A framework for targeting soil conservation policy

This paper presents a comprehensive framework and methodology in an attempt to direct policy solutions to soil and water degradation from water-related soil erosion. The perspective adopted by this research is social science in nature. Past research on the adoption of soil conservation practices has tended to concentrate on the micro (individual) level of inquiry and has tended to ignore environmental (i.e. biophysical) factors. Previous models of the adoption of soil conservation practices are reviewed and critiqued. Based on the strengths and limitations of these approaches, a comprehensive analytical framework that identifies and relates micro (e.g. farm and farmer characteristics) and macro (e.g. institutional arrangements, fiscal and monetary policies, agricultural policies) factors influencing the adoption and continued use of soil conservation measures is proposed. It is hypothesized that economic and institutional constraints will exert the greatest influence on decisions to use land stewardship practices when problem awareness exists at the micro level. Based on this framework, a research methodology is developed to classify the farm population into relatively homogeneous sub-groups based on farmers' receptivity to the adoption and use of currently available and prospective conservation practices. These groupings could then form the basis for targeting a range of policies, programs, and other measures appropriate for each group.     

The influence of perceptions of practice characteristics: An examination of agricultural best management practice adoption in two Indiana watersheds

Agricultural best management practices (BMPs), or conservation practices, can help reduce nonpoint source pollution from agricultural lands, as well as provide valuable wildlife habitat. There is a large literature exploring factors that lead to a producer’s voluntary adoption of BMPs, but there have been inconsistent findings. Generally, this literature has not examined specific attributes of BMPs that may affect acceptability to farmers and ultimately adoption. To address these limitations, a qualitative analysis of in-depth interviews with farmers was conducted to determine which characteristics make four common BMPs more or less acceptable to agricultural producers. Interviews were conducted with forty-five producers in two watersheds in Indiana, USA. The producers were asked about their use of these conservation practices and the reasons behind their decisions. This study outlines the perceived characteristics of each conservation practice that are most important in either facilitating or impeding adoption of those practices. Results indicate that perceived high levels of relative advantage (e.g., reduced inputs, time-savings, and on-farm and environmental benefits), compatibility (with farm system and needs of producer), and observability (observing practice’s advantages) are most important in increasing adoption of conservation practices. Low levels of perceived relative advantage and incompatibility of practices were found to be most important in non-adoption of conservation practices. Perceived risk and complexity associated with specific practices were only found to limit adoption for a few practices, though it was an important barrier for conservation tillage. In order to increase adoption, conservation promoters should focus on raising awareness of the on-farm and financial benefits, the environmental benefits, and compatibility of conservation practices with current farm operations.     

Comparison of Amish and Non-Amish Farmers: A Diffusion/Farm-Structure Perspective1

Abstract Considerable attention has focused on farming practices and behavioral patterns that characterize Amish farmers from other agriculturalists. It has been suggested that Amish farmers are more concerned about the physical environment than non-Amish farmers because Amish employ fewer technology-intensive farming practices, though there is little empirical evidence to support such an assertion. To address this issue, data were collected from a sample of Amish and non-Amish owner-operators in Ohio to compare environmental attitudes and farming systems presently in use. Discriminant analysis was used to examine factors chosen to differentiate the two groups. Findings reveal that Amish respondents believed more strongly than other farmers that ground water pollution was an important environmental problem and that farmers should reduce chemical application rates to protect ground water resources. Other farmers exhibited greater willingness to participate in educational programs designed to reduce pesticide application rates. The two groups could not be differentiated by criteria used to make adoption decisions about farm technologies and farming practices; both used productivity and efficiency criteria when making adoption decisions.     

Systemic Constraints to Ecological Well-Being: The Case of the 1985 Food Security Act1

Abstract Although the conservation title of the 1985 Food Security Act was hailed by many as revolutionary in its attempts to control soil erosion, it has failed to live up to its billing. A theory is used that asserts that the state's systemic commitment to promoting capitalist growth constrains it from establishing and implementing policies that accomplish anything more than displacing one environmental problem onto others. The theory is tested through a discourse analysis of the hearings surrounding the Federal government's attempt to control soil erosion through the 1985 Food Security Act, which revealed that policy recommendations challenging the drive to maximize efficiency and production were declared flawed and unacceptable. Hence, the hearings were systematically distorted in favor of the dominant instrumental rationality. It is concluded that government policy initiatives alone are insufficient and that creating alternative social organizations of production is necessary to promote ecological well-being.     

