Examining farmers’ adoption of nutrient management best management practices: a social cognitive framework

The Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy (NRS) aims to reduce nutrient loads in waterways from nonpoint sources such as farm fields. Farmers’ voluntary adoption of soil and water conservation practices is crucial for achieving NRS goals. Although the Iowa NRS has been active since 2013, farmer participation and net pollutant reductions have been insufficient. Therefore, continued efforts to understand the motivations and barriers that underlie farmers’ conservation actions in a comprehensive and integrated manner are needed to improve outreach strategies, and research examining the relationships among factors such as farmers’ self-efficacy, motivations, perceived economic pressure, and soil and water conservation practices adoption in row crop production systems is needed to inform that outreach. This research employed social cognitive theory and previous research around the conceptual category of “motivations” to inform the study of relationships between the dynamic precursors and later modifiers of farmers’ adoption of in-field nutrient management Best Management Practices. Data are from the 2014–2016 Iowa Farm and Rural Life Poll. Self-efficacy, collective efficacy, stewardship motivation, crop insurance, perceived economic pressure, age, and crop acres were important predictors of adoption. This research provides innovative insights for policymaking, extension agencies, and other researchers concerning the adoption of nutrient management practices.