A farmer survey was conducted in three different agroecosystem types in the midwestern and southeastern United States. We selected Saline County, Kansas; Knox County, Indiana; and Coffee County, Georgia, representative of former prairie grassland, Midwestern deciduous forest, and Southeastern deciduous forest biome types. A twenty-question, multiple-choice survey was mailed to 300 farmers in each county during summer months of 2002 and 2003. Data were collected in four categories: demographic information, problems related to conventional agriculture, sustainable agriculture approaches, and attitudes toward sustainable agriculture. Survey responses were examined and discussed within the context of the social and ecological consequences of industrial agriculture, the alternatives presented by agroecologists, and the communication network between agroecologists and farmers. One suggestion for achieving sustainability is building stronger connections between university agroecologists and farmers. For example, 58 percent of respondents from Kansas, 57 percent from Indiana, and 70 percent from Georgia view an ecologist as a friend/advisor to the farmer. These data should be useful to agroecologists interested in strengthening their relationship with stakeholders and in disseminating research findings concerning alternative agricultural practices.
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Blesh et al. (2006) studied this question.
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