Designing agroforestry innovations to increase their adoptability: a case study from Paraguay

The development of adoptable natural resource systems, to address the needs of rural populations, is a priority for many governments in less developed countries. This paper looks at agroforestry as an innovation, and at the factors which influence its adoptability. This is accomplished through an analysis of a case study on the development and diffusion of an agroforestry innovation in the Guayaybi region of Eastern Paraguay. In this case study a forestry extension team, working directly with the farmers, was successful in designing an adoptable agroforestry innovation. The innovation was ecologically adapted to the region and appeared to have good potential for economic return. It was readily adopted by the farmers who perceived it to have a relative economic advantage over their traditional land use systems. The agroforestry system was compatible with their agricultural practices and helped to meet their needs for wood products and fodder. The new system was simple to understand and easy to try on a limited basis which minimized risk. Also the tree species used were fast-growing, which impressed the farmers and made the plantations highly visible to others. This ‘observability’ of functioning agroforestry systems plus the belief in the potential for economic gain were the key factors in the rapid adoption of agroforestry as a new land use system.     

Soil as Social‐Ecological Feedback: Examining the “Ethic” of Soil Stewardship among Corn Belt Farmers

In this article we examine in‐depth interviews with farmers (n = 159) from nine Corn Belt states. Using a grounded theory approach, we identified a “soil stewardship ethic,” which exemplifies how farmers are talking about building the long‐term sustainability of their farm operation in light of more variable and extreme weather events. Findings suggest that farmers' shifting relationship with their soil resources may act as a kind of social‐ecological feedback that enables farmers to implement adaptive strategies (e.g., no‐till farming, cover crops) that build resilience in the face of increasingly variable and extreme weather, in contrast to emphasizing short‐term adjustments to production that may lead to greater vulnerability over time. The development of a soil stewardship ethic may help farmers to resolve the problem of an apparent trade‐off between short‐term productivist goals and long‐term conservation goals and in doing so may point toward an emergent aspect of a conservationist identity. Focusing on the message of managing soil health to mitigate weather‐related risks and preserving soil resources for future generations may provide a pragmatic solution for helping farmers to reorient farm production practices, which would have soil building and soil saving at their center.     

Set aside programmes: Using U.S. experience to evaluate U.K. proposals

The lengthy U.S. experience with cropland diversion is helpful in evaluating U.K. set aside proposals. Acreage reduction for supply control in the U.S. has never reached its promised potential. Now, a new programme is using set aside for erosion control. Despite 50 years of practice, the past and current U.S. cropland diversions suffer serious problems. Three major U.K. set aside proposals have surfaced, two aimed at supply control and one at the provision of conservation and environmental services from farmland. Each has strengths and disadvantages, but none suffer all of the problems of American programmes, at least in their proposed forms. Too much can easily be expected of set aside which in barest form is just a land use constraint. Its best role may be as an interim supply adjustment mechanism with price restraint, which also provides compensation to disadvan- taged farmers but, most importantly, secures non-market conservation and environmental services.     

A Dryland Cropping Revolution? Linking an Emerging Soil Health Paradigm with Shifting Social Fields among Wheat Growers of the High Plains

Once reliant on year-long periods of unvegetated fallow, dryland farmers are reaping environmental and economic benefits by replacing fallow with a crop, a practice called cropping system intensification. However, in the U.S. High Plains, transitions to intensified cropping systems have been slow relative to other regions, and cropping systems have stratified into varying degrees of intensity. Prior attempts to explain the wave of cropping system intensification have largely focused on simple economic rationales, and thus we lack a critical understanding of the social dynamics underlying the revolution in semi-arid cropping systems. We examined the motivations, perceptions, and social interactions of dryland farmers that practice different levels of cropping system intensity in Colorado and Nebraska. Building on Carolan's application of Bourdieusian social fields to agriculture, we identify overlapping fields expressed among interviewees. While these fields are reflected in farms' different degrees of intensification, they can be used to help identify and locate farmers associated with the emerging soil health (or regenerative agriculture) movement. The paper concludes by identifying strategies for change, some which would serve to reshape social fields, and others which leverage existing social positions and relationships to enable farmers to overcome the barriers constraining cropping system intensification.     

