For the public good: weaving a multifunctional landscape in the Corn Belt

Harden, Noelle; Ashwood, Loka; Bland, William L.; Bell, Michael

doi:10.1007/s10460-013-9429-7

Cited by 12 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…Twenty-one studies did not include any theory, four studies used theory in the literature review only, and two studies incorporated theory only in the discussion. Commonly used theories included Diffusion of Innovations (Rogers 2003), Theory of Planner Behavior (TPB) (Ajzen 1991), Reasoned Action Approach (previously TPB) (Fishbein and Ajzen 2011), and multifunctionality (Harden et al 2013).…”

Section: Theoretical Trendsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Synthesizing Conservation Motivations and Barriers: What Have We Learned from Qualitative Studies of Farmers’ Behaviors in the United States?

Ranjan

Church

Floress

et al. 2019

Society & Natural Resources

149

109

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Since 2011, qualitative studies examining adoption of conservation practices and programs (CPPs) have burgeoned. This article presents a systematic review of all U.S.-based qualitative investigations into CPP adoption since 1996. We found three themes are discussed primarily as motivating adoption: farmer characteristics, environmental awareness, and trust in information sources. Four themes are discussed primarily as barriers to adoption: farm management, negative perceptions of a conservation practice, perceptions that adoption is a risk, and land tenure. Four themes were discussed as both motivations and barriers: economic factors, social norms, perceptions of government programs, and farm characteristics. Overall, we found farmers' economic and management needs and their perceived and actual limitations to conservation behavior influenced adoption. Implications of our findings for policymakers and practitioners include promoting systems-based conservation strategies and stressing the benefits of conservation practices.

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Section: Theoretical Trendsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Synthesizing Conservation Motivations and Barriers: What Have We Learned from Qualitative Studies of Farmers’ Behaviors in the United States?

Ranjan

Church

Floress

et al. 2019

Society & Natural Resources

149

109

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…To accurately define multi-functional landscapes, three criteria have been established [ 29 ]: (i) spatial independence—the spatial combination of functions associated with independent land units; (ii) periods of temporal independence—with respect to the plural, alternative and coincident multi-functionality of the same land unit at different times; and (iii) the spatial integration of functions—at the same or different periods, on the same or different land units. Research has ranged from initial multi-functional agroecosystems to forest and urban landscapes on topics considering the effects of the changing agricultural landscape structure on decision-making and the generation of public goods and services [ 15 , 30 ], forest landscape management and optimization [ 31 , 32 ] and the functionalities of green infrastructure, its planning and management [ 33–36 ].…”

Section: Research Status Of Landscape Multi-functionality and Cz Sciencementioning

confidence: 99%

When multi-functional landscape meets Critical Zone science: advancing multi-disciplinary research for sustainable human well-being

Ying

Lü

et al. 2018

National Science Review

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Environmental degradation has become one of the major obstacles to sustainable development and human well-being internationally. Scientific efforts are being made to understand the mechanism of environmental degradation and sustainability. Critical Zone (CZ) science and research on the multi-functional landscape are emerging fields in Earth science that can contribute to such scientific efforts. This paper reviews the progress, similarities and current status of these two scientific research fields, and identifies a number of opportunities for their synergistic integration through functional and multi-functional approaches, process-based monitoring, mechanistic analyses and dynamic modeling, global long-term and networked monitoring and systematic modeling supported by scaling and deep coupling. These approaches proposed in this paper have the potential to support sustainable human well-being by strengthening a functional orientation that consolidates multi-functional landscape research and CZ science. This is a key challenge for sustainable development and human well-being in the twenty-first century.

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“…Conventional corn and soybean farmers across the Corn Belt are primarily operating within a productivist system that is oriented toward maximizing yield and profit (Blesh and Wolf ); however, farmers' decisions to manage soil resources more sustainably are not solely driven by economic goals of increased productivity and efficiency. Farmer decision making is situated within diverse environmental, political, economic, and cultural contexts that vary at different spatial scales (Gray and Gibson ; Harden et al ; White et al ). Specifically, Harden et al () found that along with the economic and agronomic ideals of productivist agriculture that emphasize yields and profitability, Corn Belt farmers' management actions were also influenced by commitments to family, land, and community.…”

Section: Soil Stewardship and Soil As A Social‐ecological Feedbackmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Farmer decision making is situated within diverse environmental, political, economic, and cultural contexts that vary at different spatial scales (Gray and Gibson ; Harden et al ; White et al ). Specifically, Harden et al () found that along with the economic and agronomic ideals of productivist agriculture that emphasize yields and profitability, Corn Belt farmers' management actions were also influenced by commitments to family, land, and community. Accordingly, decision making can be characterized as a tension between both formal rationality, the quantitative calculation of costs and benefits, and substantive rationality, which incorporates other “ultimate values,” including ethical, political, cultural, and normative factors (Weber ).…”

Section: Soil Stewardship and Soil As A Social‐ecological Feedbackmentioning

confidence: 99%

Soil as Social‐Ecological Feedback: Examining the “Ethic” of Soil Stewardship among Corn Belt Farmers

2017

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In this article we examine in‐depth interviews with farmers (n = 159) from nine Corn Belt states. Using a grounded theory approach, we identified a “soil stewardship ethic,” which exemplifies how farmers are talking about building the long‐term sustainability of their farm operation in light of more variable and extreme weather events. Findings suggest that farmers' shifting relationship with their soil resources may act as a kind of social‐ecological feedback that enables farmers to implement adaptive strategies (e.g., no‐till farming, cover crops) that build resilience in the face of increasingly variable and extreme weather, in contrast to emphasizing short‐term adjustments to production that may lead to greater vulnerability over time. The development of a soil stewardship ethic may help farmers to resolve the problem of an apparent trade‐off between short‐term productivist goals and long‐term conservation goals and in doing so may point toward an emergent aspect of a conservationist identity. Focusing on the message of managing soil health to mitigate weather‐related risks and preserving soil resources for future generations may provide a pragmatic solution for helping farmers to reorient farm production practices, which would have soil building and soil saving at their center.

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For the public good: weaving a multifunctional landscape in the Corn Belt

Cited by 12 publications

References 23 publications

Synthesizing Conservation Motivations and Barriers: What Have We Learned from Qualitative Studies of Farmers’ Behaviors in the United States?

Synthesizing Conservation Motivations and Barriers: What Have We Learned from Qualitative Studies of Farmers’ Behaviors in the United States?

When multi-functional landscape meets Critical Zone science: advancing multi-disciplinary research for sustainable human well-being

Soil as Social‐Ecological Feedback: Examining the “Ethic” of Soil Stewardship among Corn Belt Farmers

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