Journal of Rural Studies最新文献

The structure of the agricultural industry has undergone significant change over the last century, both in the UK and internationally, with post-war shifts towards larger and more owner-occupied farms being well recorded. The extent and detail of more recent agricultural restructuring in England deserves close attention because there are important shortcomings in the key source of official data (the Defra June survey), which obscure the realities of restructuring by inadequately representing unconventional tenure arrangements and overlooking very small farms. This has contributed to an under-recognition of what we consider to be a new phase of agricultural restructuring, beginning in the 1980s and continuing today, in which tenure arrangements have become increasingly complex and capital increasingly concentrated into the hands of fewer operators, many of which are not the family-run businesses that previously characterised the industry. Using a case study parish in Devon, England, we use a range of data sources in order to explore the details of restructuring between 1941 and 2016. Historical information from the National Farm Survey (1941–1943) was analysed alongside contemporary information from the Land Registry in order to spatially map and track changes in farm sizes and occupancy during this period, with the assistance of a Geographical Information System (ArcGIS). A key informant personally familiar with the farms (and their histories) supplemented this data, providing crucial information that was missing from official data sources. Our findings provide a detailed, hitherto unseen picture of agricultural restructuring at a local level, which demonstrates the importance of attending to the presence of complex tenure arrangements not always represented in official data.

The agriculture sector in Ireland is a leading contributor of greenhouse gas emissions, and faces challenges in meeting reduction targets. The communication of climate-related information to farmers will be important in encouraging the farming community to adopt more sustainable farming practices. This study examines how a key information source - the specialist farming media in Ireland - frames the issue of climate change. It does so by analysing coverage of the release of the Irish government's 2021 Climate Action Plan, across a six-week period in three publications: the Irish Farmers Journal, the Farming Independent, and Agriland. It investigates media framings, the use of sources, and the influence of a powerful lobbying organisation, the Irish Farmers' Association (IFA). We find that, when it comes to climate action measures targeted at agriculture, the Irish farming media favour policy and political frames, and largely focus on narrow policy impacts, often omitting the context and rationale for policy interventions. Broader issues concerning climate justice and political economy are also neglected. Farming coverage by the country's most popular print title adopted a more combative approach, and deployed a conflict frame with greater frequency than the other publications. Government politicians and farming organisations are the most frequently quoted sources, giving these groups the most opportunity to shape the debate. This study adds to the limited research focused on climate change coverage in specialist farming publications.

Although studies paid extensive attention to consumers' perceptions towards risk related to genetic engineering (GE) methods and genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in food, farmers' views have been under-researched. Understanding what shapes farmers’ perceptions towards potential risks by GE methods in food production matters, because as producers and suppliers of such food products, farmers affect their use and commercialisation. Scientists have debated and disagreed on the safety of GE methods and GMOs and their impact on biodiversity and environment over the years. These disagreements impeded the extensive GMO food production in the EU, which is also reflected in consumers' perceptions about potential risks by using GE methods concerning health safety and nutritional value of GMO food.¹.This paper does not evaluate the potential benefits or hazards of these methods. Instead, based on primary survey data, it investigates and compares the aspects livestock farmers perceive as important towards GE methods and GMOs in Denmark and Sweden. we. The analysis demonstrates that farmers’ perceptions towards potential risks using GE methods and GMOs differ among types of producers within each country and between the two countries. These differences in perceptions are attributed to socio-economic characteristics (age, education, economic benefits, and farming activities), sectoral organisation, trust in suppliers and the social environment within which farmers operate in rural areas.

There is growing recognition that antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a wicked problem in need of more systematic and interdisciplinary engagement. However, there remain significant knowledge gaps in how antimicrobial use in food-producing animals translates to AMR in animals, humans, and the environment. Drawing on an interdisciplinary approach, we utilize fecal testing on farms, to evaluate the presence of AMR genes (AMRg). Based on the existing literature we hypothesized differences in AMRg would be present between (i) calves versus cows, (ii) farms that had non-family employees versus those that did not, (iii) farms that reported a language barrier between employees and farmers versus those that did not, and and (iv) women-versus men-operated farms. While sample size is too small to draw generalizable conclusions, we did find some differences, with the most pronounced difference between calves and cows. This is an exploratory case study that makes a two-fold contribution. First, we contribute to the nascent literature explicitly focused on gender and AMR in agriculture. Second, to advance interdisciplinary research on AMR we offer an innovative methodological approach that measures the presence of AMRg on farms in the context of farm management practices and descriptive characteristics of the farm.

Drawing on resilience research in rural studies, this study examined the mental health experiences of frontline healthcare workers during two stages of the COVID-19 pandemic in rural Manitoba, Canada. Data were collected using online surveys from May to June 2020 (n = 137) and from May to June 2021 (n = 219). The surveys assessed symptoms of anxiety and identified strategies and barriers to addressing mental health concerns. Most respondents exhibited clinical symptoms of anxiety as measured by the GAD-7 scale. Respondents mostly accessed informal supports, such as family and friends, in the first survey in 2020, and a broader mix of informal and formal supports in the 2021 survey. In both surveys, numerous barriers to accessing formal mental health support were identified. Our findings suggest that although some degree of resilience in the face of the pandemic was prevalent in rural areas, there is a need for accessible professional and peer mental health support for frontline healthcare workers. The research also highlights the importance of context and resources in sustaining the healthcare workforce in rural areas as part of the pandemic response.