Understanding farmer behavior – what drives ICLS adoption and non-adoption?

(PIs: Rachael Garrett, Meredith Niles, RA: Owen Cortner)

Project Overview

The decision of whether to manage the land via integrated or segregated production units involves additional utility tradeoffs. These may include, among others, complexity versus simplicity, labor versus leisure, high risk versus low risk, and resilience versus profit maximization. Farmers’ perceptions of the prestige, independence, and recreational or aesthetic benefits of ICLS versus other systems are also highly relevant. Of key importance, yet poorly understood, is the role of knowledge systems and social networks in influencing farmers’ access to information about the costs and benefits of ICLS versus other management systems or their agricultural preferences and attitudes related to ICLS. To assess barriers to ICLS adoption, including how social networks and knowledge systems influence the use of ICLS we rely primarily on farmer survey techniques coupled with semi-structured interviews.