The role of extension in sustaining rural businesses

1. The role of extension in sustaining rural businesses Professor Chris Garforth School of Agriculture, Policy and Development 30 October 2007

2. Outline of presentation • A very short history lesson • Funding for extension support – who should pay? • Responses to “good ideas” • Oiling the wheels: extension as an intermediary

3. A very short history lesson • “extension” as a response to crisis • species that do not adapt, do not survive • from “extension” to “communication” • from “transfer of technology” to “support for innovation” • from “audience” to “actors” • from “adoption” and “adaptation” to “innovation” • from “Extension Science” to “Communication and Innovation Studies”

4. Funding and delivery of extension funding public private d e l i v e r y decentralisation cost recovery public unification commercialisation pluralism • vouchers privatisation • contracting private

5. Who should pay? • identifying public goods and the public interest • changes in expectations – what do we want from rural businesses? • sustainable rural communities • desirable landscapes • enriched ecologies • encouraging behaviour change – what works? • the “lock ‘em up” to “discovery learning” spectrum • minimising regulation demands better extension support

6. Three good ideas • referring to EBVs when buying rams • improving heat detection by observing cows’ behaviour • consequential loss insurance to manage risk from disease outbreaks

7. Referring to EBVs: the rationale • EBVs predict characteristics of offspring of value to buyers • referring to EBVs when selecting rams can increase net returns from selling lambs by £2 per lamb

8. Sheep farmers and EBVs • 69% already satisfied with their returns from lamb sales • 13% already refer to EBVs • negative attitudes preventing “adoption”: • means having to introduce new breeds • produces lambs that are difficult to finish • is worse than using my own judgement • who do farmers listen to on EBVs? • self; experienced farmers; buyers; abattoir

9. Observation times: the rationale • observing behaviour four times each day increases heat detection • better heat detection helps reverse the decline in herd fertility rates

10. Dairy farmers and heat detection • used by 10% dairy farmers in SW England (2003) • very few intend to adopt in the near future • “appropriate for untrained staff” is a negative message • most significant influences: • own experience • the vet [private practice] (positive) • other farmers (positive) • MDC (slightly negative)

11. Consequential loss insurance – the rationale • compensation for notifiable disease covers stock compulsorily slaughtered • most business losses from notifiable disease outbreaks are not covered by compensation • insuring against consequential loss is a sensible way of managing risk

12. Farmers’ views on managing financial risk

13. One size does not fit all farmers • “styles” of farming • behavioural types • motivations for being / staying in farming include varying combinations of: • entrepreneurial challenge • stewardship of land and natural resources • continuity • lifestyle • information seeking behaviour • information rich vs. poor • digital divide in rural Britain • peer-to-peer recruitment, learning and encouragement

14. Oiling the wheels • …. but I know a (wo)man who does • three roles for publicly funded extension • network building: putting people in touch • social learning: developing new ways of succeeding in business in rural areas • negotiation and conflict management • if taxpayers want rural businesses to deliver, they must be prepared to share the cost of “support for innovation”.