: Professional resilience communication, adversity, and
vulnerability. Presentation at the annual meeting of the National Communication Association in Baltimore, Maryland.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Heiss. S. N., & Daigle, K. J. (2019). Bodies in agricultural workplaces: Female farmers
experiences and communication within a male-dominated occupation. Paper selected for presentation at the annual meeting of the Eastern Communication Association in Providence, Rhode Island.
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Progress 10/22/18 to 09/30/19
Outputs
Target Audience:Women farmers and ranchers, agricultural outreach agents working with women farmers and ranchers, and scholars focused on agricultural resilience. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?-trained graduate student research assistant in research collection and analysis as well as research ethics. -included graduate class with 12 students in the process of creating materials related to recruitment, collection, and analysis How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?-results of initial analyses were shared with the participants and the extention agents who served as key informants. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?-edit, revise, and submit manusciprts -submit to research conferences -advise the graduate student through the completion of her master thesis based on this dataset
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Fall 2018 Identified and trained a graduate research assistant in qualitative interview methods. Obtained Human Subjects Research approval for interviews. Obtained a list of women farmer names and key informants within the targeted states. Spring 2019 Recruited participants and conducted interviews with 50 woman ranchers and farmers. Transcribed and analyzed interviews. Submitted and accepted to present at fall research conference.
Publications
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