Economy “versus” Environment: The Influence of Economic Ideology and Political Identity on Perceived Threat of Eco‐Catastrophe

Using data from a national survey of American adults, we examine the relationships between economic, political, sociodemographic, and religious characteristics with perception of the potential for eco‐catastrophe. We employ the treadmill of production theory to frame our understanding of views about ecological concerns, arguing that the treadmill discourse associated with economic development is hegemonic and fundamentally shapes public views of eco‐catastrophe. In line with this approach, economic ideology is the strongest predictor of attitudes about eco‐catastrophe, and its influence is conditioned by political identity. There is also significant patterning in these perceptions based on gender, race, education, and religion, but the influence of social characteristics is primarily indirect—mediated by economic ideology and political identity. These results provide useful information for addressing environmental problems in public discourse and bridging policy divides.     

Why Don't They Just Change? Contract Farming,Informational Influence,and Barriers to Agricultural Climate Change Mitigation

Using a mixed‐methods study of contract seed‐corn farmers in southwest Michigan, we examine the effect of interlocking macro and micro social forces on climate change behavior and apply the theoretical frames of treadmills of production and informational influence. We find that competitive agricultural contracts in the seed‐corn industry impose significant structural barriers to adopting climate change mitigation behaviors. Seed‐corn contracts constrain adoption of those behaviors through competitive rankings based solely on net commodity production and by limiting farmers’ access to information to make judicious management decisions. At the micro level, our findings suggest that informational influence—that is, where farmers turn for trusted information—also affects climate change mitigation behaviors, and that these informational networks are embedded within structural constraints. Our findings suggest that agricultural contracts serve as a significant structural constraint on the adoption of mitigation practices and that climate scholarship and policy must address both macro and micro dimensions simultaneously to encourage adoption of climate change mitigation.     

Sustainable Agriculture and Conservation Tillage: Managing the Contradictions*

L'auteur examine dans cet article l'élaboration d'un discours sur l'agriculture, qui encourage l'adoption d'un travail de conservation du sol comme agriculture écologiquement durable. L'analyse débute par l'argument selon lequel ce discours est né dans les années 1980, en réponse aux conséquences sur l'environnement de l'agriculture classique. On soutient ensuite que l'attention portée au travail du sol plutôt qu'à d'autres solutions de rechange quant à ces impacts, attention qui doit être comprise dans le cadre d'une analyse plus large des développements politico-économiques dans le domaine de l'agriculture au Canada. On a déterminé que les intérêsts contradic-toires des divers secteurs de l'industrie agroalimentaire, en ce qui concerne le maintien de l'utilisation de produits chimiques coûteux et le contrôle des prix payés aux agriculteurs dans le contexte de la crise économique de l'agriculture, jouaient un rôle essentiel dans l'attention portée au travail du sol. On soutient que le travail de conservation du sol permet de régler ces contradictions de deux façons. Tout d'abord, le travail de conservation du sol a fourni une base pour affirmer que les problèmes de pollution chimique et d'épuisement du sol étaient en train d'être résolus sans que soient nécessaires des changements plus substantiels dans le système de production à base chimique. Enfin, il offrait aux agriculteurs un moyen et une raison de réduire les coûts de production devant les crises constantes relatives aux prix et a la rentabilité des fermes. This paper examines the development of a discourse within agriculture which promotes the adoption of conservation tillage as environmentally sustainable farming. The analysis begins with the argument that the discourse emerged during the 1980s as a response to the environmental impacts of conventional agriculture. It is then argued that the focus on tillage practices over other alternative solutions to these impacts must be understood within a broader analysis of the political-economic developments in Canadian agriculture. The contradictory interests of the various sectors of agribusiness capital, both in sustaining the use of expensive chemical inputs and in controlling the prices paid to farmers within the context of the farm economic crisis, are identified as playing a vital role in shaping the focus on tillage practices. It is contended that conservation tillage offered a means of mediating these contradictions in two ways. First, conservation tillage provided a basis for the claim that chemical pollution and soil depletion problems were being resolved without the need for more substantial changes in the chemically-based production system and, second, it gave farmers a means and a rationale for cutting production costs in the face of continuing crises in prices and profitability at the farm gate level.     

