Promoting alternative enterprises: Assessing farmers' needs in research, education, and extension

Small farms represent a significant proportion of the total U.S farms, and current trends in agriculture pose new challenges for their viability and survival. To meet such challenges, there is a need for introducing high-value non-traditional alternative enterprises. The study reported here explored goat, organic, and mushroom farming as potential alternative enterprises. Several focus group meetings were conducted in Tennessee and North Carolina to identify priority areas for future research, education, and outreach activities. The results from the study should contribute significantly to promoting and creating niche markets for proposed alternative enterprises among small farmers.