Masters Theses

Date of Award

6-1979

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science

Major

Agricultural Extension

Major Professor

Cecil E. Carter Jr.

Committee Members

Robert S. Dotson, James Tracy Jr.

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between characteristics of Tennessee swine producers' farming operations, their use of recommended swine production practices, and the number of contacts producers had with Extension agents. A total of 897 Tennessee swine producers were randomly selected from 57 counties for which data were available. An interview survey schedule was developed by The University of Tennessee Agricultural Extension Swine Specialist and mailed to County Extension Leaders in the spring of 1976. The "nth" number method of sampling was used to select the producers to be interviewed. Personal interviews were conducted with each swine producer by the Extension Leader. Information was obtained about the general farm characteristics of the swine producers, their use of recommended swine practices, and the number of contacts they had with Extension agents over a 12-month period.

The data were coded and punched on computer cards, and computations were made by The University of Tennessee Computing Center. The analysis of variance F test was used to determine the strength of relationship between the dependent and independent variables. F values which achieved the .05 probability level were accepted as significant.

Major findings included the following:

1. More than 80% of the swine producers were using the recommended practices of breeding their gilts at 8 months of age and 250 pounds, providing creep feed to baby pigs from 2 weeks of age through weaning, and castrating their male pigs before they were 4 weeks of age. However, over 80% of the swine producers were not using the practices of washing sows before farrowing, identifying pigs soon after birth, and keeping lifetime sow records.

2. Sixteen percent of the producers used fewer than 10 of the 25 recommended swine production practices in 1975. Sixty-four percent used from 11 to 20 of the practices, and the remaining 20% used more than 20 of the recommended practices that year.

3. Forty-seven percent of the swine producers did not attend any Extension meetings, 20% did not visit the Extension office, 18% did not telephone the Extension office, and 22% did not receive any farm visits from Extension agents over a 12-month period.

4. The swine producers in Tennessee, on the average, attended 1.4 Extension meetings, visited the Extension office 3.1 times, telephoned the Extension office 4.1 times, and received 2.85 farm visits from Extension agents over a 12-month period.

5. The swine producers' number of females farrowing twice and the number of pigs raised to weaning were significantly related to the number of Extension meetings attended, swine meetings attended, office visits and telephone calls made to the Extension office, and farm visits received from Extension agents. Producers who had more females to farrow twice and those who raised more pigs to weaning tended to have had significantly more total Extension contacts.

6. The total number of contacts swine producers had with Extension agents was significantly related to their use of 23 of the 25 recommended swine production practices. Producers who were using the recommended practices had made a significantly larger number of total contacts with Extension agents than had those producers who were not using the practices.

Implications and recommendations also were made.

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