Environmental concern and the adoption of farm technologies

Ted L. Napier; Silvana M. Camboni; Cameron S. Thraen

ABSTRACT:

Data collected in 1982 from 918 farmers living in nine Ohio counties identified factors that might predict attitudes toward environmental concern used when farmers make decisions about adopting new farm technologies. A composite scale was constructed from four items that assessed the relative importance of several environmental issues in the adoption decision-making process. Personal characteristics, farm structure variables, and selected sources of information were used as predictive variables. Risk-bearing orientation and acres farmed significantly reduced (by 26.5 %) the unexplained variance in the dependent variable. These findings are discussed in the context of action programs to reduce environmental degradation.

Footnotes

Ted L. Napier is a professor of development sociology and Cameron S. Thraen is an assistant professor of agricultural economics, Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology, Ohio State University, Columbus, 43210. Silvana M. Camboni is a development officer at the Research Foundation, Ohio State University. Salaries and support provided by the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center and Ohio State University, State 502 and Hatch 722 projects. The authors acknowledge support from the Nationwide Insurance Company, National Institute for Farm Safety, and the Samuel Frantz family; data collection help from Ohio Cooperative Extension Service staff; and the secretarial support of Lyndal K. Napier.
Copyright 1986 by the Soil and Water Conservation Society

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