Adoption of conservation production systems in three Midwest watersheds

ABSTRACT:

Data were collected from 1,011 land owner-operators within watershed in three Midwest states to assess factors affecting adoption of soil and water conservation production systems at the farm-level. A theoretical perspective was developed from selected components of Social Learning Theory and the form structure model and was used to formulate study hypotheses. A composite index was computed from responses to frequency of use of 18 farm production practices and was used to assess conservation adoption behaviors of study respondents. Descriptive and multivariate statistics were used to examine the merits of the research expectations. Study findings revealed that the theoretical perspective had limited utility for predicting adoption behaviors in the three watersheds.