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<meta content="Howden, Peter" name="eprints.creators_name" />
<meta content="Vanclay, Frank" name="eprints.creators_name" />
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<meta content="Farming styles theory, as developed by Jan Douwe van der Ploeg to explain diversity in agriculture, is being considered as a possible tool to assist in targeting of extension in Australia. A farming style is a socially constructed type that reflects the worldviews and strategies of one configuration of farming practice for a particular commodity (or common combination of commodities) in a particular region. The various farming styles in a region represent a repertoire of possible worldviews and strategies. We first conducted focus groups to identify farming styles among Australian broadacre croppers. We then conducted case studies to validate these styles, and to gain further understanding of the rationale of each style. The case studies, however, failed to confirm the styles. The findings instead suggested that the styles which emerged from the focus groups were artifacts of the method. We conclude that focus group methodology legitimized the expression of stereotypical images grounded in local farming discourse and provided an avenue for reification of "mythological" styles, although the styles still provided social control over farmers' activities. Researchers should be aware that focus groups potentially allow the expression of mythology, and should reflect on the validity of data collected by this method.
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<meta content="2000" name="eprints.date" />
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<meta content="Rural Sociology" name="eprints.publication" />
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<meta content="Buttel, F., O.F. Larson, and G.W. Gillespie. 1990. The Sociology of Agriculture. New York: Greenwood.
Glyde, S. and F. Vanclay. 1996. "Farming Styles and Technology Transfer: Sociological Input in the Development of a Decision Support System for Viticulture." Pp. 38-54 in Social Change in Rural Australia, edited by G. Lawrence, K. Lyons, and S. Momtaz. Rockhampton: Rural Social and Economic Research Centre, Central Queensland University.
Howden, P., F. Vanclay, D. Lemerle, and J. Kent. 1998. "Working with the Grain: Farming Styles amongst Australian Broadacre Croppers." Rural Society (Australia) 8(21:109-25.
Leeuwis, C. 1993. "Of Computers, Myths and Modelling: The Social Construction of Diversity, Knowledge, Information and Communication Technologies in Dutch Horticulture and Agricultural Extension." Wageningen Studies in Sociology 36, Department of Sociology, Wageningen Agricultural University.
Mesiti, L. and F. Vanclay 1996. `Farming Styles amongst Grape Growers of the Sunraysia District." Pp. 55-63 in Social Change in Rural Australia, edited by G. Lawrence, KI Lyons, and S. Momtaz. Rockhampton: Rural Social and Economic Research Centre, Central Queensland University.
1997. "Identifying Farming Styles in Australian Viticulture." Pp. 275-88 in Sustainability and Social Research, edited by E Vanclay and L. Mesiti. Wagga Wagga: Centre for Rural Social Research, Charles Sturt University.
Mooney, P. 1988. My Own Boss. Boulder: Westview.
Phillips, E. and I. Gray. 1995. "Farming Practice as Temporally and Spatially Situated Intersections of Biography, Culture and Social Structure." Australian Geographer 26 (2) :127-32.
van der Ploeg, J.D. 1990. Labor Markets, and Agricultural Production. Boulder: Westview. . 1993. "Rural Sociology and the New Agrarian Question: A Perspective from The Netherlands." Sociologia Ruralis 33(2):240-60.
. 1994. "Styles of Farming: An Introductory Note on Concepts and Methodology." Pp. 7-30 in Born from Within: Practice and Perspectives of Endogenous Rural Development, edited by J.D. van der Ploeg and A. Long. Assen: Van Gorcum.
. 1995. "From Structural Development to Structural Involution: The Impact of New Development in Dutch Agriculture." Pp. 109-146 in Beyond Modernisation: The Impact of Endogenous Rural Development, edited by J.D. van der Ploeg and G. van Dijk. Assen: Van Gorcum.
. 1997. "On Rurality, Rural Development and Rural Sociology." Pp. 39-73 in Images and Realities of Rural Life, edited by H. de Haan and N. Long. Assen: Van Gorcum.
Vanclay, F. 1992. "The Social Context of Farmers' Adoption of Environmentally Sound Farming Practices." Pp. 94-121 in Agriculture, Environment and Society: Contemporary Issues for Australia, edited by G. Lawrence, F. Vanclay, and B. Furze. Melbourne: Macmillan.
. 1997. "The Sociological Context of Environmental Management in Agriculture." Pp. 9-28 in Critical Landcare, edited by S. Lockie and F. Vanclay. Wagga Wagga: Centre for Rural Social Research, Charles Sturt University.
Vanclay, F. and G. Lawrence. 1994. "Farmer Rationality and the Adoption of Environmentally Sound Practices: A Critique of the Assumptions of Traditional Agricultural Extension." European Journal of Agricultural Education and Extension 1 ( 1 ) :59-90.
----. 1995. The Environmental Imperative: Ecosocial Concerns for Australian Agriculture. Rockhampton: Central Queensland University Press.
Vanclay, F., L. Meesiti, and P. Howden. 1998. "Styles of Farming and Farming Subcultures: Appropriate Concepts for Australian Rural Sociology?" Rural Society (Australia) 8(2): 85-106.
