In 2004, the agricultural economies of many rural communities in the United States were impacted by the cessation of a price-support and supply-control program for tobacco production. Tobacco was not only an important livelihood, but also was central to social and cultural life. Using a social–ecological systems lens and the adaptive cycle metaphor, we examine the reorganization of agriculture in communities that previously produced tobacco under the program. Specifically, we seek to understand how transitional policy that provided financial support to tobacco farmers interacted with other social, cultural, physical and human capitals to condition system reorganization. We conducted semi-structured interviews with farmers, extension agents, and policy makers in Kentucky as well as examined trends in income and number of farmers before and after the transition as indicators of reorganization. We determined that the financial support was perceived as helpful in supporting the transition and that tobacco farmers reorganized their livelihoods primarily around existing, remnant assets and endogenous capacities. In addition, we determined that though the agricultural system may be reorganizing economically, it is not necessarily supportive of the same social bonds and values that co-existed with tobacco economy. Understanding agricultural economies as part of complex social–ecological systems that consist of interconnected values, identities, ecology and social ties is important for developing policies to support systems and communities through economic transitions.

中文翻译：

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社会和文化纽带任由“风的摆布”：农业转型

2004 年，美国许多农村社区的农业经济受到烟草生产价格支持和供应控制计划停止的影响。烟草不仅是一种重要的生计，而且是社会和文化生活的核心。使用社会-生态系统的视角和适应性循环的比喻，我们研究了以前在该计划下生产烟草的社区中的农业重组。具体而言，我们试图了解为烟农提供财政支持的过渡政策如何与其他社会、文化、物质和人力资本相互作用，以促进系统重组。我们对农民、推广人员、和肯塔基州的政策制定者，并检查了转型前后的收入和农民数量趋势，作为重组的指标。我们确定，财政支持被认为有助于支持转型，并且烟农主要围绕现有的剩余资产和内生能力重组他们的生计。此外，我们确定尽管农业系统可能会在经济上进行重组，但它不一定支持与烟草经济共存的相同社会纽带和价值观。将农业经济理解为由相互关联的价值观、身份、生态和社会联系组成的复杂社会-生态系统的一部分，对于制定通过经济转型支持系统和社区的政策非常重要。