Crop Production/Industries, Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession,

Brooker, John R.

Eastwood, David B.

Epperson, James E.

Estes, Edmund A.

Hall, Charles R.

Stegelin, Forrest E.

Woods, Timothy A.

English

Research Papers in Economics

  231
Removing Distribution Barriers Confronting Small-Volume 
Fruit and Vegetable Growers: Results of the Tennessee 
Extension Service Survey
Charles Hall, David Eastwood, John Brooker, Edmund Estes, Timothy Woods, 
James Epperson, and Forrest Stegelin
Research conducted under the auspices of an IFAFS 
project investigated the ways to overcome simul-
taneity problems that small vegetable producers 
encounter in securing markets for their production. 
Four states (GA, KY, NC, and TN) collaborated in 
developing a description of public-sector involve-
ment in produce-market development, describing 
the types of marketing ﬁ  rms operating within each 
state, and identifying grower attitudes and percep-
tions of marketing opportunities. This research 
update describes results associated with the ﬁ  rst 
objective outlined above.
To provide a description of public-sector 
involvement in produce-market development, 
primary data were collected through personal 
interviews conducted with county agents with 
horticultural responsibilities in each state. These 
interviews solicited information about produce-re-
lated programs, professional training and develop-
ment activities, and the need for additional support. 
Extension agents were asked to indicate the relative 
importance of produce-related information and ser-
vices being demanded by growers. Overall, there 
was a fair amount of agreement among the states 
with respect to the relative positions of the service 
areas. Pest control was most frequently requested 
in all three states. Soil tests, market development, 
and variety recommendations composed a group of 
information requests that had comparable overall 
scores after pest control.
The county agents in all four states indicated they 
had offered programs in establishing or managing 
farmers’ markets; pesticide certiﬁ  cation; market 
pricing; and meetings, short courses, or confer-
ences. North Carolina and Georgia had provided 
assistance in all the areas listed. Neither Kentucky 
nor Tennessee had developed programs in agrito-
urism, direct sales to schools and restaurants, or 
marketing weather-damaged produce. Unlike their 
North Carolina and Georgia counterparts, Ken-
tucky respondents had not provided information on 
packaging or vegetable ﬁ  eld days, and Tennessee 
respondents had not conducted educational tours of 
other production regions.
All four states have implemented comparable 
stafﬁ  ng strategies. However, the divergence in the 
number and size of produce operations has resulted 
in quite different numbers of Extension agents with 
produce responsibilities. Counties with sufﬁ  cient 
activity have horticultural Extension agents. Staff-
ing levels in Kentucky and Tennessee were several 
times lower than in Georgia and North Carolina. The 
latter pair of states also had industry- oriented train-
ing programs for new hires that reﬂ  ected demand in 
counties where produce production was high. North 
Carolina had horticultural agents in every county. 
The simultaneity encountered here was that fewer 
and smaller produce operations led to lower demand 
for Extension programs not only with respect to 
stafﬁ  ng but also in terms of production, post-harvest 
handling, and marketing support.
Hall, Eastwood, and Brooker are professors, University of 
Tennessee, Knoxville; Estes is a professor, North Carolina 
State University, Raleigh; Woods is an associate professor, 
University of Kentucky, Louisville; and Epperson is a professor 
and Stegelin is an associate professor, University of Georgia, 
Athens.

Removing Distribution Barriers Confronting Small-Volume Fruit and Vegetable Growers: Results of the Tennessee Extension Service Survey

Removing Distribution Barriers Confronting Small-Volume Fruit and Vegetable Growers: Results of the Tennessee Extension Service Survey

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

Research Papers in Economics