Towards an alternative logic of technological change: Insights from Corn Belt agriculture

Empirical evidence drawn from a Corn Belt case study is used to connect the environmental and socioeconomic contradictions of agricultural production in the region. The paper rests on several key arguments: First, a preliminary case is made for a more explicit recognition of the theoretical and empirical links between the socioeconomic problems of agricultural regions stemming from chronically low levels of producer surplus retention and similar problems of social welfare associated with reduced levels of remunerated labor in the industrial sector. Second, there is a parallel need for connecting the negative social and environmental costs of capitalist agriculture. The case study uses the evolving production process on individual farms as a means of exploring the causal relationship between the movement towards capitalist social relations and environmental degradation resulting from intensive patterns of synthetic chemical use. And third, the role of agency among family farmers faced with a regional economic crisis emerges from the case study analysis. In the 1980s, a small minority of Iowa farmers would adopt, perfect and disseminate a low-chemical input system of production attuned to the logic of family farm social relations. The contribution of the state-sponsored research institutions was notably absent. The case example highlights the process of technological change as a socially-constructed phenomenon subject to alternative forms of rationality that emerge from different syntheses of ecological conditions and social relations.     

Critical Materialism: Science,Technology, and Environmental Sustainability*

There are widely divergent views on how science and technology are connected to environmental problems. A view commonly held among natural scientists and policy makers is that environmental problems are primarily technical problems that can be solved via the development and implementation of technological innovations. This technologically optimistic view tends to ignore power relationships in society and the political‐economic order that drives environmental degradation. An opposed view, common among postmodernist and poststructuralist scholars, is that the emergence of the scientific worldview is one of the fundamental causes of human oppression. This postmodernist view rejects scientific epistemology and often is associated with an anti‐realist stance, which ultimately serves to deny the reality of environmental problems, thus (unintentionally) abetting right‐wing efforts to scuttle environmental protection. We argue that both the technologically optimistic and the postmodernist views are misguided, and both undermine our ability to address environmental crises. We advocate the adoption of a critical materialist stance, which recognizes the importance of natural science for helping us to understand the world while also recognizing the social embeddedness of the scientific establishment and the need to challenge the manipulation of science by the elite.     

Resources,environment and economic development in Nigeria

It is argued that Nigeria must focus on effective environmentally protective intensive farming, resource management methods, and strong family planning programs. Other contributory factors are recognized as the lack of democracy and the "ill-advised" internal policies of the government. The emphasis is on man-made decisions about migration, natality, and land use practices that have ecological consequences that significantly affect the economy. Land degradation in Nigeria is attributed to improper agricultural and husbandry practices. Land degradation has severe ecological, economic, and human costs. Awareness of environmental problems in Nigeria is growing. Natural disasters such as the droughts of 1984-85, continued soil depletion, accumulations of soil wastes, increased flooding in urban areas, and land erosion in Anambra state are evidence of the growing environmental problems. Agricultural development should involve changing rural land use practices, using technology that is "appropriate" to the climate, crops, and culture of the people, and introducing agroforestry. Population growth in Nigeria puts pressure on the fragile ecosystem. Actual carrying capacity is a rough calculation. Nigeria's population growth patterns follow a pattern that suggests population pressure on carrying capacity. The acceleration of population growth has strained the traditional system of agriculture. Land is overused, and cultivation continues on unsuitable land. Domestic policies during the oil boom encouraged rapid industrialization at the expense of the environment. Migration increased to urban centers, but cities did not provide suitable housing, waste disposal, safe water supplies, and other basic facilities.     

Judicial bias in adjudicating the adoption of minors in Israel

The decision-making process of professionals involved in child placement is prone to judgmental bias, since there is no consensual model for evaluating the key concepts of “child's best interests” and “parental capability.” Several hypotheses regarding judicial bias were assumed, with emphasis on the social marginalization of the parents (operationally measured by three indicators: parents' lack of economic means, parents' social deviance, and a family history of previous adoptions and/or out-of-home placement) affecting the judge's perception of parental dangerousness, the adoption decision and its legal reasoning. Findings from a sample of 231 court decisions of compulsory adoption indicated that operational measurements of “social marginalization of the parents” were correlated and could predict the judge's perception of parental dangerousness, his decision of compulsory adoption and his reference to family rights. The legal disadvantage of socially marginalized parents was discussed from various perspectives.     

