Personal interviews were conducted in July, 1967, with 315 farm operators in rural Brazil where the local extension service had been in operation for more than four years. Patron-dependence (PD) was described as the subscription to a value system, according to the individual's position in the status structure, which produces dependency at different levels on the local hierarchical structure. It was hypothesized that communication variables are more closely related to agricultural knowledge and innovativeness among low PD than among high PD farmers. The high PD individuals were those with low education, minimal extension agent contact, low functional literacy, lower socioeconomic status, few cosmopolite contacts, minimal mass media exposure, low agricultural knowledge and low innovativeness, and possessed fewer cows. They relied more often on the decision-making abilities of those occupying superior positions in the system. The PD variable correlated negatively, as expected, with both the communication variables and variables on development; it was further shown that the relationship between PD and development was not affected by controls on socieconomic status and social intergration. (Five statistical tables and a 36-item bibliography are included.) (SC)