THE PURPOSES OF A SURVEY OF 363 NONFARM BUSINESSES AND AGRICULTURAL GOVERNMENT AGENCIES WERE TO (1) COMPARE THE NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES WITH THE NUMBER NEEDING AGRICULTURAL BACKGROUND, (2) ESTIMATE ENTRY OPPORTUNITIES DURING THE NEXT 5 YEARS, (3) DETERMINE EMPLOYEE JOB TITLES AND DIFFICULTY IN FINDING REPLACEMENTS, (4) DETERMINE EMPLOYEE CHARACTERISTICS DESIRED, (5) DETERMINE THE TYPE OF SCHOOL AND SUBJECT-MATTER AREAS NEEDED FOR TRAINING NEW EMPLOYEES, (6) DETERMINE TO WHAT EXTENT EMPLOYERS WOULD BE WILLING TO COOPERATE WITH SCHOOLS BY PROVIDING ON-THE-JOB TRAINING, AND (7) COMPARE NONFARM BUSINESSES IN THREE POPULATION AREAS TO DETERMINE NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES AND EXPANSION AND REPLACEMENT POTENTIAL. SOME FINDINGS WERE -- (1) OF 4,102 EMPLOYEES IN 310 NONFARM BUSINESSES, 716, OR 17.5 PERCENT, NEEDED AN AGRICULTURAL BACKGROUND, (2) APPROXIMATELY 6 TIMES AS MANY PEOPLE WERE EMPLOYED IN AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION AS THERE WERE EMPLOYEES WHO NEEDED AGRICULTURAL TRAINING OR BACKGROUND FOR NONFARM BUSINESSES, (3) THERE WAS NO GREAT DEMAND IN MOST CLASSIFICATIONS OF NONFARM BUSINESSES FOR PEOPLE WITH AGRICULTURAL BACKGROUNDS, (4) THE PRIMARY EMPLOYEE CHARACTERISTIC DESIRED WAS STABILITY (IN GENERAL, EMPLOYERS PLACED PERSONAL TRAITS ABOVE SUBJECT-MATTER BACKGROUND IN IMPORTANCE) (5) EMPLOYERS FREQUENTLY MENTIONED MATHEMATICS, WRITING, SPELLING, GENERAL BUSINESS MANAGEMENT, AND GENERAL MECHANICS AS SUBJECTS TO BE TAUGHT IN HIGH SCHOOLS AND 2-YEAR TECHNICAL SCHOOLS, (6) ALMOST ALL EMPLOYERS IN LARGE FIRMS AND GOVERNMENT AGENCIES RECOGNIZED THE VALUE OF ON-THE-JOB TRAINING, AND (7) THE GREATEST NEED FOR ADDITIONAL EMPLOYEES WITHIN 5 YEARS WOULD BE IN THE LAS VEGAS AND RENO AREAS. EIGHTY-FOUR PAGES OF TABLES ARE INCLUDED IN THIS PRELIMINARY REPORT. (WB)