Do demonstration sites influence prokopy
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Transcript of Do demonstration sites influence prokopy
Do demonstration sites and field days influence adoption of conservation practices?
Linda S. ProkopyAjay S Singh
Motivation for Study Voluntary adoption of conservation practices is essential
Rogers “Diffusion of Innovations” model suggests demonstrations should be effective as they increase observability of a practice
BUT demonstration events cost lots of time and money
AND there’s little empirical evidence to suggest they actually lead to adoption Is it only the “choir” who attends? Would the attendees have found the information some other way?
Are there other benefits from demonstration events? Do they help to change community norms towards conservation? Do they give farmers a chance to talk to each other?
Research question
Does attending a demonstration site or field day effect adoption of conservation practices or change how farmers implement conservation practices?
Methods Agricultural producers in Ripley, Jasper, Delaware, and adjacent counties in Indiana Contacts provided by USDA Farm Services Agency and county Extension offices
Mail survey (n = 2,225) July‐October, 2015
Interviews (n = 24) Jan‐Feb 2016
Analysis Mail survey
Chi‐squared test of association Adoption, No adoption / Attendance, No attendance
Interviews Thematic analysis
Identify major themes and patterns Intercoder reliability test on 1/3 of interviews
kappa of >.070 achieved
Results 745 survey responses (33.5%)
Delaware = 33% Jasper = 30% Ripley = 36%
513 responses from agricultural producers
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
Did not adopt Adopted
Percent
Did not attend Attended
Filter stripsX2 (1, 484) 60.320, p < .001; Cramer's V = .353
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Did not adopt Adopted
Percentage
Did not attend Attended
Two‐stage ditchesX2 (1, 509) 44.302, p < .001; Cramer's V = .295
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
Did not adopt Adopted
Percentage
Did not attend Attended
Cover cropsX2 (1, 488) 111.99, p < .001; Cramer's V = .479
Cover crops
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
INCREASED USE
CHANGED IMPLEMENTATION
PLAN TO CHANGE USE
STARTED USING
NO CHANGE
FIRST TIME HEARING
Number of respondents
Post‐event beh
aviors
Cover crops
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
INCREASED USE
CHANGED IMPLEMENTATION
PLAN TO CHANGE USE
STARTED USING
NO CHANGE
FIRST TIME HEARING
Number of respondents
Post‐event beh
aviors
Usefulness of events ‐ Survey Most useful
Seeing the practice for myself Informing me about a practice Learning from other farmers Learning about the economics of the practice
Least useful Finding out what the neighbors are doing Meeting new people/social networking
Interviews Decision criteria – need more info to know they’ll be effective
“I took this away from there is that you need to get a plan early and you’re going to have to get out in the standing crop if you’re going to get a cover crop that’s going to do some good. And I plan a lot of later season beans, so that’s going to affect what I’m doing. If I start with cover crops I gotta figure out how I’m going to do that. And that kind of stuff.”
Interviews Expertise
“I don’t pay too much attention to the neighbors, I will do more research or go to a forum or…..maybe go to if there’s a leader in that new technology I may go to …. a speaker or given a demonstration day and kinda get my feet wet and then jump into it. We kinda did that with cover crops as an example.”
Interviews Social learning
“…your peer groups is a good place to get a lottainformation, a crowd you’re in your own with and some other people even that aren’t in your so‐called neighborhood, you know.”
“You go to these events, you get different opinions from different people, what they’re doing.”
Interviews Risk management
“I like to let the cutting edge folks work out all the bugs, and then I like to jump on it right after all the bugs. I am not a guy that is going to go to a farm show, and a brand new product comes out that is unproven, and put it right on my equipment or put it right on my farm, but let’s say that it is a year after they come out and they are proven, I feel like as long as it is a worthy opportunity, and make sense numbers wise, then we will give it a try and give it our own test and if it is worth its weight, then we will use it, and if it’s not then we won’t.”
Conclusions There is an association between attendance and adoption
But would these motivated farmers adopt anyway?
Producers attend for different reasons and are at different stages of the decision‐adoption process Know about a practice and want experience, expertise to inform how to implement on their farm
Standard practice: the newness of a project may effect relationship of attendance and adoption. Older practices may become industry standard and may adopt but not attend a demonstration sites/field day
Future Research
How do we get the “non‐choir” to attend demonstration events?
Does novelty of a practice change influence of demonstration attendance/adoption rates?
Questions?Thanks to:Dr. Jessica Ulrich‐Schad, South Dakota State UniversityDr. Mike Dunn, Centre for Ecosystems, Society, & Biosecurity, U.K.Brian MacGowan, Purdue UniversityHeidi Klotz, Purdue University/ Indiana University
Funding: Purdue College of Agriculture
Contact information
Dr. Linda S. [email protected]
765.496.2221Twitter: @lprokopy