Masters Theses

Date of Award

3-1974

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science

Major

Animal Science

Major Professor

Haley M. Jamison,

Committee Members

Fletcher Sweet, B. K. Leiter

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to collect data which would indicate the attitudes of purchasers toward bulls purchased in the Ames Plantation sales from 1966 through 1972. The study was designed also to determine what relationship certain personal and experience factors had to the degree of satisfaction. A questionnaire that contained general, sale, and individual bull questions was sent to persons who had purchased bulls at Ames Plantation during this seven-year period. Survey forms were completed by mail and usable forms were returned from 118 purchasers of 189 bulls. The individuals who had purchased bulls in this seven-year period were mailed a survey packet. The purchasers were asked to fill out the questionnaire and return. No other requirement was made of the people who were interviewed. In the sale information division, 56 percent of the respondents attended their first sale within the last five years. The remaining 44 percent ranged from six to 33 years since attending their first sale at Ames Plantation. Sixty-three percent received information on their first sale from the Extension Service, while 37 percent were divided among breed publications, mass media, and previous buyers. Of the bull purchasers 57 percent were full-time farmers. Sixty-seven percent reported as having always raised beef, 32 percent had not always, but for more than five years; and only one percent had raised beef cattle for less than five years. The contrast of farm size upon satisfaction showed that purchasers with larger farms were better satisfied with their bulls. Percentages for degree of satisfaction for different major farm enterprises reveal that purchasers with beef and swine as their major enterprises were less satisfied with their purchases than the people with other kinds of major enterprises. Percentages in the three categories of satisfaction based upon years training in a college of agriculture showed that purchasers who had from one to four years of training were more highly satisfied and fewer that were not satisfied than purchasers with no training or over five years training. Future Farmers of America training had very little effect upon satisfaction. Similarly, 4-H training had very little effect upon satisfaction. Satisfaction based upon purchaser age showed the age group from 36 through 55 to be most satisfied. The relationship of years in school and satisfaction tended to agree with the years of college of agriculture training in that purchasers with one through four years of college were more highly satisfied and fewer in numbers than those who were not satisfied. A smaller percentage of the people with less than nine years total education were highly satisfied and a larger percentage were not satisfied. Eighty-two percent of the purchasers attended their first sale as a potential buyer, and 76 percent purchased a bull at their first sale. Of the people in this study, 55 percent had purchased only one bull, 34 percent had purchased two through four bulls, and 11 percent five through eight bulls. Regarding the number of sales attended since the first sale, 49 percent had attended less than one-half and the rest were divided into three other categories: all of them, more than one-half, and half of them. To conclude the sale information segment, the purchasers were asked where they would go to find sale information. Sixty percent pointed to the Extension Service, 30 percent to Ames Plantation and 10 percent to other sources. The average farmer operated 1119 acres. Of these acres, 429 were in crops and 432 in pasture. The average purchaser had 1.4 years of College of Agriculture training and 2.0, 2.1 years for Future Farmers of America and 4-H training, respectively. The purchaser averaged 50.2 years of age and had 13.7 years of education. The average purchaser owned 110 brood cows and a total of 193 beef animals. Fifty-nine percent of the purchasers farmed alone, 24 percent farmed with a close relative, and 16 percent had other types of farm arrangments. Fifty-seven percent of the bull purchasers had never worked off the farm. The remaining 43 percent ranged from one to 50 years off the farm. A purchaser who operates on a partnership basis tended to be more highly satisfied than the purchaser that operated by himself. The relationship of effect of purchase price upon satisfaction illustrated that a greater percentage of purchasers who paid $1000 or more were better satisfied while a smaller percentage were not satisfied. Relationship percentages of effect of type farmer upon satisfaction showed that full-time farmers are better satisfied but not as highly satisfied as the part-time farmer. A greater percentage of part-time farmers are not satisfied. The contrast of experience in raising beef upon satisfaction showed that people who had always raised beef were better satisfied. The effect of number of contacts with Extension personnel upon satisfaction revealed that purchasers with from one through ten contacts a year were better satisfied. The effect of Extension material upon satisfaction indicated that purchasers who utilize Extension material frequently are more highly satisfied.

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