What makes a farmer adopt or reject environmental measures?

After the talk by Prof. Dr. Claire Kremen, I was very enthusiastic about the possibilities of ecological intensification. I was even more positively surprised that they bear great results in terms of nature protection, while farmers also seem to benefit from it financially. This, then, made me wonder to what extent farmers actually implement environmental measures into their farming systems and why. As it turns out, there is an entire scientific field that investigates such questions. In the following, I will provide a synthesis of three studies (Kleijn et al. 2019; Sattler & Nagel 2010; Mathijs 2002) that address factors which contribute to the farmer’s willingness to adopt environmental measures.

Why are so few farmers implementing environmental measures?

If we understand what makes farmers reject environmental measures, we can purposefully change the farmer’s opinion, and the reasons for this are manifold:

• Farmers generally shy away from farming practices which interfere with their normal farming operations (e.g., cover crop, headlands).
• The benefits of ecosystem services may take years (e.g., pollination) or even decades (e.g., soil services) to establish, making them a financial risk.
• Farmers are reluctant to adopt generic scientific recommendations on their specific farm conditions (e.g., different soil type, weather conditions).
• Studies on ecosystem services are usually on small spatio-temporal scales while farmers work on large spatio-temporal scales.
• In contrast to ecological approaches, agro-chemical applications provide quick, and highly visible solutions with easily understandable instructions.
• Using ecosystem services requires additional knowledge and initiative from farmers.
• There is a lack of practical, external help for farmers to implement environmental measures.
• There is only little information about pollination and pest control performance across crop rotations on the same field.

What influences the farmer’s decision to participate in agri-environment programs?

Even though cost aspects play a significant role in the farmer’s decision, it is not the most important factor and by far not the only one. Other factors include:

• Actual and perceived risks associated with the measures.
• Effectiveness of the measures.
• Time and effort necessary for the implementation of measures.
• Compatibility of the measures with the local climate and soil conditions.
• Visibility of the results.
• Payment by the environmental scheme.
• Flexibility of the environmental scheme.
• The amount of information provided by the consulting firm.
• Public attitudes in respect to nature conservation and ecological farm management.
  
  

Furthermore, there is great variation in the adoption or refusal of environmental measures in regard to the farmer him- or herself and the farming system:

• Farmers who adopt environmental measures tend to be younger and better educated.
• Environmental measures are more likely to be implemented when the farm is not the only source of income.
• The social connectivity of a farmer (e.g., interaction with peers and advisors) plays an important role in his or her decision-making and can be positive or negative.
• Participation in agri-environmental programs strongly correlates with the existence and size of remnant wildlife habitats.
• Farmers with high shares of leased land are more concerned about the financial issues regarding environmental measures than farmers who own their land.
  
  

How to make environmental measures more attractive to farmers?

The obstacles to adopting environmental measures can be overcome by smart solutions:

• Introduce farmers to environmental measures that are easily implemented into already existing farming systems, such as hedgerows, ditch banks, or mulch seeding. They can act as a starting point for other, more valuable conservation measures.
• Try to implement measures in such a way that the farmer quickly receives financial rewards from it.
• Strengthen the relationship between farmers and subsidizing institutions and increase the farmers’ knowledge about on-farm nature conservation.
  
  

Getting farmers to adopt environmental measures is a complex task. However, it is not entirely impossible since an increasing number of studies give us insights into what motivates farmers to adopt them. By understanding these factors, it becomes easier to address the individual concerns of a farmer and to work out individual solutions.

Author: Thomas Köhler