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In this study we develop an index to measure “district strength” in Missouri. By district strength we refer to the ability or capacity of districts to promote and meet their conservation goals. Using data from a statewide mail survey of SWCD supervisors and SWCD employees, we examine how various organizational factors influence district strength, including such internal variables as supervisor leadership and perceptions of the adequacy of employee salaries, and external variables, including district relations with the Missouri Soil and Water Districts Commission, and Natural Resources Conservation Service. Our findings reveal that supervisor leadership, districts linkages to the state Commission, and, to a lesser extent, external relations with NRCS, influence district strength.

Scholars have recognized the importance of local and indigenous knowledge in less industrialized countries. Few studies have been done on the diversity of knowledge communities in more industrialized countries, however, because of researcher assumptions about the spatial and temporal dimensions of local and scientific knowledge. A distinguishing feature of knowledge communities is the way that time and space are perceived. These differences are reflected in farmers' decision-making. Depending on farmers' knowledge orientations, they may utilize quite different criteria to determine the reliability and applicability of new information. Advocates of sustainable agriculture, and proponents of on-farm research will benefit by recognizing the diverse ways that farmers know and understand their farming systems in both less and more industrialized countries.

The need to better understand landlord involvement in decision-making related to pesticide use and water quality issues is evidenced by several trends. These trends include the increasing documentation of water pollution by farm pesticides, the changing characteristics of farm ownership and operator tenure, and evolutions in resource policy and protection planning. This paper utilizes a theoretical approach to the sociology of land tenure to interpret results from an investigation of landlord involvement in environmental decision making regarding pesticide selection on rented land. Eight counties with high susceptibility of water contamination by pesticides were selected for study. Structured, in-person interviews were administered to in-county landlords, and a mail survey was used to poll out-of-county landlords. Results indicate that participation is generally low with very little difference between landlord groups. Renters make most of the organizational and operational decisions on rented farmland. Landlord participation is predominantly based on economic, rather than on social or environmental, factors. Furthermore, while economic variables are important predictors of participation for both groups, gender and social ties to the renter tend to increase local landlord involvement, but not absentee involvement. These results have important implications for both federal programs and further research on land tenure and environmental stewardship

This article addresses farmers' decisions to try using banded herbicide applications as well as factors that affect whether or not trial attempts are then extended to regular usage. The data is drawn from a total of 722 person-to-person interviews held in 16 Missouri counties, including 75 longer semi-structured interviews within three watersheds. The group of farmers who have tried banding operate significantly larger corn and soybean acreages, and have statistically higher levels of gross sales, education, knowledge of pesticides, and ability to apply their own chemicals. Logistic regression analysis suggests college education, certification as a private applicator, and gross sales as the three variables most likely to predict experimentation. Maintenance of the practice following initial use, however, is negatively related to farm size, and positively related only to gross sales and certification. Logistic regression analysis suggests only gross sales as significantly increasing the odds of adoption. The qualitative research reveals that obstacles with adoption for trial users center largely around difficulties of locating custom applicators for banding, the time and labor required for cultivation, and the ripple effects of banding-related tasks on other aspects of operator farming systems. In essence, banding satisfies farmers' desires to reduce pesticide use and protect water quality, but as a practice it is very difficult to incorporate into individual farming systems.

Rikoon examines the activities of the Chicago-based Jewish Agriculturalists' Aid Society of America and how the work of the society reflected contemporaneous issues of Jewish life and ethnicity and demonstrated how philanthropic efforts directed at agricultural development were constructed by society leaders as an answer to various perceived social dilemmas.