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<meta content="Farming styles theory, as developed by Jan Douwe van der Ploeg to explain diversity in agriculture, is being considered as a possible tool to assist in targeting of extension in Australia. A farming style is a socially constructed type that reflects the worldviews and strategies of one configuration of farming practice for a particular commodity (or common combination of commodities) in a particular region. The various farming styles in a region represent a repertoire of possible worldviews and strategies. We first conducted focus groups to identify farming styles among Australian broadacre croppers. We then conducted case studies to validate these styles, and to gain further understanding of the rationale of each style. The case studies, however, failed to confirm the styles. The findings instead suggested that the styles which emerged from the focus groups were artifacts of the method. We conclude that focus group methodology legitimized the expression of stereotypical images grounded in local farming discourse and provided an avenue for reification of "mythological" styles, although the styles still provided social control over farmers' activities. Researchers should be aware that focus groups potentially allow the expression of mythology, and should reflect on the validity of data collected by this method.
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<h1 class="ep_tm_pagetitle">Mythologization of farming styles in Australian broadacre cropping</h1>
<p style="margin-bottom: 1em" class="not_ep_block"><span class="person_name">Howden, Peter</span> and <span class="person_name">Vanclay, Frank</span> (2000) <xhtml:em>Mythologization of farming styles in Australian broadacre cropping.</xhtml:em> Rural Sociology, 65 (2). pp. 295-310. ISSN 0036-0112</p><p style="margin-bottom: 1em" class="not_ep_block"></p><table style="margin-bottom: 1em" class="not_ep_block"><tr><td valign="top" style="text-align:center"><a href="http://eprints.utas.edu.au/2521/1/0006_Howden-Vanclay_RS_65-2.pdf"><img alt="[img]" src="http://eprints.utas.edu.au/style/images/fileicons/application_pdf.png" class="ep_doc_icon" border="0" /></a></td><td valign="top"><a href="http://eprints.utas.edu.au/2521/1/0006_Howden-Vanclay_RS_65-2.pdf"><span class="ep_document_citation">PDF</span></a> - Full text restricted - Requires a PDF viewer<br />3138Kb</td><td><form method="get" accept-charset="utf-8" action="http://eprints.utas.edu.au/cgi/request_doc"><input accept-charset="utf-8" value="3321" name="docid" type="hidden" /><div class=""><input value="Request a copy" name="_action_null" class="ep_form_action_button" onclick="return EPJS_button_pushed( '_action_null' )" type="submit" /> </div></form></td></tr></table><p style="margin-bottom: 1em" class="not_ep_block">Official URL: <a href="http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=54869014&sid=1&Fmt=2&clientId=20931&RQT=309&VName=PQD">http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=54869014&sid=1&Fmt=2&clientId=20931&RQT=309&VName=PQD</a></p><div class="not_ep_block"><h2>Abstract</h2><p style="padding-bottom: 16px; text-align: left; margin: 1em auto 0em auto">Farming styles theory, as developed by Jan Douwe van der Ploeg to explain diversity in agriculture, is being considered as a possible tool to assist in targeting of extension in Australia. A farming style is a socially constructed type that reflects the worldviews and strategies of one configuration of farming practice for a particular commodity (or common combination of commodities) in a particular region. The various farming styles in a region represent a repertoire of possible worldviews and strategies. We first conducted focus groups to identify farming styles among Australian broadacre croppers. We then conducted case studies to validate these styles, and to gain further understanding of the rationale of each style. The case studies, however, failed to confirm the styles. The findings instead suggested that the styles which emerged from the focus groups were artifacts of the method. We conclude that focus group methodology legitimized the expression of stereotypical images grounded in local farming discourse and provided an avenue for reification of "mythological" styles, although the styles still provided social control over farmers' activities. Researchers should be aware that focus groups potentially allow the expression of mythology, and should reflect on the validity of data collected by this method.
</p></div><table style="margin-bottom: 1em" cellpadding="3" class="not_ep_block" border="0"><tr><th valign="top" class="ep_row">Item Type:</th><td valign="top" class="ep_row">Article</td></tr><tr><th valign="top" class="ep_row">Subjects:</th><td valign="top" class="ep_row"><a href="http://eprints.utas.edu.au/view/subjects/300000.html">300000 Agricultural, Veterinary and Environmental Sciences</a><br /><a href="http://eprints.utas.edu.au/view/subjects/300200.html">300000 Agricultural, Veterinary and Environmental Sciences > 300200 Crop and Pasture Production</a><br /><a href="http://eprints.utas.edu.au/view/subjects/300206.html">300000 Agricultural, Veterinary and Environmental Sciences > 300200 Crop and Pasture Production > 300206 Post Harvest Technologies (Transportation and Storage)</a></td></tr><tr><th valign="top" class="ep_row">ID Code:</th><td valign="top" class="ep_row">2521</td></tr><tr><th valign="top" class="ep_row">Deposited By:</th><td valign="top" class="ep_row"><span class="ep_name_citation"><span class="person_name">Scholarly Publications Librarian</span></span></td></tr><tr><th valign="top" class="ep_row">Deposited On:</th><td valign="top" class="ep_row">23 Nov 2007 09:05</td></tr><tr><th valign="top" class="ep_row">Last Modified:</th><td valign="top" class="ep_row">09 Jan 2008 02:30</td></tr><tr><th valign="top" class="ep_row">ePrint Statistics:</th><td valign="top" class="ep_row"><a target="ePrintStats" href="/es/index.php?action=show_detail_eprint;id=2521;">View statistics for this ePrint</a></td></tr></table><p align="right">Repository Staff Only: <a href="http://eprints.utas.edu.au/cgi/users/home?screen=EPrint::View&eprintid=2521">item control page</a></p>
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