- 12 



is sufficient for a statistical analysis to be accurate. The Opscan forms 

 were read at VP I and sent back to us on computer tape. Statistical analyses 

 were done on the University Cyber 175 using SPSS (Statistical Package for 

 the Social Sciences). The data presented here represent a first-level 

 anal ys i s--that is, no attempt has been made to correlate data (e.g., pesti- 

 cide use vs IPM adoption). We hope to present a further analysis in a 

 future article. 



Grower Demographics 



Respondents ranged in age from 18 to over 80. The median age group was 

 '40-i»9, with a fairly normal d i s t r i but ion--that is, there were no big jumps 

 or dips in size among the population groups. Thirty-eight percent of 

 respondents were over 50, which perhaps reflects the fact that farmers don't 

 retire at age 65- A large proportion (32?) of the respondents said they had 

 been farming for over 30 years. Quite a few growers wanted to give the same 

 response to "age" and "number of years farming." Ninety-three percent of 

 the respondents were male. The majority of apple growers in the state are 

 college-educated. Over 50'^ had finished college or done post-graduate work. 

 Seventy-nine percent had at least attended college. 



Orchard Size 



Orchards ranged approximately from 3 to 300 acres. (There was no lower 

 limit set as such, but growers with less than 3 acres tended to feel that 

 the survey questions addressed issues that were not relevant to them.) The 

 median orchard size was in the 21-^40 acre range. Seventy percent of respon- 

 dents fell in the same ranges for "acres farmed" and "acres of apples 

 farmed," indicating that most apple growers are not diversified but tend to 

 concentrate on one crop. 



Over 50? of growers earned more than 25? of their income on the farm-- 

 h3% earned over 75?. The correlation between orchard size and percent 

 income was rather scattered, but most growers with more than 20 acres were 

 getting most of their income from the farm. 



Fifty-one percent have size-controlling rootstock on more than 50? of 

 their acreage. Many said they planned to have more as more young trees are 

 planted. 



Seventy-six percent sell more than 75? of their crop fresh. Many said 

 they sell only a small percentage (less than 5?) for processing. Much of 

 the processing seemed to mean cider production (although we collected no 

 data on this). 



Familiarity wi t h and Use of Integrated Pest Management 



Most of the state's growers (32?) had at least heard of integrated pest 

 management, and 90? knew of the Massachusetts IPM program. Respondents who 

 said they were familiar with IPM were asked to rate a series of "selling 

 points" of the program with respect to their importance to the respondent. 

 Initially the scale was from 1 (very important) to k (not important), but 

 when a number of growers said they did not feel that a selling point per- 



