ABSTRACT:
One hundred farmers in a selected region of highly erosion-prone farmland in southwestern Ontario were personally interviewed during the winter and early spring of 1989. Information was collected on individuals' economic, personal, attitudinal, cropping, tillage, and soil conservation characteristics. In general, there was wide use of conservation practices among farmers in the study region. Of respondents who had noticed water-borne soil erosion on their farms in the last 10 years, two-thirds had taken steps to control it. Of the farmers who had not taken deliberate action to control erosion on their land, 69% and 59% respectively used cropping and drainage practices that had soil conservation value. Soil conservation practices were used with less frequency and intensity on rented land. Sixty-nine percent of responding farmers were planning to commence or increase their use of soil conservtion practices within the next 5 years. Few obstacles to the adoption and use of soil conservation practices were noted, but none of those noted most were financially based. Farmers preferred voluntary policies (education, advice, grants) to encourage soil conservation even though they perceived more regulatory approaches (penalties, cross-compliance, direct control) as being potentially more efiective. Results suggested that an approach to classifying farmers should be adopted as the optimal policy mechanism for reducing land degradation from soil erosion.
Footnotes
Scott N. Duff is an environmental planner and analyst ut Ecologistics Ltd., 490 Dutton Drive, Suite Al, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada N2L 6H4. D. Peter Stone house is an associate professor in the Department of Agricultural Economics and Business, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada NIG 2WI. Stewart G. Hilts is an associate professor in the Department of Land Resource Science, University of Gurlph. Donald J. Blackburn is a professor in the Department of Rural Extension Studies, University; of Guelph.
- Copyright 1991 by the Soil and Water Conservation Society
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