factors affecting adoption of nutrient management practices by farmers and homeowners

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Factors Affecting Adoption of Water and Nutrient Management Practices by Farmers and Homeowners Laura McCann, Bob Broz, Bill Allen, Steve Anderson, Yubing Fan, Jason Hubbart, Brad Fresenburg, Kent Shannon, Dong Won Shin, and Catharine Weber University of Missouri

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Factors Affecting Adoption of Water and Nutrient Management Practices

by Farmers and Homeowners

Laura McCann, Bob Broz, Bill Allen, Steve Anderson, Yubing Fan, Jason Hubbart, Brad Fresenburg, Kent Shannon, Dong Won Shin,

and Catharine WeberUniversity of Missouri

Introduction

Voluntary adoption of best management practices (BMPs) by farmers and homeowners will be needed to address nonpoint source pollutionBetter knowledge of barriers to adoption may enable better policies, extension efforts and BMP design Little information on homeowners

Farmer Research component

Existing USDA ARMS data was used to examine adoption by U.S. corn farmers of three practices that improve nitrogen use efficiency

Nitrogen soil testing (21% adoption)Plant tissue testing (3% adoption) Nitrogen transformation inhibitors (10% adoption)

ResultsPseudo R2 were fairly low, 0.19, 0.16, 0.16 Age was negatively associated with adoption of N soil testing and N inhibitorsLarger farms and those using conservation tillage were more likely to adopt N inhibitors Those who irrigated were more likely to adopt N soil testing and N inhibitors

Farmers adopt practices in packages; for example, those who adopted GPS soil mapping were more likely to adopt N soil testing while those who adopted pretreated seed were more likely to adopt N inhibitors Those who received fertilizer recommendations from dealers (who have an incentive to sell more fertilizer) were less likely to adopt N soil testing and plant tissue testing than those using consultantsPublished as: Weber and McCann. 2015. J of Environmental Quality

Hinkson Creek Problems

An urbanizing watershed: urban land use in the watershed increased from 4,527 acres in 1993 to 11,890 acres in 2005. Increased impervious surfaces, → “flashier” hydrology, reduced aquatic life Increased use of pesticides and fertilizersOn 303d list

Homeowner research component

Contribute to the sparse literature on the adoption of BMPs by homeownersIdentify barriers to adoption of fertilizer and stormwater management BMPs

1. Organic fertilizer2. Rain gardens3. Rain barrels4. Drought tolerant plants

Manure as a value-added product

(Presented at Waste to Worth 2015)New uses for manure can be win-win opportunities for livestock farmers, new users, and the environment. Specifically, it can be marketed as an organic fertilizer to homeowners.

Data (for all BMPs)

A survey of 2000 households in the Columbia, Missouri area was conducted in spring of 2014, using the Dillman method with four mailingsThey were asked questions about their lawn and yard management practices as well as attitudinal and demographic information The effective response rate was 44%

Organic fertilizer results

One question was whether they used an “organic fertilizer (composted manure)”About 27% of all households had adopted organic fertilizerLogistic regression was used to examine which factors affected adoption of the practice The pseudo-R2 was 0.225, n = 620

Organic fertilizer results – cont.

Demographic information was not linearly related to adoption. People who were 31-45 years old were more likely to adopt than those 46-60. Those with income levels of $50,000-75,000 were more likely to adopt than those with incomes less than 25,000 or more than 75,000. Where they lived (city, suburbs, rural) was not significant.

Organic fertilizer results – cont.

If they indicated they based their fertilizer applications on internet information they were more likely to adopt than those who got information from professionals or Extension (p<0.05). Those who tested their soil were more likely to adopt as were those who planted drought-tolerant plants or had rain gardens (p<0.01).

Organic fertilizer results – cont. Those who spent more than 10 hours per month on gardening were more likely to adopt than those who spent less time (p<0.01). Those with more knowledge (p<0.01) and more pro-environmental attitudes (p<0.10) were more likely to adopt organic fertilizer.

Organic Fertilizer Conclusions

Users of organic fertilizer seem to be young, well-informed, serious gardeners that are also concerned with environmental issues.Advertising organic fertilizer on the internet is a good way to reach these consumers. While it is not supported by the data, I suspect that selling organic fertilizer at farmers’ markets might be worthwhile.

Rain Gardens and Rain Barrels

(Presented at 2015 SWCS meetings)Adoption rate for rain gardens was 3.1%, and 7.5% for rain barrels Specific questions regarding perceived barriers to adoption improved the explanatory power of the model (pseudo R2 of 0.21 vs 0.47, and 0.15 vs 0.39)

Main regression results

People who spent more than 10 hours/month gardening were more likely to adopt both BMPsThose who said knowledge of the practice and compatibility with other features were a barrier, were less likely to adoptOther variables varied according to practice, e.g. not being able to see a demonstration decreased adoption of rain gardens while water in basement increased it

Drought-tolerant plants Presented at 2015 SWCS and AAEA meetingsAdoption rate was 44% (drought in 2012, 31 inches vs 43 on average)An innovation in the survey was inclusion of concern regarding future drought and more frequent intense rains, Q that have been asked of Iowa farmers by Arbuckle et al. More respondents were concerned with drought than intense rains (77% vs 36%)

Main regression results Pseudo R2 0.15 Residents with very low and very high incomes were more likely to adopt, as were those living in rural areas (vs suburbs/city)Those who mow high more likely to adopt, as are those who spend more time gardeningThose concerned with drought more likely to adopt, those concerned with rains less soTrust in info sources matters

Educational component 1

Three graduate students have been involved with data collection and/or analysis; Catharine Weber, Dong Won Shin, and Yubing FanStudents gave four conference presentationsOne paper has been published in J. of Environmental Quality, and two will be submitted to journals this fall. Successful completion of MS degree.

Educational component 2

Data on Hinkson Creek land use, weather, hydrology and water quality that was collected by Jason Hubbart was used by a graduate student to update the data files for Steve Anderson’s fall 2015 SWAT modelling courseLab exercise documents were also updated by the graduate student, who will also give a guest lecture in the class.

Educational component 3

Bill Allen, Bob Broz and Laura McCann interacted with faculty from a School of Journalism course called “AdZou,” a capstone project for Journalism students A group of six students designed a media campaign for our project with input from project faculty and Mike Heimos, City of Columbia

Adzou recommendationsPeople will change behavior if “they are informed of the problem, provided with simple solutions and empowered to make changes.” Emphasize community Make the website more visually appealingHost special events such as a bike ride, “Cruise the Creeks”Use alliteration, “Hinkson Helpers” Get educators on local radio programs

Extension Component: Fertilizer App.Objective:To provide an easy method for homeowners to calculate the correct amount of fertilizer to purchase for their lawn.

Brad Fresenburg has worked with AgEBB on this component.

Fertilizer App., cont.• Amount of fertilizer applied can be based on a

soil test or from guidelines.• Provides opportunity for the homeowner to

measure the square footage of their lawn.• Homeowners can purchase the correct amount

of their selected fertilizer at the store.• Less chance of under or over applying

fertilizers.

Other Extension activities

Magnets were included with the surveys which contained the Boone Co. Extension websiteThe website was updated with links to Extension and City of Columbia information about Hinkson Creek and BMPsFurther updating based on AdZou feedback is planned. Master Gardeners program on “Low Impact Landscaping” has been developed

Acknowledgements

This project was partially funded by a USDA-NIFA Integrated Research, Extension and Education 406 Project (Award 2012-03652). We also gratefully acknowledge the assistance of Mike Heimos at the City of Columbia.