In this study, “social contribution-style elements” are regarded as one of the qualities of an agricultural product. This is done to clarify how purchasers recognize “the social contribution-style elements” of eggs from rice-fed chicken as a commercial value.

A questionnaire based survey was carried out with members of Coop-Shiga and Kyoto-Coop.

When they buy “Sakuratamago fed rice,” the members of Coop-Shiga pay attention to “the quality of products,” such as egg freshness or the good look of yolks and whites. Through the use of multiple correspondence analysis and cluster analysis, the commercial properties of “Sakuratamago fed rice” that Coop-Shiga members pay attention to are divided into six clusters. “Social contribution-style elements” are spread over two adjacent clusters. The members of Coop-Shiga have a mixed recognition of “social contribution-style elements” and “products’ quality.”

On the other hand, when they buy “Sakura-kome-tamago,” the members of Kyoto-Coop pay attention to not only “products’ quality,” but also “social contribution-style elements,” and thus give support to Kyoto Prefecture farmers. Through the use of multiple correspondence analysis and cluster analysis, the commercial properties of “Sakura-kome-tamago” that Kyoto-Coop members pay attention to are divided into four clusters. Kyoto-Coop members recognize that “social contribution-style elements” is one concept, as these elements gather in a certain cluster. These consumers recognize the concept of “social contribution-style elements” and “the quality of products” independently and regard both properties as important.

In the case of Kyoto-Coop, members receive the most important information about “social contribution-style elements” of “Sakura-kome-tamago.” This concept is easily recognized. In the case of Coop-Shiga, since members receive so much information about “Sakuratamago fed rice,” they have variant ideas. The result of this research is related to how to provide product information.

An integrated silvicultural and agricultural system, as part of an agroforestry system, that combines log-grown shiitake mushroom production with beef cattle production has been practiced in Japan. That is to say, family labor is spread equally between fodder production in summer and mushroom production in winter. Satoyama is also a common place for the production of oak trees for mushroom logs and the production of ground bamboo for grazing cows. Furthermore, breeding cows not only produce calves, but also are used for weeding under growing oak trees. Therefore, the integrative power of this integrated silvicultural and agricultural system is so strong that its profitability is higher than either specialized mushroom or beef cattle farming. It’s also clear through model analysis that its profitability is stable because of its ability to cope with fluctuation of sales prices for each commodity.

On the other hand, it is critical in beef cattle farming to reduce both labor and feed expenditure costs. This is normally done by enlarging farm size which enables the farmer to specialize. To maintain this integrated silvicultural and agricultural system and thus conserve Satoyama, a policy that promotes the enlargement of beef cattle farming, such as excessive support for farmers to introduce cows, facilities, and fodder production on paddy, should be reconsidered.