Farm Radio Forum

Farm Radio Forum, 1941-65, was a national rural listening-discussion group project sponsored by the Canadian Association for Adult Education, the Canadian Federation of Agriculture and CBC. Up to 27 000 persons met in neighbourhood groups Monday nights, November through March, using half-hour radio broadcasts, printed background material and pretested questions as aids to discussion of social and economic problems.

Farm Forum provided an antidote to the hard times of the 1930s economic depression, and meeting and discussing new ideas in neighbours' homes helped restore rural confidence, often leading to positive group action in the community. Farm Forum innovations included a regional report-back system, whereby group conclusions were collected centrally and broadcast regularly across Canada, occasionally being sent to appropriate governments. In addition, discussion - leading to self-help - resulted in diverse community "action projects" such as co-operatives, new forums and folk schools. Farm and community leaders claimed that the give-and-take of these discussions provided useful training for later public life. In 1952, UNESCO commissioned research into Farm Forum techniques. Its report was published in 1954, and consequently India, Ghana and France began using Canadian Farm Forum models in their programs.

Author O.J.W. SHUGG

Suggested Reading
R.A. Sim, ed, Canada's Farm Radio Forum (1954); J. Dumazedier, Television and Rural Adult Education (1956); R. Faris, The Passionate Educators (1975).

Links to Other Sites
Harry Boyle fonds
This site offers a profile of Harry J. Boyle, pioneer broadcaster, journalist, and playwright. Also former director of the "National Farm Radio Forum." From York University.

National Farm Radio Forum looks at the Hall Report
An audio clip of a 1964 National Farm Radio Forum story about the “Hall Report,” a pioneering federal government study of Canadian medical services. Features an interview with Justice Emmett Hall. From CBC Archives.

National Farm Radio Forum fonds
Information about the National Farm Radio Forum fonds at Library and Archives Canada. Includes a brief history of this radio broadcast and adult education program.

Radio Broadcasting
Scroll down to paragraph 25 for a brief note about the “National Farm Radio Forum,” and related Canadian programming. From the website for “Chapter III, Broadcasting, Radio Broadcasting - Report of the Royal Commission.”

Harvesting Hope
This 1988 article about George Atkins's role in the Developing Countries Farm Radio Network includes a brief history of his pioneering work on the “National Farm Radio Forum” program. From the “Ryerson Review of Journalism.”

Edward Annand Corbett: Innovator and Educator
A 1991 profile of Edward Annand Corbett, one of the creative forces behind the “National Farm Radio Forum” and other Canadian adult education programs. From “New Trial,” the University of Alberta’s alumni magazine.

Robert Gordon Knowles
A profile of Robert Gordon Knowles, a CBC broadcaster who actively promoted the “National Farm Radio Forum” program and related international broadcasting initiatives. A Saskatchewan Agricultural Hall of Fame website.

Farm Radio International founder Atkins dies at 92
About the death of George Atkins former CBC farm commentator and founder of Farm Radio International. From the CBC News website.