A Study of Effects of Vocational Agriculture Instruction through Changes in Community Practices in Corn Production

This research was conducted for the purpose of studying (1) of the effect of vocational agriculture in getting improved practices in corn production adopted, and (2) the farmers’ principal sources of information on corn production. Twenty-one schools were selected in fifteen counties in eastern Nebraska.The counties were selected within the boundaries of the southeastern and the east central cropping districts.Three groups of schools were selected.Six schools were selected that have vocational agriculture departments and have offered courses for adult education in agriculture. Seven schools were selected that have not had vocational agriculture departments. A total of 308 individuals were included in the study.They were classified into three groups of (1) those who never had any high school training, (2) those who had at least one year of high school training but no vocational agriculture, and (3) those who had at least one year of vocational agriculture in high school.No schedules were used from individuals who had attended both young farmer and veterans classes.The veterans must have been enrolled in a veterans class for at least 12 months, and the young farmers must have attended at least 10 young farmer class meetings to have their schedules used. The analysis of the data was centered on the practices reported being used and the importance of various sources of information on corn production. The improved practices reported being used were analyzed as to the number, the kind, and source of learning.This analysis was used for each of the three groups of schools, the three training groups, and finally between the school groups and the training groups. The study concludes with several recommendations for helping to make the vocational agriculture department more effective in getting greater proficiency in the production of corn and also recommends also research be conducted on the improved practices being used by farmers in other phases of crop production, and livestock production. Advisors: C. E. Rhoad and Howard W. Deem