Factors Affecting Adoption of Nutrient Management Practices by Farmers and Homeowners

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

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

Farmer Research component
Existing USDAARMS 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)

Results
Pseudo R2 were fairly low, 0.19, 0.16, 0.16
Age was negatively associated with adoption of
N soil testing and N inhibitors
Larger 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
consultants
Published 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 fertilizers
On 303d list

Homeowner research component
Contribute to the sparse literature on the
adoption of BMPs by homeowners
Identify barriers to adoption of fertilizer and
stormwater management BMPs
1. Organic fertilizer
2. Rain gardens
3. Rain barrels
4. 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 mailings
They 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 fertilizer
Logistic 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.

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).

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 BMPs
Those who said knowledge of the practice and
compatibility with other features were a barrier,
were less likely to adopt
Other 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 meetings
Adoption 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 gardening
Those concerned with drought more likely to
adopt, those concerned with rains less so
Trust 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 Fan
Students gave four conference presentations
One paper has been published in J. of
Environmental Quality, and two will be submitted
to journals this fall.
Successful completion of MS degree.

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 course
Lab exercise documents were also updated by
the graduate student, who will also give a guest
lecture in the class.

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 recommendations
People 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 appealing
Host 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 website
The website was updated with links to Extension
and City of Columbia information about Hinkson
Creek and BMPs
Further 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.

Factors Affecting Adoption of Nutrient Management Practices by Farmers and Homeowners

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