Browsing by Subject "Ranching"
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Item An examination of rural small acreage homeowners in three west Texas Counties(2007-08) Carr, Jessica O.; Doerfert, David; Baker, Matt; Burris, scott; Smith, James H.For years, agrimarketers have considered large and small farms as separate divisions and thus represented individual needs and marketing opportunities. While it has been historically important to recognize segments with the production agriculture industry (e.g. large, mid-size, and small farms), there is another group emerging that are garnering attention of agricultural companies (Davis, 2004). Within the traditional rural agriculture landscape, an emerging group of people seeking a country lifestyle on small acreage tracts of land (5-100 acres) are being identified as a rural segment with its own needs and wants. As this new group continues to emerge, they are being labeled with a number of different names, from ruralpolitans, to sundown farmers to flashlight feeders to hobby farmers to homesteaders to part-time farmers. For the purpose of this study, the term ruralpolitans will be used. Ruralpolitans are a steadily growing market of former suburbanites and city dwellers that are drawn to the country to pursue their passions that are not being facilitated by urban living. These passions may range from a slower pace of life to being able to garden and raise pets and livestock. As such, these rural residential landowners are often described as people who are more concerned with lifestyle than profit (Davis, 2004). They value things like privacy, independence, and open spaces. While they do not expect to make a profit from the land, they do feel a connection with it and want to be closer to it. Individuals living this ruralpolitans lifestyle have been characterized as middle-aged, educated, and married with traditional values. In some circumstances, children still live at home while others may be empty nesters. Within this population segment you will find gardeners, wildlife enthusiasts, lawn buffs, and people who want to experiment in the livestock industry on a smaller scale. As opposed to full-time farmers, these ruralpolitans generally work fulltime away from their homes in addition to working at their residence. As such, they typically have higher than average incomes with the bulk of their income and assets not related to the farm. There is not one type of career that typifies a ruralpolitan as you will find business professionals, doctors, educators, lawyers, publishers, and consultants - all who are choosing a rural lifestyle and can afford it. Many factors may be contributing to the recent growth of nonmetro county residents. Among the explanations provided in the literature are: (a) continued growth of metropolitan centers and their expansions (spillover) into adjacent rural areas; (b) the decentralization of manufacturing in pursuit of lower land and wage cost; (c) increases in service occupation sectors; (d) early retirement coupled with high retirement incomes; (e) increase per capita disposable real income; (f) increased pursuit of leisure activities and the resultant development; (g) leveling off of loss of farm populations; (h) youth revolution with an anti-materialistic movement; (i) anti-urbanism and increase in alternative lifestyle gaps in urban and rural lifestyles; (j) more long distance commuting; energy and mineral exploitation; (k) completion of interstate highway system; (l) lower cost of living in rural areas; and (m) increased fear of crime and concern with urban disseminates (crime, congestion, and population) (Dejong & Sell,1977; Beale, 1977; Wardwell, 1977; McCarthy & Morrison, 1979; Morrison, 1979; Carpenter, 1977; Blackwood & Carpenter, 1978). Dillman (1979) indicated that “if people were free to choose, they would prefer to live in rural areas rather than in cities” (p. 962). Many urban residents are choosing more rural locations that can offer similar benefits to those within the city while leaving the crowded urban living conditions behind. As these changes occur in rural areas and communities, what are the needs and wants of this emerging population segment that communities that need to satisfy? Further, what changes in products and services will agrimarketers need to consider to remain successful in rural areas?Item And the ocean came up on land : perceptions of adaptive capacity of cattle ranching in Vermilion Parish, Louisiana(2013-05) Adams, Danica Claire; Dooling, Sarah; Moore, Steven A., 1945-Cattle ranching in Vermilion Parish is a social-techno-ecological system (STES) that is currently vulnerable due to changing social, technological and ecological conditions. In addressing ways to increase the adaptive capacity of cattle ranching in Vermilion Parish, I used a multiple, mixed method approach grounded in a critical constructivist framework. Constructivism is the idea that our relationship to facts is constructed by our social context. It is these perceptions that shape people’s actions. By looking at these perceptions through an emancipatory frame I was able to understand multiple interpretations of meaning, consciously address them, consider how they may have shaped our actions, and then alter those meanings and power relationships. In an effort to increase the adaptive capacity of cattle ranching in Vermilion Parish, my research focused on actions, why people perform those actions, and how to change them. This research connected the physical landscape of the marshes, the individual landscape of perception, and the conceptual landscape of resilience. If resilience is the ability of a system (cattle ranching in vermilion parish) to recover after a disturbance, adaptive capacity is when the actors within the system can influence that system’s resilience. I explored the history of cattle ranching in Vermilion Parish from three different, but overlapping perspectives – environmental, social, and technological. These perspectives compliment the information from interviews and 3CM sessions. These 15 interviews revealed the perception of 11 types of threats facing cattle ranching in Vermilion Parish. The body of literature surrounding resilience theory identifies traits of highly adaptive systems. The recommendations and suggestions outlined in Chapter 6 exist at the intersection of the actors’ perception of specific threats and the decidedly generalized traits of highly adaptive systems. These suggestions were geared towards increasing the adaptive capacity of cattle ranching in Vermilion Parish. Given these layered landscapes and their complexity, my recommendations were subject to feedback loops and long periods of integration. These recommendations contribute to the theoretical foundation detailed in Chapter 3 by identifying specific ways that the actors of this particular system may be able increase their own adaptive capacity.Item A kind of wild(2014-12) Vizcarrondo, Nina Leigh; Garrison, Andrew; Lewis, Anne, 1948-Gemsbok, ibex, sitatunga, nyala. Their names may be unfamiliar, but these rare species, originally from Africa and Asia, now roam Texas ranches in numbers close to 1 million. In an irony as big and as rich as Texas, however, their proliferation has depended on their popularity with hunters. Enthusiasts will pay anywhere from $2,000 to $20,000 to hunt these so-called “texotics.” While this flourishing micro-economy and sub-culture has gone unrecognized by most of the world, “A Kind of Wild” is a 22 minute documentary that puts forth a portrait of the industry as illustrated through a cross-section of individuals with different roles in the system: an amateur breeder, a researcher, a ranch hand and a hunter. The film explores the paradoxical relationship between these people and the animals they care for, between economics and conservation. It is intended to spread awareness about this obscured phenomenon and to encourage audiences to reflect upon their own values concerning humans increasingly complicated impact on the natural world around us. This report chronicles the process of making the film and expounds on its challenges and lessons.