Bhavya Yaddanapudi
Research Mentor: Alison Bressler
Mentor Department: Graham Sustainability Institute, Other
Author(s): Bhavya Yaddanapudi, Alison Bressler
Session: Session 7 (4:00 PM – 4:50 PM)
Presentation Type: Poster 3
Abstract
Changing agricultural practices in the Midwest to reflect greater crop diversity and conservation practices is increasingly important because of its positive implications for climate, social, and economic issues. Policymakers can assist farmers in diversifying their farms and adding practices to protect water quality by focusing on farmer behavior and delivering appropriate information through established, locally-trusted sources. This study focuses on barriers to farmer behavior change as it relates to conservation in the Western Lake Erie Basin in the Midwest, dominated by corn and soy rotations. In order to develop an evidence-based Theory of Change model (i.e., an evaluation roadmap to connect goals and activities to outcomes) to improve the effectiveness of nutrient pollution reduction efforts in the Western Lake Erie Basin (WLEB), 44 agriculture community stakeholders familiar with existing outreach and advocacy efforts in the region participated in our survey. Participants responded to 33 qualitative open-ended, ranked-choice, and multiple-choice questions about their perspectives and experiences regarding farmer adoption of sustainable agricultural methods through the Qualtrics© survey software (Qualtrics, Provo, UT). The results indicate that economic and financial factors are the most significant barrier to adoption of conservation practices in the WLEB and this roadblock may be overcome by farmers believing that conservation practices will lead to a significant long-term return on investment. This information is useful for governments and funding agencies to maximize cost-effectiveness for every new conservation practice.