Laggards or Leaders: Conservers of Traditional Agricultural Knowledge in Bolivia

Many sustainable agricultural practices are based on local and traditional farming knowledge. This article examines the conservation and loss of three traditional practices in the Bolivian Altiplano that agronomic research has shown increase the resiliency of small farmers in the face of climate‐related risks. These practices are the use of manure, the use of local forecasts and risk‐management strategies, and the preservation of crop biodiversity. Although these practices are widely used today, farmers have been steadily abandoning them during the past decade. This article examines the characteristics of those who maintain and those who abandon traditional practices to see if the abandonment of local knowledge can be explained by the adoption‐diffusion literature. This research does not support the adoption‐diffusion literature; although the factors related to conservation are slightly different for each practice, the findings do not support the idea that young, educated, and wealthier farmers are more likely to reject local knowledge. Instead, off‐farm activities such as migration, employment, and trade seem to be related to the decline in local practices as each affects the availability of labor and the availability of people to learn these practices.     

Bolivian farmers and alternative crops: Some insights into innovation adoption

The Bolivian Institute for Agricultural Technology, with financial and technical backing from USAID/Bolivia, has recently intensified its efforts to develop and promote cropping systems to serve as alternatives to coca cultivation in the Chapare region of Bolivia. A study was conducted in which 85 farmers were visited and interviewed in order to identify problems faced by farmers of the Chapare, understand the farming practices of the region, and determine the attributes of the new crops that were contributing to their adoption or rejection. Interviews were conducted in an informal manner using an interview guide consisting primarily of open-ended questions. The results of this study indicate that the capital outlay required and the expected profitability, both economic and otherwise, are the attributes of the new crops which most strongly influenced farmers' initial adoption/rejection decisions. The major obstacle to innovation adoption in the Chapare seems to be new crops whose adoption presents unacceptably high levels of risk coupled with low anticipated profitability. Recommendations for the development of the alternative crops program and the Chapare region conclude the paper.     

Is Locally Led Conservation Planning Working? A Farm Town Case Study1

Abstract A qualitative case study of a rural Illinois community whose water supply has been compromised by a farm chemical is used to highlight the social, cultural, and economic factors that shape locally led planning efforts of a type now being advocated by natural resources governmental agencies. The paper answers the question: why did the central Illinois watershed planning effort craft a cooperative rather than a conflictual solution? Trust of and attachment to farmers, both evidence of social capital, helped community members to balance economic, social and health risks. The balance arrived at created a tacit mandate for a farmer-led planning committee to solve the atrazine problem in a way acceptable to farmers and townspeople. The cooperative solution represents a consensus: concerns remain, but people are willing to support the plan. Consensus also demonstrates that planning as a positive action can create new social capital, which can support further planning.     

Farmer participation in voluntary land diversion schemes: Some predictions from a survey

National and European agricultural policy schemes are now coming forward which rely on land diversion to achieve a variety of supply control, social and environmental policy goals. Operating on a voluntary basis, these will depend for their success on sufficient numbers of farmers agreeing to enrol land in sufficient quantities and in the right localities. Participation is thus a crucial variable in any assessment of land diversion policies. This paper draws on the results of a farm survey to make some predictions about the level and pattern of uptake of a range of such schemes, identifying the characteristics of resistors and adopters and exploring the motives of participants. It is concluded that land diversion will have most appeal to well-placed farmers who are able to justify the diversion of land out of an agricultural use in terms of forestry and conservation plans which have already been laid. The implication is that voluntary schemes may not be especially powerful instruments for bringing about land use changes on the large number of holdings in the U.K. which presently lack any history of conservation or forestry management, at least not without accompanying reductions in the level of market support for agriculture.     

A Social Capital Basis for Environmental Concern: Evidence from Northern New England*

This study, based on a random‐digit‐dialing telephone survey of adults in Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont, uses ordinary least squares regression to examine a relatively neglected element in the sociological literature on environmental concern, namely, the influence of an individual's social capital on the formation of environmental attitudes. We argue that it is those individuals with a greater diversity of social connections who are most likely to be influenced by ecological perspectives grounded in conservation and environmental protection. Controlling for other theoretically relevant variables, we regress an index of environmental concern that gives special emphasis to environmental‐economic trade‐offs on our measures of relational and community social capital. While confirming much of the earlier work in this area, our model provides evidence that connections to other people play an important role in determining individual concern for the environment. Specifically, the number of respondents' “weak ties”—that is, not their closest relationships—and the average occupational status of respondents' social ties, in general, were both positively correlated with environmental concern. Additionally, one of our three measures of community social capital, the number of visits from friends over the past month, was statistically significant and negatively correlated with environmental concern.