Two New Surveys from the Social Science Team

The Social Sciences Team has assisted on two recent surveys, which yielded different and unanticipated results based on the customers surveyed.  The first survey, entitled Adoption of BMP’s, investigated the adoption of conservation practices and obstacles that may be hindering adoption. Conducted during winter 2007, the survey was a collaboration between the Conservation Technology Information Center, The Fertilizer Institute, Certified Crop Advisers, and NRCS. This web survey was sent to farmers through several farm magazines’ e-mail lists. One thousand nine hundred and seventy farmers (1,970) responded to the survey. A profile of respondents indicated they were mostly highly educated, Midwestern farmers with large farms and higher than average annual farm sales.

The results reinforced the importance of having a conservation plan, which was the primary predictor of BMP adoption. Other results indicated owners and renters adopted BMP’s similarly and they conducted frequent soil tests on rented and owned land on a comparable basis. For respondents who had expressed interested in further adopting a conservation practice, financial assistance was their first choice, followed by educational assistance, and thirdly technical assistance. The Extension Service was the most preferred source for information about BMP’s and they wanted information delivered through traditional means – farm magazines, demonstrations, and fact sheets. However, these farmers also seem to use digital communications at a faster pace than is recognized by most agricultural organizations. The major obstacles to adopting conservation practices are economic, controlling weeds and pests, and the amount of time to implement some practices.

The second survey Absentee Landowners, was part of a CIG grant. It was conducted in the spring of 2007 and focused on absentee landowners. Agren, Inc., an Iowa Consulting Firm, M&M Divide RC&D, and Utah State University with assistance from the Social Sciences Team formed a partnership to implement the survey. A mail survey was sent to absentee landowners in Wisconsin, New York, and Michigan. The names of absentee landowners were obtained from county tax rolls and FSA. The findings are based on about 350 respondents.

A profile of the respondents illustrates the following: average age of 59, high median income, highly educated, computer savvy, non-corporate owners, who don’t have an extensive farm background, but live close to their property and visit it often. The respondents value conservation, aesthetics, recreation, and wildlife for their land and did not make land-use decisions based on tradition or economics. They feel comfortable asking their tenant to farm a certain way, but generally lack knowledge of agriculture. Their levels of participation in traditional conservation programs are low, including set aside programs, even though they place a high value on this type of land use.

The adoption process may be different for this segment of agricultural land owners. Although they are more cosmopolitan than traditional farmers, they are not tied into farming, and did not rank natural resource agencies an important source of information about their land. Their preferred media for receiving information are direct mail and telephone assistance. This is patently different than traditional farmers who typically rank direct assistance, demonstrations, and friends and neighbors as preferred informational channels and sources. Also, absentee landowners favorably ranked digital communications like video/DVD, Internet, and e-mail. From the NRCS partnership’s perspective, educational and technical assistance might be welcomed by this group and set aside programs could have a high chance for adoption based on the respondents’ positive environmental values. An initial step might be for NRCS to work with Conservation Districts to obtain landowner names, addresses, and phone numbers to enable conservationists to start communicating with owners through direct mail and telephone calls. This audience provides the embodiment of a customer segment that is ready, willing, and able to heed our calls for conservation and who also have the means to adopt.
Your contact is NRCS sociologist Frank Clearfield at 336-370-3336.