The National Farm Radio Forum was a weekly radio show that aired on the CBC from 1941 until 1965. The program was targeted at rural audiences, who were encouraged to form local listening groups ("forums"). Forums would meet weekly to listen to the broadcast together and discuss its content. The program was praised for its effectiveness as a form of adult education, and for encouraging socialization and community improvement projects. In 1949, at the height of its popularity, the Farm Radio Forum had over 1,600 registered forums comprising over 21,000 registered listeners. It aired 20 weekly 30-minute broadcasts per year, from November to March. Background The National Farm Radio Forum was the result of a partnership between three recently created organizations: the Canadian Association for Adult Education, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, and the Canadian Federation of Agriculture. It was intended to improve the dire condition of farming families in the wake of the Great Depression of the 1930s. Provinces had previously experimented with sending university-educated experts to instruct farmers in scientific farming techniques, but this was considered to have been ineffective. Ned Corbett, director of the CAAE, is generally credited as founder of the Forum. Forum format A typical local forum consisted of between 10 and 30 individuals. Meetings would typically rotate between the homes of members, though they could also be held in a local church or community hall. Before the Monday broadcast, members received a supplementary publication called the Farm Forum Guide by mail, which they were encouraged to read in advance. After listening to the half hour broadcast together, the forum would engage in discussion. The Guide included a set of suggested questions for discussion for each broadcast. For example: "Has the war caused a farm labour shortage in your community? Has the farm labor shortage affected production?" The forum's secretary would summarize the group's response, and it would be mailed to the provincial office. The provincial office would then read selected feedback on the following week's broadcast. Summaries of forum feedback would also sometimes be forwarded to government agencies. In addition, meetings would often include time for short speeches and socialization, often centred around card games. Content Each week's broadcast was themed around a particular issue. A wide range of topics were covered, some relating directly to farming (soil erosion, mechanization, tariffs), but also including more general topics of interest to rural audiences, including health, the