Discussing Extension Agents’ Role in Moderating Contentious Issue Conversations

Abstract

Extension agents are finding themselves engaged in problem-solving roles as public needs adjust to a climate where issues facing the agricultural and natural resource industry are more often contentious than benign. As connectors between the Land-grant university system and the public, Extension agents need to know how to effectively communicate about contentious issues with clientele. This study used an online survey design to determine Extension agents’ attitudes toward contentious issues, challenges that they face, and effective means of communication. The findings revealed Extension agents’ attitudes toward communicating about contentious issues were more positive than negative. Additionally, they found the availability of misinformation and the complexity of contentious issues to be most challenging when communicating with clientele. One-on-one in-person, workshops, phone calls, and group meetings were identified as the most effective methods of communicating about contentious issues. Additional training and familiarization with current contentious issues were recommended. Future research should examine the contentious issues Extension agents are discussing, methods being used to facilitate conversations, the effect of contentious issues on job satisfaction, and the factors hindering Extension agents as they address contentious issues.

Key Role of Extension Agents in the Transfer and Adoption of Agricultural Technologies: A Review

“…Extension agents may not have any control over the feedback of the s farmers. (Bruns and Franz, 2015;Leal, 2020)…”

Systematic Review of Misinformation in Social and Online Media for the Development of an Analytical Framework for Agri-Food Sector

“…Although several authors highlight the 'bright side' of social and digital media, a growing number of incidents show social media's 'dark side' [17]. The ubiquity of social and online media networks, the credulousness of online communities, and the potential weaponization of information, coupled with limited accountability, may also pose a risk of health [27,28] and agri-food mis-, dis-, mal-, information (mis-dis-mal-information) [29][30][31]. For example, there have been an increasing number of reports and research attention into concerns such as fake news, misinformation, disinformation, and malinformation amid COVID-19 [17,32,33].…”

“…These incidences are typically reported at the macro level, where extension agents, farmers, and other agri-food actors regularly face mis-dis-mal-information at the personal level. Only recently have the agricultural extension and advisory scholars started recognizing this challenge [7,30,31]. Extension and advisory agents are increasingly facing situations that warrant facilitation of conversations with farmers and other stakeholders on controversial topics, including genetically modified organisms (GMOs), the use of various farm inputs such as pesticides, chemical fertilizers, herbicides, growth hormones, soil management, climate change, food processing and safety, the use of antibiotics, benefits of new technologies, artificial intelligence, farm subsidies, market power, local foods, feed for livestock, use of natural resources and animal welfare [43][44][45][46][47].…”

“…Farmers and extension agents are often the targets of mis-dis-mal-information, thus they need to be well-versed in emerging thematic areas that can help mitigate its consequences. Furthermore, extension agents' ability to detect and use various tools to counter mis-dis-mal-information may influence them to think and act differently than they would if their capacity was limited [31].…”

Hemp on the horizon: Understanding the influences on industrial hemp purchases

“…This stigma and a general lack of knowledge related to hemp may impede sales of hemp products in Nebraska, and growers may find it difficult to successfully market their product despite the current global demand (Global Cannabinoids, 2019). Past research has determined Extension agents possess positive attitudes toward communicating contentious topics (Leal et al, 2020), but for agents to best help the industry and growers succeed, they will need to know the social influences on consumers' decisions to purchase industrial hemp products.…”